4fm is Ireland's new multi-city easy listening radio station serving Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Clare

Ireland's newest radio station 4FM is ready to launch in January and has begun the process of recruiting for staff.
They're looking to fill 44 full and part-time positions.
Good luck to Al Dunne and Martin Block with this adventure.
The website is http://www.4fm.ie

Here's the recruitment announcement as it appeared on the front page of the website yesterday:
"Job Opportunities
Are you looking for an exciting and stimulating new challenge? Do you want to join a vibrant, fast-moving, audience-focused new radio station? A station with a vision to produce a wide range of entertainment and information that will offer a fresh new choice to radio listeners? Then take a look at the opportunities below.
The closing date for applications is Friday 17th October 2008".

They need:
Full Time Presenters, Music and Talk with 10years+ experience.
Part Time/Weekend Presenters, Music and Talk with 5 years+ experience.
Specialist Music Presenters for Jazz, Irish, Rock, Soul etc.
News Editors, Reporters and Anchors.

Here's the recruitment page:
http://www.4fm.ie/recruitment.html

Absolute Launch.

Virgin will always be remembered...but times change yadda yadda yadda.
First song?
'A Day In The Life' - Beatles. Nice!
What's Absolute all about? Take a lookee here:

K-Earth LA.

Wanna see a little bit of Word Economy in action???
Gary Bryan (now Mornings) as Afternoon host on Oldies legend KRTH Los Angeles.

Sunshine Radio Reunion.

Funny really - when you've been around the scene for a while you start to get invited to reunions. There's an Atlantic 252 reunion in the planning for next year, but last Friday I had the thrill of hooking up with some of my former workmates from Super Pirate Sunshine 101.

Sunshine was THE station back in the mid to late 80's.

Founded by Robbie Robinson and Chris Cary,it dominated the landscape right until the end of it's life and produced some of the best radio heads in the business.

All the from a studio based in a portacabin beside the beach in north County Dublin!

The outside and inside of the 'portacabin'.

In attendance on the night were people like Jim McCabe (Morning host on FM104 Dublin), Tom Hardy (PD at Today FM), Martin King (TV3 Personality), Dusty Rhodes (DAP), Dara O'Beirne (98 Dublin Production) and Ernie Gallagher (Q102 Dublin) and Paul Kavanagh(Riviera Radio MD).

Andy Ruane, Mark Byrne, Roger Lane, Roxy McGuiness, Avril Hoare, David Dennehy and of course, Robbie and Stella Robinson were also there.

It was so good to see Robbie and Stella and they look great.

Robbie is a legend in the radio business going back to his off-shore days with Johnnie Walker and the like on Radio Caroline. His story is amazing and it was a real honour for me, as a young pup, to have learned from him.

Check here for more on Robbie: http://www.paulplu.demon.co.uk/whos_who/caroline_south.htm

Robbie looking 'dapper' back in the 60s (as Robbie Dale).

Times change of course and I wonder how Sunshine would have fared in the current cut-throat climate that is FM radio. Pretty damn well, is my feeling and seeing those talented people who put it all together confirms this in my mind.

Here's to all that worked in Sunshine over the years from Pat Courtenay to Tony Fenton to Declan Meehan to Justin Mckenna to Gerry Stevens to Tony Dixon and on and on.

Like my hair in this late 80's newspaper ad??

Sunshine and Q102 Video.

Capital Re-brand.

Capital London's latest tweak obviously comes hot on the heels of the Absolute Radio launch.

While some other stations and groups are wondering about how the two letters 'F' and 'M' fit into the current media climate, Capital have brought them back with gusto.

This is their fifth re-brand in just under three years and has been done to show their 'iconic status' in London.

http://www.capitalradio.co.uk

When you look at some of Capital's former presenters you get a real feel for how it's been a part of the UK's radio landscape:

Kenny Everett, Michael Aspel, Dave Cash, Alan 'Fluff' Freeman, Chris Tarrant, Neil (Doctor) Fox, Tommy Vance, Pete Tong, Chris Moyles, Gary King, Sandy Beech, Nicky Campbell, Bam Bam, Pat Sharp, Jakki Brambles, David (Kid) Jensen...!!

Not so Clear.

