Tubridy: right man in the wrong place

Ratings fall as RTÉ struggles to cope with the post-Gaybo era.

It was to stop the hemorrhage of listeners in the crucial morning segment from 9.00am to noon that RTÉ decided to bring Ryan Tubridy in from 2FM to the Marian Finucane slot. For over a decade, when Gay Byrne went first into semi-retirement and then into full retirement, listenership figures had been declining. There were nearly 400,000 listeners at 10.00am on weekday mornings in 1994, this had dropped to 285,000 and falling a decade later. The figures for the hour later were even worse, nearly 300,000 in 1994, down to 214,000 ten years later.

Increased competition from the new 25 commercial stations around the country was only part of the explanation. Morning Ireland, which has had the came competition, has thrived in the interim and is now still adding listeners.

The decision to offload Marian Finucane and replace her with Ryan Tubridy in that prime time morning slot was still a surprise however. Yes, the 9.00am to 9.14am slot had lost a quarter of its listeners in the period 1994-2004 but the programme that followed the Marian Finucane show, presented by Pat Kenny, fared worse, losing 30 per cent of its listeners in the same period. So it is not clear why Marian Finucane had to give way, while Pat Kenny remained.

There is also the consideration of voices. When Áine Lawlor is not on Morning Ireland, there will be no female presenter on Radio 1from 7am, when Maxi comes off air, to 5pm when Rachel English comes on air. And when Philip-Boucher Hayes is presenting 5-7 Live and Áine Lawlor is not on Morning Ireland, there is no female presenter anywhere in the schedule throughout the entire day and night, aside from Maxi, who is on air during a time when the vast majority of the populace is asleep (5.00am to 7.00am).

Ryan Tubridy has all the attributes of a great radio and television presenter. He is clever, fluent, confident, a great voice and he is a nice guy. He might do with a bit more edge but he can acquire that if he does not let the niceness get in the way too much.

He and Philip Boucher-Hayes are the best of the new generation of RTÉ broadcasters. Boucher-Hayes appeared to be going nowhere fast a few years ago because of that over-posh accent and condescending manner but these have been toned down and he has emerged as a tough reporter/presenter. Someone somewhere had a word with him. They should have a word with Ryan Tubridy too: stop the twittering, do some real journalism (real journalism can be both worthwhile and entertaining), talk a good deal less (several RTÉ presenters could do acting on that advice, notably Cathal MacCoille, Pat Kenny and Vincent Browne but the latter can't take even his own advice!).

The avalanche of critical response Ryan Tubridy's new radio programme has evoked could be good for him, however painful now. The rise to stardom is never untroubled, it is not enough to be a nice, good-for-the-gab guy.

But critics don't make allowances for the hazards of start-ups. No programme can be seamlessly good from the start. The Tubridy Show needs time to find its feet, to discover what it should be doing, how a format comfortable for the listeners and for the presenter can be devised, what subjects fit it and what subjects don't. A production team imported from 2fm may have been the wrong choice for Tubridy, however successful there and however talented. He needed an experienced Radio 1 producer, one who knows the audience and the possibilities. But it will come, Tubridy has the ability.

There is the further difficulty now on what to do with The Tubridy Show. The obvious route for it to go would be into the Pat Kenny area – current affairs features. Ryan Tubridy previously showed a capacity to handle that well before he went to 2fm. If he is precluded from that arena now, what can he do but twitter, which will annoy listeners and damage his reputation and career?

He was/is the obvious successor to Pat Kenny both on radio and television but successor to Marian Finucane?

There is the further problem of Ray D'Arcy. D'Arcy has done wonders on Today fm in the slot 9am to noon slot. His show has taken listeners from 2fm's Gerry Ryan, RTÉ 's most successful mid morning presenter. D'Arcy's style is in the same mould as those of Gerry Ryan and Ryan Tubridy. So what is Tubridy to do? Go head to head against D'Arcy and Ryan, with listeners who clearly do not want that style of broadcasting or change to replicate what Pat Kenny will be doing from 10.00am to noon?

