The panic station?

These are not great days for RTE. By the end of 2003 it is estimated that its losses over three years will have amounted to 60 million euros. Minister Sile de Valera has controversially refused to grant the license increase that the station claims it needs and there are rumours of massive redundancies and the sale of property.

In particular, the growth of local radio, and, latterly, the slow but steady consolidation of Today FM, has had a significant effect on RTE radio, especially 2FM, which is regarded by many as the cash cow of the organisation.

And the situation brings pressures, some of which may seem unfair, in that 2FM is expected to operate as a commercial station competing in an environment where its rivals have no public service responsibilities. These conflicting pressures are almost totally irreconcilable and bring with them concerns that the station may simply lose its identity and play unwittingly into the hands of those who want to dismantle RTE and all who sail in it.

So it was hardly surprising, given the pressure-cooker circumstances, that recent good figures for Today FM, and specifically Ian Dempsey’s breakfast show, have had an instant effect, with the ejection of his 2FM rival Damian McCaul and the installation of Ryan Tubridy’s The Full Irish.

The success of the award-winning Tom Dunne on Today FM also seems to have impacted on 2FM’s evening schedule, not least the virtual halving of Dave Fanning’s midweek airtime. There has also been confusion over the rumoured cancellation and reinstatement of the Fanning Sessions which have served the rock scene so nobly for decades and which were the only part of 2FM’s broadcasting trotted out regularly as their response to its public service remit.

The recent figures and subsequent changes, to judge by comments made off the record to hotpress writers, seem to have had a wholly negative impact on internal morale. One experienced producer is reported to have been putting up posters referring to “Radio 1 and a half” in what some insiders interpret as a deliberate jibe at the Tubridy move, the latter’s new show being a particularly sore point for those who wish to see 2FM maintain its identity as the national music station.

As one 2FM DJ, who declined to be named, put it to me: “I’ve been here virtually since the beginning and I’ve never known morale to be so low. People used to argue openly and express opinions. Now every second person you meet wants to slip off somewhere quiet to speak in hushed tones. Many people are concerned about the introduction of Ryan Tubridy. They don’t understand why a person who seems to have little or no interest in pop or rock music has such an important role on the national pop station.”

This same source rationalises the decision by believing that the move was insisted on by RTE radio boss Helen Shaw against the wishes of 2FM head John Clarke. “Isn’t it bizarre for a national pop music station to have no music programme until midday?” asks our source. “Taking someone from outside 2FM is a real kick in the teeth to all those DJs taken on but never given a weekday daytime slot. This is a panic reaction to the success of Ian Dempsey when it would have made more sense to stick with a Damien McCaul type programme by giving it whatever it lacked. The reduction in airtime for Fanning hands over the rock scene to Tom Dunne without a fight. The way things are going, 2FM will end up as another 98FM and the station will have become irrelevant and redundant.”

The Ryan Line

When I put these issues to 2FM boss John Clarke his response is predictably prickly if spirited, claiming first that he has never been one to comment on “speculation, fabrication and innuendo”, and dismissing our source as somebody suffering “an ego reduction”.

He goes on: “These learned DJs had the same dent in their egos when Gerry Ryan was given a daytime shift over a decade and a half ago. I remember the same comments from insecure individuals then, their judgement being made within two days of Gerry’s show going to air”.

Clarke defends Tubridy’s appointment on several fronts.

“First of all, he is the youngest broadcaster/DJ on the 2FM schedule, with an active interest in music that extends beyond Sophie Ellis Bextor. He has an engaging personality. He’s articulate and has an inquiring mind and his intelligence stretches beyond finding a map to Renards. He believes U2 would have been singing ‘Ballroom Blitz’ on Top Of The Pops if Louis Walsh managed them rather than Paul McGuinness and he has an acknowledged talent for radio and broadcasting.”

Clarke also claims that the audience reaction to Tubridy’s arrival on the early shift has been very positive. As to his appointment, Clark maintains that Tubridy was always his first choice and that the decision was fully supported by Helen Shaw. Indeed, Clarke recalls that when he himself was “imported” into 2FM, seasoned DJ’s would not talk to him for months.

