2FM’s move with the times won’t move the dial for ratings

Having spent ten years working on-and-off in commercial radio, you become privy to some golden rules. One of them is the value of a fixed schedule: my four years at Today FM saw the abrupt departures of Ray D’Arcy and Anton Savage from the same mid-morning slot; the death of Tony Fenton; the rise and fall of Al Porter, and all sorts of weekend reshuffling. Only Ian Dempsey and Matt Cooper survived the tumult.

The station faced a classic dilemma: does a station aiming at 25-44 year olds evolve to retain its existing, ageing listeners, or shed them to chase new younger ones?

Today FM’s conclusion was yes, and the change was necessary. The trouble was the flux it created: audiences don’t like change, and take ages to build a rapport with a new host. If we could only have left the schedule alone, audiences would take to it. Once the changes subsided, they did: Today FM’s market share has never been higher.

I was struck, then, to see 2FM chief Dan Healy openly touting his station as a transient home for people who want to do something and move onward. Some in Donnybrook might deny it, but it has been stated practice to recruit 2FM presenters based on their previous online audience: the announcement of Doireann Garrihy’s arrival to the breakfast show specifically mentioned the extent of her Instagram following.

2FM fell into a common RTÉ trap: presuming its legacy status meant it would forever be perceived as the top of the media tree, and not a mere bauble on someone else’s hat. RTÉ presumed recruiting an influencer meant buying their audience, rather than merely renting their brand for a few years at a time.

The onset of rules requiring presenters to disclose income from side hustles - even if RTÉ isn’t their bread and butter - means nobody 2FM can hire now is likely to stay for very long. At least Dan Healy is admitting it. What that means for the ratings, is another matter.