We all have our own ideas on what was the biggest radio story of 2014, depending on our priorities and employment, but these are the stories which generated the most amount of clicks on RadioToday during the last 12 months.
2fm went under a major change, things heated up in Cork, TXFM launched, Adrian Kennedy and Jeremy Dixon confirmed their new gig, Dermot and Dave went national and Ray D’Arcy announced a big move.
Join us for the Top 10 radio industry stories of 2014…
10: Damian Farrelly exits 2fm after 14 years
Damian Farrelly has presented his last show on 2fm, after recently covering the midday shows. He left early breakfast in January to cover for Colm Hayes in the weekday 11am slot. He said his goodbyes at the end of his last early breakfast signalling he wouldn’t be returning to the timeslot.
9: Victor Barry departs Cork’s Red FM
Late night presenter Victor Barry has presented his last Talk Back show on Red FM, to make way for new appointments including Neil Prendeville. Victor started his goodbye speech last night (Sunday) by joking that his rumoured departure as just a publicity stunt to get an extra couple of listeners, but quickly corrected himself saying “it’s not actually.”
8: Date set for Adrian and Jeremy at 98FM
Adrian Kennedy and Jeremy Dixon have confirmed they will be joining 98FM on March 10th for their new daily talk show, Dublin Talks. The pair left FM104 in September last year but have been on extended gardening leave ever since, unable to talk about their plans until today.
7: Greene & King confirmed for 2fm late show
The new 2fm schedule continues to take shape as iRadio’s Chris Greene & Ciara King are confirmed for a new late show. The duo, who left iRadio last month, will front the 10pm till 1am slot on the new-look station as suspected.
6: 2fm’s John Clarke has left the building
John Clarke has hosted Ireland’s Biggest Jukebox show for the final time today. The ending of the show is the latest in a long list of programmes getting moved or cut at the national station, as new boss Dan Healy makes his mark reinventing the station.
5: Dermot and Dave swap 98fm for Today FM
Long-serving 98fm drivetime presenters Dermot Whelan and Dave Moore are going national, joining sister station Today FM. The pair hosted breakfast on the Communicorp station in Dublin for eight years before moving to drivetime in 2010.
4: Prendeville sees Red and exits Cork’s 96
Talk show host Neil Prendeville has left Cork’s 96FM to join cross-town rival Red FM to host a new daily mid-morning show. The move was announced by Keith Cunningham, Red FM’s incoming Programme Director, who’ll be presenting breakfast on the station from March 31st.
3: RTÉ to end longwave broadcasts on 252 kHz
RTÉ Radio 1 is to stop transmitting its 252 longwave service from the end of next month as it pushes listeners to FM and digital radio instead. The station has been on 252kHZ since 17th March 2004 and is of course the frequency previously used by Atlantic 252 in the late 80s and 90s. It will end transmissions on Monday 27th October.
2 Ray D’Arcy leaves Today FM to replace Mooney on RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ announces radio and television presenter Ray D’Arcy is to join RTÉ Radio 1 to present a daily mid afternoon programme. The station welcomes Ray back after 14 years. Ray will also be working on television projects in RTÉ in 2015.
1 Phantom says goodbye ahead of TXFM launch
Phantom FM has lived its last day on-air in Dublin. The station will rebrand as TXFM in the next couple of weeks, on a date yet to be announced. Station bosses tell RadioToday they will switch to non-stop music from midnight before the frequency becomes the home of Today FM’s newer, younger, trendier sister station TXFM.
So what will 2015 bring us? Find out here at RadioToday, and keep us informed with your moves and news during the next 12 months via news@radiotoday.ie.
Feeling nostalgic? Have a look at the biggest stories of 2013 here.
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