Media predictions 2009, Part 2: Today/Newstalk merger will be completed
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009My second Irish media prediction for 2009:
The merger between Newstalk and Today FM is already in its advanced stages, however 2009 will see it be completed on every level.
Since Denis O’Brien’s buy-out of Today FM in late 2007, the linking of both stations has moved at an impressive pace. From a standing start in October of that year the two stations quickly moved to sharing an office block and news-room, while at least some of their respective marketing teams are understood to have merged too.
What I think will come in 2009 is a complete combination of functions like ad sales and marketing, with the stations cross-promoting programming and sharing advert packages, and a slight re-working of each station’s focus to remove conflicts.
This further amalgamation of services and staff will be pushed through as part of an overall cost-cutting exercise in the context of the credit crunch and recession, which has already been the reason given for freelance journalist and programming cuts.
As part of these moves the stations will also need to iron out some kinks in their respective schedules to ensure the services compliment rather than compete with each other.
For the most part that is not really an issue - most time slots have different types of programmes on each station. The only real overlap exists in the 9:00 - 12:00 “morning” slot and the 16:30 - 19:00 “drive-time” slot. For Newstalk they have relative newcomer Tom Dunne in the morning and probably their strongest performer George Hook in drive-time. For Today FM they have the popular Ray D’Arcy in the morning and even more popular Matt Cooper in drive-time.
Exactly what might happen in the morning is tough to call. D’Arcy is regularly one of Today’s best performers in terms of listenership but Tom Dunne is a new arrival to the slot who management may want to give time to find his feet. Of course the station may decide that he isn’t drawing in the crowds quick enough and may move him out of the morning, perhaps even to a time closer to his show’s repeat slot at 22:00. That may depend on how well-performing this repeat programme is.
The drive-time slot is a little bit more predictable. George Hook has done relatively well for Newstalk since it went nationally, certainly far better than any of its other presenters. However The Last Word is regularly competing with RTÉ for the most listened to shows in Ireland and had previously managed to beat the state broadcaster’s time-slot equivalent, Drivetime.
Hook’s show has also been badly impacted upon by the recent cuts made to editorial operations - his team of freelancers and researchers is worn down to the bone. Newstalk won’t want to lose him as a broadcaster but there is no rationale in having him compete with one of Ireland’s strongest shows when he could boost the group’s performance elsewhere.
A palatable option for the station’s bosses would be to make a two-hour gap in the morning and push everything back. This would put Moncrieff on 12:00 - 14:00 and George Hook on 14:00 - 16:30, leaving Off the Ball to air alongside with The Last Word.
The Last Word covers plenty of sports, especially on a Friday, but this move would still give listeners a better choice and remove most of the overlap of content. Equally it could give Off The Ball a better space to improve its loyal fan-base while allowing George Hook to broadcast his show earlier, affording him crucial bragging rights over getting stories first.
The gap could be created by dropping Eamon Keane’s Lunchtime or Tom Dunne’s show, the latter of which would solve both schedule problems at once. Lunchtime (which would have to be renamed, of course) could provide a slightly more newsy counter-balance to Ray D’Arcy while Dunne could move into the 19:00 - 21:00 (or even to 22:00) time to go back into his old Pet Sounds slot, albeit on a different station.
Whatever does happen to the schedule it is unlikely that either station will re-brand as part of the merger - at least not in the near future. Unique management structures will also be maintained at the top, just like they are across the RTÉ stations, but operations below that will be merged or re-worked to allow for greater co-operation.
Effectively, they will be genuine sister-stations by December 2009.
Disclaimer: I’m a relatively regular guest on The Last Word and have guested on Newstalk programming also.
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January 27th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Interesting Adam. It doesnt make much sense to have two sister stations competing for the same listeners so one would expect a few changes to scheduling alright. Offtheball is working really well at the current slot for Newstalk and fulfils a certain purpose at the time they’re on, Im not sure a move to drivetime- if this is what you’re suggesting - is really a decent option for that programme. Is there any chance of some form of merger of stations completely, as in newstalk/ Today fm to become one?