104.9 Clear FM in Vancouver has flipped formats to the 'Greatest Hits of All Time'...in other words - Oldies. "A new beginning with a very familiar sound" - that's how the on air promos put it.

In the past the frequency has tried it's luck as XFM and Star FM among others, so it will be interesting to see how the Oldies flip works out. My gut feeling is that it will see the station increase listenership as it pumps out The Beatles, The Stones, Mamas and Papas and the like.

Who might suffer from this? 650CISL would be the obvious candidate, purely for the fact that they are on AM. Content wise, CISL are still great in my opinion.

Thoughts go out to ex-Clear FM morning show host Charlee Morgan who was let go as part of the change. Charlee is a veteran though and will bounce back easily if she wants to.

Listen to FM Oldies in Vancouver:

http://www.1049clearfm.com

No doubt, that URL will change soon.

FREE e-Book.

Would you like to receive my Radio Presentation e-Book?

It's FREE...just like most of the stuff I hand out.
35 pages of Radio Tips and Thoughts.

Drop me an e-mail and I'd be delighted to hand it over to you.
brian@bmacmedia.com

Cork Community Radio.

Donal Quinlan in Cork sent this my way...sounds like an interesting project.

Latest Ezine.

The latest edition of the BmacMedia Ezine went out to subscribers on Monday and dealt with my '10 Tips for Radio Greatness'...(sounds impressive, eh)?

Here's an excerpt:

"8. Respect.
For yourself, number one. For your co-workers number two. That doesn’t mean only your fellow presenters, but everyone at your station. Yes, even the Sales reps. They’re the people that make money out of what you do. You can’t but respect that. Yes, even your GM. That’s the person that runs the ship you sail on. The cleaners. They make sure your workspace is healthy. The intern. You were one of these once! The production guy. He/She is devoted to making you sound great. Remember, you get what you give".

The Ezine is FREE every week and is read by over 1,000 presenters and programmers in 60+ radio stations across Ireland, The UK, Europe, Canada, The USA, South Africa and Australia.

Add your name to the list by contacting brian@bmacmedia.com

Did I mention it's FREE ??

Country Choice.

If you like to listen to radio that's off your usual radar, then here's a station suggestion.

There's a Country outlet in Fargo ND that I was pointed towards this week after been in contact with their PD, Hoppy Gilmore.

They're called Froggy 99.9 (KVOX-FM).

Isn't that the best name for a radio station?

Their on air line-up also includes Pete Moss, Lily Pad, Anne Phibian and Hopalong Cassidy - Brilliant!

It's a fun, light hearted and very local FMer that really seems to know it's audience.

Definitely worth a listen.

http://www.froggyweb.com/

Oh and if Country is your thing, then another cool option is KUPL in Portland Oregon. Take a listen to Leela K on afternoon drive and take a look at her Blog on there too. Leela is new to the market and her attitude and outlook make you want to listen to her. You'll see what I mean when you read what she has to say.

The station URL is: http://www.kupl.com/

and Leela's Blog is at:

http://www.kupl.com/pages/691854.php?contentType=4&contentId=697548

Virgin Date.

Noticed on the OneGoldenSquare Blog (http://onegoldensquare.com/) that Virgin have a definite date for when they will no longer be (if you get my drift).

Monday September 29th at 7:45am, the name Absolute Radio will become official.

The lead up should be interesting, as it includes a 'Goodbye Virgin' show on the Friday hosted by Russ Williams that will look back at 15 years of Virgin Radio in the UK.

No doubt there'll be tape rolling for that one !

http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/

Riviera Do It Standing UP !.

Thanks to Enda Caldwell in Monaco for pointing out the fact that the Riviera jocks don't sit, but do it the old way - Standing UP!
I never doubted it for a minute Enda...it's the Atlantic 252 training, eh?

Riviera Radio is 21.

Congrats to the whole team at Riviera Radio in Monaco...celebrating their 21st year on the air.
There's a good size Irish connection with this English language station too.
It's been run for a long while by former Sunshine 101 and Atlantic 252 PD Paul Kavanagh, from Dublin.
The afternoon Drive gig these days is occupied by Enda Caldwell from Navan. Enda has worked in the past at Today FM, Radio Luxembourg and KISS in London.
Former presenters include Dublin talk show host Chris Barry and Mark Byrne, ex Today FM,98FM and Q102.

