Manx Radio

[thesultanofsheight]

35 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

And is this fella the right person to turn it all around?

I've listened to BFBS and I can't help thinking that it's essentially the BBC where perhaps funding is not an issue.  

BFBS is basically a UKG propaganda arm so he’s probably over qualified on what needs to be delivered! 

[hissingsid]

If these figures are correct then Juan Turner, as a taxpayer, has as much right to make a point as anyone else even Nelly...who although she has never met him and does not know him has decided he is not nice.

[overCome]

1 minute ago, Non-Believer said:

I wonder how many of MRs hours count relates to their monopoly TT/FOM coverage? How much does that contribute to the listener numbers and hours?

My gut says negligible for a couple of reasons.  Those TT/FOM weeks would have to coincide with the weeks the listening diaries are being filled in to see maximum effect - the diaries are only our for about a fortnight at a time.. 

But, perhaps more importantly, stations the size of MR and 3fm have their figures averaged.  So, each quarters published figure (the ones you and I see) are an average of the actual numbers from each of the four previous quarters.  It means any big peaks or troughs are smoothed out a bit.  The stations can see their actual numbers from the quarter (the discreet figures) but are not allowed to publish them.  It does give them an indicator or which way their figures are trending.

[woolley]

1 hour ago, Andy Onchan said:

And is this fella the right person to turn it all around?

I've listened to BFBS and I can't help thinking that it's essentially the BBC where perhaps funding is not an issue.  

Maybe it was all sorted out aboard the MV Ross Revenge during one of the rather good Radio Caroline North weekends.

[woolley]

I've always thought RAJAR figures are a load of bollox anyway.

[overCome]

Just now, woolley said:

I've always thought RAJAR figures are a load of bollox anyway.

Yup.  But in the absence of a more accurate methodology, it's the accepted measurement across all commercial and BBC stations by both broadcasters and advertising agencies alike..  If you're happy to take them when they're good, you've got to take them when they're bad...

[Roger Mexico]

4 minutes ago, woolley said:

I've always thought RAJAR figures are a load of bollox anyway.

They're like a lot of statistics.  They may not give you a completely accurate figure of what the actual situation is for any particular period, but if you look at the movement over time, they're going to reflect that fairly well.  So if Manx Radio's figures are shown to be consistently dropping, without RAJAR having changed their methodology, then that is probably what is happening.  The graphs that parchedpeas linked to above will show what has been happening.

In a partial defence of Manx Radio it's worth saying that 'live' listening is dropping at practically all radio stations, simply because there are so many more alternatives - not just in terms of stations available (especially digitally) but in other forms of listening: streaming, podcasts and so on.  But 3fm seems to be doing OK, so it's not anything like a complete excuse.

[WKRP]

When 3FM had a dip they had a revamp and it seemed to work with listener numbers.

Surely it’s time Manx looked at their line up of programmes and did a refresh. Don’t think anything major has been altered for 10 years, expect for the woman only show

[Stu Peters]

Think this through though.

Manx Radio could probably boost listenership easily by sacking all the community and 'serious' spoken word programmes and replacing them with cheap computerised pop music shows instead. But that's not the remit of the station or the reason it needs public funding. If all you want is pop music, Energy and 3FM do a pretty good job. If you want more than that, you listen to Manx Radio...unless you're more interested in traffic on the M25.

[thesultanofsheight]

11 minutes ago, Stu Peters said:

Think this through though.

Manx Radio could probably boost listenership easily by sacking all the community and 'serious' spoken word programmes and replacing them with cheap computerised pop music shows instead. But that's not the remit of the station or the reason it needs public funding. If all you want is pop music, Energy and 3FM do a pretty good job. If you want more than that, you listen to Manx Radio...unless you're more interested in traffic on the M25.

So you’re saying it’s remit is to pump out content that nobody is interested in and it must rigidly continue to do so even though less and less are actually tuning in? 

[dilligaf]

3 minutes ago, thesultanofsheight said:

So you’re saying it’s remit is to pump out content that nobody is interested in and it must rigidly continue to do so even though less and less are actually tuning in? 

But people do listen and enjoy MR. They had to bin the teenager's music to help the amateurs set up their "stations"

[WKRP]

There will always be a place for a community station which will need funding

Edited February 8, 2019 by WKRP

[Gagster]

10 hours ago, parchedpeas said:

https://media.info/radio/stations/manx-radio/listening-figures

https://media.info/radio/stations/3fm/listening-figures

Juan might have a point, to be fair. 3FM nearly bagging as much of the market as Manx, but at no cost to the taxpayer.

The latest Manx Radio figures are poor.  Looking back to 2015, total listeners was about 45,000 but the end of 2018 it is reporting 29,000.  That is a drop of more than a third.

At a normal radio station, you would expect changes to management and programming on the back of these figures.  However Manx Radio continue to ignore reality, ignore the Myers report, waste money and plead poverty.

The drop in audience will affect their ability to sell commercial airtime - clients will expect a drop in spot rates if their ads are being heard by significantly less people.  This then leads to a revenue drop, then more needed to prop it up with public money to fill the gap.

Tynwald seem oblivious to the mis-management and huge* salaries of the top level managers (and the amount of them) when they are actually under performing wildly.  I’ll say this, the people on the ground (presenters etc) are doing the best job they can, but are subject to some incredible management decisions. 

(*: the size of the radio station is actually small in relation to broadcast area and potential total listening audience.  It is not a global corporation).

Edited February 8, 2019 by Gagster

[craggy_steve]

7 hours ago, dilligaf said:

But people do listen and enjoy MR. They had to bin the teenager's music to help the amateurs set up their "stations"

Nothing amateurish about setting up stations which trundle on year after year growing in popularity without public subsidy.

MR's community / Manx current affairs content will always be an overhead, hence the subvention, but I suspect they could still learn a lot from the others in cost control.

[Derek Flint]

11 minutes ago, craggy_steve said:

Nothing amateurish about setting up stations which trundle on year after year growing in popularity without public subsidy.

MR's community / Manx current affairs content will always be an overhead, hence the subvention, but I suspect they could still learn a lot from the others in cost control.

Maybe the new MD will add a new sense of perspective.