Saturday was another great day – we couldn’t have asked for a more positive and worthwhile five hours. The Radio Presenter Workshop took place in The Malone Lodge in Belfast city and I was honoured to see people attend from all parts of the country: from Belfast, Newry, Donegal, Dublin, Galway and Meath.
Robin Banks was with us for the whole day and was, as always, an inspiration. His passion and dedication for what makes great radio is awesome to see. He truly is one of a kind!
To the folks who came along yesterday, a huge thanks.
The time and energy you are investing in yourselves and your career will always steer you in the right direction.
We never stop learning, right? All of us. It was a real pleasure to share that learning experience yesterday.
Oh, and to the particular female presenter who brought along the home made cakes? All I can say is ‘Yummmmm’ !! Let’s face it – that was a room full of radio people, so the thoughts of free food was very popular

Next Workshop is in Dublin in two weeks.
If you would like to invest in your career and actually put some focus and shape on what the future holds (rather than letting it control you), then feel free to get in touch and we will sort you out , no problem.

Brian.

So, how did you or your station do?
Survive OK? The GM wasn’t hunting you down in the hallways looking for ‘a meeting’ !!?
What happened this time eh?
Well, it seems that Dublin stations are getting a little closer with 104‘s Share at 11.5, followed by 98 with 10.9, then 2FM 9.2 and Q102 at 8.1 (1.1 increase for Q).
In Cork, 96 still hold the prize with a 34 Share, beating Radio 1 into second. C103 and Red have lost some Share in this book.
At the regional stations, we have Beat in Waterford holding strong with a 20 Reach, the iRadio group are doing well in Galway but suffered in Athlone, Spin SW continue to grow and 4FM entered the market for the first time.
Oh, and Highland Radio? Well, their Share went up again to 64.2 !
http://www.bci.ie/documents/jnlr_july08_jun09.pdf

Been a busy week in radio-ville…sort of.
The rumours that 2FM are to switch focus from ‘yoof’ to the 25-44 demo are interesting. What are we talking here, a BBC Radio 2 type station with older presenters and music (plus talk)? My question is related to the presenters (as always) – not who are they going to hire to fill these shifts but who of the current line-up will they decide to do without? Not a nice question at all.

The Nova100 Classic Rock licence for Dublin and the ‘commuter belt’ has been put on ice for a while. Could be at least a year before they look at trying to launch (so I am told).

The entries for the Best New Presenter Award are coming in to the website – thanks to everyone who has entered.
Find out all here: http://www.bestnewpresenter.ie

It’s JNLR day today – how will everyone do?
Will the regionals (Beat, iRadio) continue to grow?
Will Highland retain the highest share?
What about Dublin – FM104, can they stay on top again or will 98 and the re-branded Q102 be more of a challenge?
Will 4FM have impact in it’s markets? (I hope so, handy for me having a day job)!
How about LMFM‘s more talk approach – has that worked out so far for them?
Will 96 and C103 in Cork still dominate, or will Red make some gains?
And could this be one of the last JNLR books for 2FM as a youth station?
Good luck to all.

New video up from Niall and the Beat102103 Breakfast Crew in Waterford:

Well, we launched the website on Monday for the Best New Irish Presenter Award and have been swamped with questions and comments.
So, here’s a bit of an update.
A lot of the questions revolved around your audio submission. We have a FAQ section on the site and that has been altered over the past couple of days to answer some of your thoughts. Thanks for the input by the way – it helps us make the process easier to navigate through.
The basic idea is that this award should be easy to enter and have as few stipulations as possible. Our wish is that you feel comfortable and knowledgeable before submitting your entry.
With that said – if you haven’t been to the site yet and are interested in the concept of taking part in this award process, then can I suggest heading to http://www.bestnewpresenter.ie so you can see for yourself what it’s all about.

This is the only award for New Radio Talent in Ireland – it’s about recognising you and your place in this industry.
You’re going to be running the show in the future…
http://www.bestnewpresenter.ie

BBC 1Xtra have moved Tim Westwood into the weekday afternoon drive slot…he’ll take over on the 28th of September from Ace and Vis who move to weekends. Westwood has been with the Beeb for the past 15 years.

Westwood………………………..Ace & Vis.

Over at Radio 1, Steve Lamacq is set to hang up his headphones on Sept 14th after 16 years – his show will be replaced by music documentaries.

Lamacq.

And so, the radio dial changes ever so slightly again. There’ll be no tsunami warnings around these changes though….unlike in San Francisco, where the entire FM music dial could be VT’d by the end of the year. That’s right – not one live presenter!