January 27th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Do you mean having a single station or operating under a single brand?
I’d say neither will happen in the near future, I doubt they’ll merge into a single station at any point.
At worst they might tell the BCI one of the two station is losing too much money and needs to shut unless they’re allowed to re-focus its format… the BCI might then decide then to let the station collapse so they can re-tender the spectrum or else they might do a deal with Communicorp to keep ownership as it is.
I think a re-brand could come eventually but not in the near future… my guess is it will be very clear to listeners that they’re part of the same family by the end of the year, however, even if it’s just because they advertise for each other’s shows or have cross-station competitions etc.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:02 am
I wish I could design a radio schedule just to fit my own tastes.
Newstalk sounded like a great idea when first mooted, but the reality was not what I hoped. I had dreams of a combination of well produced news programmes, features, and documentaries. Instead I got txt radio.
Hook is justifiably the best performer on Newstalk, probably because he produces the strongest news programme. Tom Dunne, on the other hand, is the weakest link. The trouble is, there’s a lot of competition to take that title away from Dunne.
Unfortunately, Newstalk has gone the route of buying big names to attract listeners, and pretty much abandoned any idea of being a news gathering organisation in favour of phone-ins, inane texts, competitions, and whatever American is selling a quirky book this week.
Outside of Hook, only Eamon Keane seems interested in doing a newsy programme, but is hampered by a weird obsession with ‘breaking news’, to such a degree that I keep expect him to announce the weather forecast ‘exclusively in Lunchtime’.
Dunne and Moncrieff are pointless. Why tune to a news station to listen to hours of disk jockey babble without the music. Todayfm already covers the inane DJ market. And the breakfast show is embarrassing to listen to, rarely have two presenters had less chemistry.
About the only exception to the dull void comes in the evenings. Offtheball is a bit obsessive in its focus on the Premiership, and at times impossibly self-satisfied, but for all that, there’s a weird compellability about it that can keep me listening as the two lads read press releases and occasionally report on what’s happening on the Sky Sports screen. Perhaps the fact that the only alternative is Fanning helps.
In short then, keep Hook and Offtheball, work on Keane, dump the DJs, and consider hiring some actual reporters and doing some news. But that would mean caring about news, not just about making money. I won’t be holding my breath.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:14 am
What continues to puzzle me is how this obviously anti-competitive situation was approved ? Why oh why was Denis O’Brien allowed to control both stations ?
January 28th, 2009 at 11:24 am
@The Listener:
I have to agree with the majority of what you say.
Newstalk sounded like a great idea when first mooted, but the reality was not what I hoped. I had dreams of a combination of well produced news programmes, features, and documentaries. Instead I got txt radio.
Very true. Unfortunately investment in genuine news gathering - in any medium - is constantly decreasing. It would be an assumption to even say that real news radio cannot turn a profit because people are not willing to put the money in to see if that’s the case. It costs a lot up front to do and that’s why it doesn’t happen.
That said Newstalk have taken advantage of the BCI Sound & Vision fund here and there, so they’re producing more documentaries than in the past. However more than none is still a small amount.
Hook is justifiably the best performer on Newstalk, probably because he produces the strongest news programme.
In terms of news, yes he is. Although I do think his show has inherent problems and does not hold up so well when compared to other station’s news output.
Tom Dunne, on the other hand, is the weakest link. The trouble is, there’s a lot of competition to take that title away from Dunne.
I think Dunne has settled into his slot quite well - his show is enjoyable. That said it’s not news and it isn’t particularly unique.
Unfortunately, Newstalk has gone the route of buying big names to attract listeners, and pretty much abandoned any idea of being a news gathering organisation in favour of phone-ins, inane texts, competitions, and whatever American is selling a quirky book this week.