Pointing out that 60% of The Full Irish programming is music-based, Clarke argues that it’s simply a falsehood to suggest that 2FM does not have a music show before midday.

As it happens, the day after Clarke made this claim there were 24 records played on the three-hour programme, ranging from Doris Day to Ryan Adams, but with only three of them Irish – Aslan, The Four Of Us and Six.

“2FM will continue to have an evolving schedule,” Clarke promises, adding that “talent will be nurtured from within, or imported, with the main focus being to give choice to listeners and engage with the best available talent. If the door had remained closed we would not have one of the strongest line-ups on radio and Arthur Murphy would be still be doing the breakfast show!”

All change for Fanning Sessions

The issue of the Fanning situation is far less clear-cut. The normally loquacious Ian Wilson, one of the main motivating forces in the early days of the Fanning Show, refused to comment to hotpress on the changes to Fanning’s airtime which sees his four nights of two hour programmes slip to five nights of one hour, with an agenda that now embraces movies and fashion.

Outside Montrose, interested parties have not been slow to raise concerns.

As John Carroll, manager of the Pony Club and a stalwart of Setanta Records put it, “As a manager of artists for whom the support of DJ’s like Dave Fanning is crucial, I’m obviously concerned about any moves that might restrict Dave’s ability to give as much support as he has done previously. We’ll all have to wait and see if other shows on 2FM pick up the slack.”

Tony McNally of Mayo-based Definitely Blue, beneficiaries of airtime from Fanning and a session produced by Pete Holidai, perhaps summed up the concern of Irish musicians when he told hotpress, “To tell you the truth I was a bit shocked and pissed off to hear they were doing that to his show. I was surprised at the choice of some of his guests. I mean Kylie Minogue has her time and place but not on a Dave Fanning show. But if you honestly look at how radio is heading and the amount of absolute shit they are playing and pretending to like, it’s no surprise they are cutting his show in half. The radio stations are being run by the record companies and I don’t think its going to change anywhere in the near future. It’s a great, great shame about Dave’s show and I hope 2FM realise the mistake they are making”.

Those who work closely with Fanning reckon that Dave himself was keen to change his starting time of 9pm to an earlier slot but was not initially aware that this might lead to his show being shortened.

Meanwhile the man himself maintains he is happy with the new arrangement. “I’ve been doing a two-hour show four days a week, plus other commitments, for more than twenty years,” Dave points out. “There are times when you have to try something different, and at least now I’ll be able to go to gigs again. The other night I had the great novelty of going to The Strokes and I can now even put the kids to bed! Besides, although I’ve lost one hour per night, there’s the additional hour from broadcasting five nights instead of four and I’ve got three hours on Sunday nights which wasn’t always there.”

But he also admits that when the shorter, more varied programme idea was originally mooted he balked at it because he wasn’t convinced that the station would put the necessary resources into it. But with the promise of Gerry Ryan producers like Paul Russell and Joan Torsney being on hand, he says he felt more comfortable with the development.

Rumours that the Dave Fanning sessions were to be dropped have been refuted, although Pete Holidai, one of the producers, did receive a letter thanking him for his contribution, thereby adding fuel to the speculation that the sessions were indeed gone.

However, Ian Wilson is happy to reveal the good news that the sessions will resume at the end of April. “But there will be changes,” he admits. “Instead of getting a band in to do four songs they’ll do three and that should enable us to have more bands in, with maybe two sessions each week. We’ll also place the recordings in different programmes, perhaps Ruth Scott, Jay Ahearn and Dave’s, and we’ll have a much more flexible approach in that some of them might even go out live and some might be acoustic-based.”

Holidai himself will be relieved at this news. As the producer admitted to hotpress: “The 2FM Sessions are a national institution. Nearly every significant band of the past twenty five years has recorded a Fanning Session. It’s a valuable archive and could even be a source of revenue for RTE if they were compiled onto CDs for public sale.”