Gareth O'Callaghan: Claire Byrne's move from RTÉ to Newstalk means radio battle is finally on — The Irish Examiner
Flor Lynch
Gareth O'Callaghan: Claire Byrne's move from RTÉ to Newstalk means radio battle is finally on
Was I the only one last week not surprised by Claire Byrne’s imminent move back to Newstalk? File picture: Andres Poveda
Back in 1999, Dell’s chief information officer, Jerry Gregoire, prophesied the future of digital transformation with the words: “The customer experience is the next competitive battleground”.
These days, Gregoire runs a company called Redbird Flight Simulations, based in Austin, Texas, which manufactures flight simulators for pilots. Redbird was founded in 2006 — the same year Newstalk brought its style of talk radio to a national audience.
Prior to its arrival, apart from regional shows around the country that dealt with local issues, what loosely passed for interactive talk radio only existed in the post-watershed domain of two Dublin stations. Its salacious X-rated content frequently made me cringe.
By going national with its talk-based format, Newstalk were positioning themselves in direct competition with the sacred cow of Irish radio, Radio 1, which, to paraphrase Saint Paul’s words, is “all things to all people”.
So was I the only one last week not surprised by Claire Byrne’s imminent move back to Newstalk, which she left in 2010 to join RTÉ? Times have changed. Newstalk’s ambitions were plucky 20 years ago. After all, the ghost of radio past bore testimony to that, as concert promoter Oliver Barry discovered: Go up against this colossus at your peril.
Century Radio lasted two years. It was launched in 1989, against the backdrop of an Ireland not unlike the village in Glenroe that was mostly unaware of the enormity of the looming threat of global media.
Radio 1 was a dynasty, straight off the set of Dallas, and its top earners knew which side their bread was buttered on. Century knew they had to secure household names if they were going to draw listeners.
But the mothership of Irish radio proved impenetrable. The big guns resisted the blank cheques on offer. In the end, Century's only famous acquisition was Marty Whelan.
Back then, Ireland was living through its worst recession in decades. People had battened down the hatches, sticking with their lot while not taking risks. They included Gay Byrne and Marian Finucane, whose gut told them this was not the next competitive battleground.
Gay Byrne rarely took risks. Three years earlier, he discovered he had been ripped off to the tune of €250k by his accountant and friend, Russell Murphy. By 1989, 23% of adults were tuned to Radio 1 during the hours of his radio show.
Customer experience told him to stay put. Radio 1 was the only show in town. Where else could you listen to two live church services on a Sunday morning, followed by an afternoon of GAA commentary, then the Angelus, history, poetry, drama and trad?
With the exception of a few tweaks, little has changed.
Back in the day, Radio 1 was a soundtrack to life’s formalities. It was right up there with daily Mass and corned beef and cabbage. Outside of the main cities, there wasn’t the need to fix something that wasn’t broken.
At its peak, Radio Éireann, as it was called, had become its own venerable shrine, such was its place in Irish life. Compared to now, most of its output was bleak — much like the mood of the country.
The winds of change blew into the 1990s; but most Irish people, including all those who had emigrated, still harboured a longing for Radio 1. It never lost its magnetic charm.
No matter how hard you try to create an alternative to decades of a radio style that remains constant, we Irish, particularly in challenging times, will tend to opt for what we have always known — as decades of ratings show.
Covid's impact
But then covid arrived, bringing with it a permanent reset in people’s routines and mindsets. We found ourselves at war with an invisible enemy — one that could destabilise us, even snuff us out if it got the upper hand. And it did.
RTÉ’s public service work during the pandemic couldn’t be faulted; but it wasn’t long before the sprouts of fake news spread like ragwort and started to divide the country. X, formerly Twitter, became the tin foil hat-merchant’s pulpit. Reading its contents felt like wading through a sewer.
Hate suffused covid, and RTÉ became a target of that hate for many. Trusted mainstream news was vilified. Misinformation became a dark reality. What was once a reliable system of collating real stories was rubbished by those who’d gone down the rabbit hole. They created a bias, and traditional news outlets became their prey.
It was during covid that, like many others, I found myself listening more to Newstalk. Yes, it was all talk, but it was different to Radio 1. It was pithy, often unpredictable — two styles you rarely hear on the latter. Its personality-driven schedule delivered with an off-centre style, as distinct from the staid style of Radio 1.
It brought out the best in Pat Kenny, who sounded as though he had settled into a more piqued and refreshing “just answer the question” approach I’d never heard before. It was talk radio without the focus on scripts in an improvised setting — much like the style of LBC, which I listened to in London in the 1980s. It bounced along.
A seismic shift
There are many sides of life I know little or nothing about. Radio is not one of them. I was raised on radio — like the kid who’s been playing piano since he was five. It’s not just been my career for 40 years, it’s a subject I’m passionate about.
There’s no such thing as good radio. It’s either great, or it’s banal. It’s that simple.
Irish radio is undergoing a seismic shift. Talk radio, compared to its music-driven counterpart, is very costly. But talking is at the heart of what Irish people do. Talk radio is more relevant now than ever, but its content needs to have lasting impact.
Gerry Ryan was the master of lasting impact. RTÉ lost respect three years ago when its uncapped corporate spending and its labyrinthine accountancy practices came to light. It also lost the trust of those who work at the coalface. One of the kneejerk reactions to the scandal was to cap the earnings of its presenters who had nothing to do with the storm.
Whereas before, privately-owned radio stations couldn’t match the earnings of RTÉ’s big names, now the tables have turned. Newstalk’s star is in the ascendant more than ever. It has long ditched the macho image of the days of Dunphy, Yates and Hook.
Nor is it the niche service it was seen as 20 years ago. Give it a few years and Newstalk could outdo even their own expectations. Its content and its style appeal to millennials in the same way Radio 1 is the choice of the more conservative listener.
What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, as Donncha Ó’Dúlaing used to say. Radio 1 is as relevant as ever. Its long tradition of great programmes just keeps getting better, but its majority stake hold on listenership is no longer guaranteed.
It might have taken 20 years to reach this point, but I believe the real battleground for listeners between Newstalk and Radio 1 is finally taking shape. That can only be good for customer experience.