Dunphy moves to RTÉ Radio 1

The news is just doing the rounds now; Eamon Dunphy will take up residence in the studios of RTÉ Radio 1 once his current tenure at Newstalk 106 runs out. The show will be weekly, however all other details (such as content, time slot and day) are currently unknown. The national radio market; specifically in [...]

RTÉ apply for DAB licence

It was only a matter of time, given the relevant success of the DAB trials earlier this year; From RTÉ.ie: RTÉ has today announced that it will seek a licence to begin a DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) radio service on the east coast from Dublin to Louth later this year. The announcement follows a successful [...]

Dunphy packs it in at Newstalk

The news has done the rounds already (even Aprés Match gave it a mention) but Eamon Dunphy has announced his decision to part ways with Dublin’s Newstalk 106 at the end of his contract. From OHC PR: Eamon Dunphy to leave Newstalk Broadcaster and Journalist Eamon Dunphy announced today that he is leaving Newstalk 106. [...]

Defining the national broadcaster in Ireland

Green TD Ciarán Cuffe recently blogged about the statutory rape crisis and while it was great to get a unique political perspective on the whole debacle, one comment he made stood out for me. The comment wasn’t as much about the crisis as it was about the public and media reaction; The crowds outside was [...]

Newstalk faces loyalty issue (SBP – 28th May 2006)

Newstalk 106 must work hard to avoid losing its loyal Dublin audience once it goes national, chief executive Elaine Geraghty has said. The talk radio station will be in a unique position when it makes the move to national coverage. Programming and format changes are to be made to ensure that output is relevant to [...]

Newstalk and interactivity

There’s a small wave of anger amonst a vocal minority of Newstalk 106 listeners at the recent introduction of premium text rates. The new system means that listeners wishing to contribute to the discussion must pay 30c for the privilege. The website has nothing about it (in fact the contacts page still features the old [...]

Dublin radio (finally) getting another station

After more than a year of legal wrangling, the path is finally free for Phantom FM to launch in Dublin. The legal case saw licence application runner-up Zed FM (backed by Nial Stokes of Hot Press and Bob Geldof among others) claim that the BCI had awarded Phantom FM on the basis of their illegal [...]

The latest trial by media

On-going developments in the Rachel O’Reilly case have created another trial by media in Ireland. Tuesday, 14th of March saw a man being arrested in connection to the murder. The man, who had been arrested before, was later released without charge. The man’s girlfriend is currently being questioned in relation to the case also. RTÉ [...]

The art of the Vox-Pop

Vox-pops have to be one of the most frustrating aspects of modern media. In my opinion, they have a limited place in journalism but are over-used by numerous outlets as a cheap and easy way to ‘reach out’ to the audience. For me, the purpose of a news broadcast is to tell the public something [...]

What to expect from the new (quasi-national) Newstalk

Newstalk 106 has been a reasonable success story since its creation only 4 years ago. Starting out in Dublin as a speech-based radio station seemed like suicide or at the very least a mis-guided step but with a mix of strong advertising, high quality hosts and persistance the station has now moved up to a [...]