The station's ratings have improved dramatically over the years since Paul Kavanagh has taken over and is now sitting happily among the Top 5 stations in a 35 station market.
I think most presenters will agree that Riviera is 'one of those places' that we would all like to do a gig in. It has a certain buzz about it. It must be great to sit in that studio and be part of that lifestyle.

So well done to Kavo and Enda and everyone slogging away on the sun soaked South of France...poor sods!!
Check out Riviera Radio in Monaco on 106.3FM, or in the South of France on 106.5FM.

Listen online is at: http://www.rivieraradio.mc

Take a look at their movie:

Hot Country On The Air.

Good to see the guys at Hot Country-CIMR back on FM in the NorthEast of Ireland with another Temporary Licence and some great liner reads from a former colleague of mine - Jeff Rechner based in Los Angeles. You'll find Hot Country on 88.1 or online as well (streaming is up and running).

Their weekend line-up includes Mark Byrne 3-6pm Saturdays, Paul McShane on Mornings and Jim Kenny with the 'American Chart Countdown' on Sunday afternoons.

Listen online here: http://www.countryandirish.ie

Where's The 'Heart'?

Over the next year and a half, the Heart brand will be rolled out across The UK and with it, replacing some heritage names.

Soon to be re-named and re-focussed are legends such as:

I guess it's a sign of the times with consolidation and all that...but is it really progress?

Does the listener benefit? After all, that's the customer right?

The Heart brand is very strong, there's no doubt about it. I just have to wonder if networking will turn the audience towards or against their 'local' radio stations.

Everybody loves Jo Jo Kincaid...Everybody!

Mix 106.5 - Todd McKenney's DJ "Dear Diary" - Celebrity bloopers here

PPi Awards.

Best of luck to all the nominees at this year's PPI Awards (Irish Radio Awards) on October 10th.

Stations with the most nominations include:

RTE Radio 1 - 19 noms.

NewsTalk - 14.

BBC Radio Ulster - 11.

Today FM - 10.

Red FM - 8.

There are 7 nominations each for FM104, RTE 2FM and Radio Kerry.

Phantom 105.2 and Dublins 98 have 4 nominations.

There are 3 each for Lyric FM, i102-104 and Spin 103.8.

Beat and KCLR both have 2 nominations.

Music Broadcaster of The Year should go down to the wire between Tony Fenton (Today FM), and both Colm and Jim Jim (RTE 2FM).

The Breakfast Show award is a tough one to call. KC at RedFM in Cork is always strong (but won it last year). 98's Morning Crew are also previous winners. Colm and Jim Jim have won in the past with FM104. Could this be the year a show from the North wins (either from CityBeat or Cool FM)?

Why do I have a funny feeling that Ray Foley will pick up the gong for 'Music Programme' of the Year. I just think he owns 2008 and this would cap it off for him (as well as JP and Adelle at Today FM).

Full details at: http://www.ppiradioawards.com/shortlist.asp

Will be a fun night !

Tarzan Dan on CFTR Toronto.

Great piece of video. Look...carts! Look...a desk operator - Wow!!
Watch and enjoy. It's a blast. Tarzan Dan Freeman (as he is now known) can be found these days storming it up at Sun-FM in Kelowna BC, Canada.
http://www.kelowna.thesun.net

Latest Ezine.

The latest edition of the BmacMedia Ezine went out on Monday and it deals with our good old friend the 'Hook and Tease'. Where and How to place it, is the question?

Here's a brief section:

"From listening to stations and presenters over time, it appears to me that the way to gain maximum impact from your H&T is to place it at the start of your link. That is, ‘Hook First’.
Why?
Good question.
Here’s what I have discovered in the lab (!): When you Hook first, it allows the Hook to become the Major part of your talk break.
There are three elements in a basic talk break – Minor/Major/Minor.

Your Minor elements can be a station ID or a name check or a quick cross promote. Your Major element is the main feature. In this case, your H&T".

The Ezine is FREE every week (no strings, no mass e-mail campaign...nothing).

You can sign up by getting in touch at brian@bmacmedia.com and join over 1,000 other radio professionals each week from Ireland, The UK, Europe, South Africa, Canada and The USA.