There was a significant shift in its approach upon winning the national licence - it took it as an opportunity to amend aspects of the Dublin licence that weren’t working. The allowance for a few hours of music a day, for example.
That said they’ve always tried to bring in big names. Hook, McWilliams, Dunphy etc.
Outside of Hook, only Eamon Keane seems interested in doing a newsy programme, but is hampered by a weird obsession with ‘breaking news’, to such a degree that I keep expect him to announce the weather forecast ‘exclusively in Lunchtime’.
I’m not a fan of his show at all, partly for the reasons you detail. He seems happier to focus on a new story that’s relatively insignificant than a running story that’s setting the day’s agenda.
The show also has an obsession with blowing its own trumpet to a nauseating extent. A 2 minute interview with a minister is repeated a couple of times in a single programme even when they said nothing new or significant. The show also tries to sell itself as investigative and hard-hitting when it rarely, if ever, is.
Dunne and Moncrieff are pointless. Why tune to a news station to listen to hours of disk jockey babble without the music. Todayfm already covers the inane DJ market. And the breakfast show is embarrassing to listen to, rarely have two presenters had less chemistry.
I do like both shows but agree they belong somewhere else… although maybe one or the other would be acceptable. Both doing the same quirky, news lite stuff is just overload.
About the only exception to the dull void comes in the evenings. Offtheball is a bit obsessive in its focus on the Premiership, and at times impossibly self-satisfied, but for all that, there’s a weird compellability about it that can keep me listening as the two lads read press releases and occasionally report on what’s happening on the Sky Sports screen. Perhaps the fact that the only alternative is Fanning helps.
I’m not a big fan of the show because sport isn’t really my thing but I’ve spoken to a lot of people who love it and can now appreciate the attraction.
Perhaps if some of their other programmes took such an obsessive look at their topic of choice the station as a whole would be far better.
In short then, keep Hook and Offtheball, work on Keane, dump the DJs, and consider hiring some actual reporters and doing some news. But that would mean caring about news, not just about making money. I won’t be holding my breath.
They’ll keep Hook and Off The Ball regardless of what happens next; they are their strongest assets.
I think the station isn’t a failure but it’s not what it could or should have been. I don’t foresee it becoming that and I’m happy enough to expect little other than talking heads, which some times is a good thing.
I would love to see more documentaries and investigative pieces - I’d say that for a lot of the Irish media, though.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:36 am
@Fergus O’Rourke:
I imagine Communicorp’s argument is/was that a combined Today FM / Newstalk market share is still far short of what RTÉ have and if them merging was anti-competitive then RTÉ Radio should be split up too.
The BCI also rejected a number of propositions at the time of the bid which would have made the two stations effectively one from very early on. One of those proposals was to merge news rooms, which Communicorp has gone ahead with any way.
Taking some figures from MediaLive.ie, Today FM and Newstalk have a joint market share of 14.6% amongst adults. RTÉ Radio 1, 2FM and Lyric FM combined have over 35% of that particular segment. So there is capital in the argument about RTÉ being allowed to dominate and others not.
The argument doesn’t hold up quite so well in Dublin, however.
For a start the market share is far closer amongst adults in Dublin. Combining Today FM, Newstalk, 98FM and Spin together you have a 31.5% market share amongst adults while RTÉ still dominates, but with a weaker lead, at 43.2%
Communicorp is way ahead when it comes to 15-34 year olds, however - they have a 45.5% market share compared to RTÉ’s 16.3%.
January 29th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
It’s all very simple - Newstalk will be gone before the year is out. No mergers. No re-branding. End of story.
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:36 am
I can’t foresee Denis O’Brien letting a valuable national (or quasi-national) licence slip through his hands having pumped so much money into Newstalk over the years.
If Newstalk closes the licence goes back to the BCI - if anything happens it will be a re-formatting (which will require BCI approval).
June 17th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
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