The successes to emerge from the latest ratings are Morning Ireland (again), The News at One (again), Liveline (again), Five-Seven Live (again), Matt Cooper's Last Word on Today fm, and Ray D'Arcy. And at the weekends, Ruth Buchanon with Playback and Derek Mooney on Mooney Goes Wild. Serious problems remain at Newstalk and that mid-morning slot on RTÉ Radio 1 continues to be a troubled area.

Morning Ireland continues to thrive probably because it has become the agenda-setting programme of radio nationally. It attracts the main "players", covers the "hot" stories, and it has experienced, smooth presenters. But it should be vulnerable to competition because the format of the programme is such as regularly to cut off discussion precipitously, presenters regularly talk far too much and editorialise. Important stories are often ignored.

Newstalk thought Eamon Dunphy could eat into that vast audience, over 360,000 during several quarter hour segments, but his format is too lugubrious and as a presenter he lacks the knowledge and the mental edge to challenge interviewees on the main issues. His ratings, although presented as an improvement on last year's results, are disappointing and go nowhere close to justifying the very substantial investment in him.

Sean O' Rourke continues to flourish on the News at One, which continues to attract a huge lunchtime audience, over a quarter of a million. Although Joe Duffy's Liveline lost some listeners in the last period, it is one of the major successes of radio nationally.

5-7 Live with Rachel English also lost listeners but she attracts an audience of around 150,000 (in quarter hour segments), far outdistancing rival national and Dublin stations.

Ruth Buchanon has been attracting a huge audience with Playback on Radio 1 from 9am to 10am on Saturday mornings. Her ebullience and mischievousness work brilliantly. Derek Mooney, off his own bat, has created an extraordinary programme, by far the best radio innovation in, maybe, generations.

In the drive-time slot Matt Cooper has turning ratings around for Today fm. The transition from Eamon Dunphy to Matt Cooper was difficult for Today fm but it is now coming right. Matt Cooper took time to find his broadcasting feet but, unlike Dunphy, he has great grasp of current affairs and a keen mind. His broadcasting style is less ebullient but substance seems to be compensating for that.

Ray D'Arcy's success, along with Matt Cooper's is a huge boost for Today FM, which certainly has consolidated its position as the second national broadcaster.

Newstalk obviously hopes to challenge that with a national license soon but it has major difficulties. By far its most successful programme is Off the Ball presented by Ger Gilroy and Ken Early (both of whom will be regular contributors to Village) but its is in the post 7pm graveyard slot. Their format, where they talk among themselves for large portions of their programme and take listeners emails and text messages, is novel and works wonderfully. The same format could work on current affairs.

Newstalk is undergoing internal changes. Dan Healy, who did a brilliant job as head of 98fm had a difficult time at Newstalk and is now leaving the station. His replacement, Elaine Geraghty, faces huge challenges, improving Newstalk's dismal ratings across the whole day's schedule and competing for the national license. As a former broadcaster herself, with experience in marketing and business administration, she has the experience and capacity to turn around the fortunes of Newstalk. Perhaps she needs the assistance of a former head of RTÉ Radio, Helen Shaw!

Meanwhile several of the local stations have done brilliantly, as recorded in the latest ratings.

Spin 103 now attracts 10 per cent of the Dublin audience (Newstalk attracts only 6 per cent!), FM104 with 20 per cent is hugely successful. But in the local markets there share several spectacular accomplishments. Cork's 96FM, although losing listeners in the last year, continues to get 45 per cent of the Cork audience (double what RTÉ Radio 1 gets there). Highland Radio in Donegal gets 65 per cent of its local audience. Limerick's Live 95FM gets nearly 60 per cent of its local audience, as does Mid West Radio. Radio Kerry gets 51 per cent, Galway Bay 38 per cent and Waterford Local Radio the same.

Meanwhile RTÉ's satisfaction with the success of its weekend morning programmes must be tempered with a sense of anxiety that just at a time when it is about to change the weekend morning formats with the introduction of Marian Finucane the ratings are saying leave well enough alone.