BBC6 Music.

I love 6Music. Great tunes plus clever, original and funny presenters.

How could you not like a station that includes Stephen Merchant and the brilliant Adam and Joe on it's weekend line-up??

Then you have Steve Lamacq and Marc Riley on weekdays. Let's not forget that this is the place where Russell Brand was given a chance to shine!

Last weekend, David Quantick was filling in for Stephen Merchant and he received a text from a listener: "I have a text from Gareth in London...narrow it down Gareth, why don't you...then there's a colon with a bracket underneath it, which I think is some kind of youth slang. Probably means he's going to knife me".

Or, "For all I know, I could have had a bottle of whiskey before I came in here today - How Would I know"??

All delivered in a beautiful straight, deadpan style.

Delicious!

Use the BBC iPlayer to listen again - you'll be happy.

Here's how to take a look:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/

Classic Merchant piece:

Revolution Oldham.

Format flip for 'Revolution' in Oldham can be seen here:

http://www.revolutiononline.co.uk/public-file.htm

The man behind the new direction is former Virgin/Capital and Key 103 presenter Steve Penk.

Time will tell if the move away from Adult Alt. Hits will work in the Greater Manchester market. As always though, isn't it a risk worth taking?

Best of luck with the launch guys.

Re-Brand ?

We're used to radio stations using the Christmas / New Year Holidays as a buffer for changing formats ('All Christmas All The Time', anyone)?
How about this though - two stations in the US are to re-brand for the Presidential Elections !
You can jow listen to 'McCain570' or 'Obama1260' in the Washington DC area.
Dennis Miller and Mike Gallagher will feature on 'McCain' with Ronald Reagan and Ed Schultz on 'Obama'.

Cool.
Take a look:
http://www.wtntam570.com/
and
http://www.progressivetalk1260.com/

They'll get back to normal after the Election...or start playing Christmas music !

Radio Ads on TV...Good Stuff.

Got three minutes to spare...check 'em out!!

David Jensen joins Planet Rock.

Veteran presenter David Jensen (no longer a 'Kid') has signed up with UK station 'Planet Rock'.
Originally from Victoria BC Canada, David has been a name on Radio Luxembourg, BBC Radio 1, Capital FM and Heart 106.2 in London.
His new show will run every Sunday morning. Definitely will be nice to hear him working this format.
Planet Rock goes Freesat September 16th.

More on this story: http://www.radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.3796.17

http://www.planetrock.co.uk

Great Call !

Thanks to Cliff Walker in England for pointing me towards this clip.
Great bit of audio from Anthony Davis on LBC London. What a talent. The way he treats this caller is awesome.

Remember to dial the right number !!

Call live to air on Australian station Two AAA FM in Wagga Wagga. The jock called the Weather Office...right ?

Nova100 - Classic Rock licence.

Congrats to the guys at Nova100, who won the Classic Rock FM licence for Dublin and Commuter Belt.

Some of the folks involved are responsible for the very successful 949 The Rock temporary FM station in the past.

Nova100 plan to be on air August 2009.

http://www.bci.ie/news_information/press197.html

Latest Ezine.

The latest edition of the BmacMedia Ezine deals with one particular Talk Break from an actual aircheck session. Sometimes running through a link in great detail can unearth secrets!

Here's a sample:

“...'The time now is fast approaching twenty two and a half minutes past four'.
Now, that’s an exact time check. Not only are we told the time right down to the half-minute (which we really need mid-afternoon), but the fact of the matter is that it’s ‘fast approaching’ that time. So that means, it’s not quite twenty-two and a half minutes past. Maybe it’s twenty two minutes and twenty three seconds past. I can wait until it hits exactly the half-minute mark. Also, doesn’t time travel at the same speed no matter what?
Can you tell me when it’s 28 and a quarter minutes past?? If you were in a conversation with a friend, would you drop an exact time check into the conversation for no apparent reason? “That’s a lovely new car you bought John, I’d love one like that, it’s 27 and a half minutes past 5 o’clock, where did you get it”?! See how cumbersome that sounds. Plus, your listeners have watches and clocks. They can tell the time themselves..."

The BmacMedia Ezine is sent out every Monday to subscribers and is 100% FREE. No strings.

Sign up at brian@bmacmedia.com and join over 1,000 fellow radio professionals around the World.

'Big Three' Arbitron.

AQH 12+ Share for the 'Big Three' markets (Mon-Sun 6am-Midnight).

New York (15,344,600).
WRKS-FM Urban AC 4.9
WHTZ-FM CHR 4.8
WLTW-FM AC 4.4

Los Angeles (10,902,400).
KLVE-FM Spanish Contemp 5.6
KIIS-FM CHR 4.9
KSCA-FM Mexican Regional 4.4

Chicago (7,788,400).
WGN-AM NewsTalk 6.3
WGCI-FM Urban Contemp 6.0
WVAZ-FM Urban AC 4.3

Full details on the radioinfo website: http://www.radio-info.com

US NewsTalk Stations.

I spent some time, on and off, over the last couple of weeks listening to US News stations during the Democrat and Republican Conventions. Just to get an different angle on things as opposed to reports back to Europe from 'Special Correspondents'.

Some of the stations I tuned into online included:

1010WINS from New York.

KNX 1070 Los Angeles.

KYW NewsRadio 1060 Philadelphia.

All this from outside the US, with thanks to my old pal, StreamCenter.

Take a look if you haven't already:

http://www.thestreamcenter.com and pick your station from the USA !

Virgin Toronto.

With Virgin Radio disappearing from the UK, maybe now is a good time to take a listen to how the Virgin brand has started off in Canada.

Here's the link to Virgin 999 (formerly Mix 999) in Toronto.

http://www.virginradio999.com/

'Radio Pop' from the Beeb.

This is nice. A free-to-download radio player from the BBC (which can be used outside the UK as well). It's a form of Social Networking based on what you listen to. No harm in checking it out, is there?

http://www.radiopop.co.uk

Don LaFontaine RIP.

Very sad to hear of the passing of Voice Legend (and no one fit THAT bill quite like him) Don LaFontaine.
Watch any movie trailer and he's the man describing the scene on screen.
RIP Mr.LaFontaine.
This clip shows his personality and his willingness to share the spotlight with his fellow voice guys.

Nick Abbot on Virgin Radio.

Some good Nick Abbot audio from days gone by...

Latest Ezine.

The latest edition of the BmacMedia Ezine talks about not assuming. Not assuming your listener knows what you are talking about.
Here's an extract:

"If you have been on the same gig at the same station for a long while, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s the stage where you feel YOU know it inside out and therefore so does everyone else.YOU know who Sarah Barielles is. She sings ‘Love Song’.........Let’s look at those three items above from your listener’s point of view.
If you are able to receive text requests in your studio, next time monitor what listeners are asking for. Is it the singer of a song, or the song itself?
Most listeners will ask you to play ‘Love Song’. Very few will ask you to play the new song from Sarah Barielles.
Why? Because they don’t know her name. There’s no shame in that. They’re just not interested. It’s the song they like. How many times have people asked you “Who sings that song”? The song is the first point of connection, not the singer.So, saying “Coming up it’s Sarah Barielles” may mean nothing, whereas “Coming up ‘Love Song’”, will flick a switch".

The BmacMedia Ezine is FREE every Monday from brian@bmacmedia.com

Radio Presenter Workshop.

The next BmacMedia Radio Presenter Workshop will take place on Saturday October 4th.

Here are the details for you:

Location: Digital Audio Productions Building, 7/8 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2.

Time : Noon - 5pm.

Speakers:

Ray Foley Today FM - 'Presentation Session'.

Ray is the Meteor Ireland National DJ of The Year 2007/2008.

Morgan Jones - 'VoiceOver Session'.

Morgan is Ireland's leading Voice Over artist.

Toni Tenagia - 'Ask The PD'.

Toni is former PD at 98FM Dublin as well as Fox FM Adelaide. She is currently Music Consultant with the iRadio Group.

Dusty Rhodes -

Former 2FM presenter and MD of Digital Audio Productions.

Brian McColl - 'Radio Advanced'.

Presenter with Q102 Dublin and Today FM Ireland. Director of BmacMedia.

That's Five Speakers on the one afternoon. It's definitely going to be a radio feast!

More details or to book your place, contact:

brian@bmacmedia.com