Manx Radio and 3FM - listening figures

[woolley]

46 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

It's worth looking at Q3 2015 RAJAR figures to consider your point.  Here's the 'top' stations for Reach % down to 3FM:

It's interesting that in the intervening eight years even 3FM's Reach % has dropped (from 40% to 36%), though not as much as Manx Radio's (61% to 39%).  But you can see that for all the radio stations.  People are finding more ways to consume media and all types are having their share diluted.  What is also noticeable is that Manx Radio has seen a smaller drop in their average hours per listener than other stations - the drop has been of casual listeners in the main.  And there are still a lot of those loyal listeners.

I've said this before, and it's controversial, but I have misgivings about the RAJAR process. It's an animal of the industry which is enough for me to be wary of it. It's supposed to be open and transparent, but I'm not convinced. It's like the association of widget manufacturers running a survey to tell me that some widgets are more popular than others, but on the whole widgets are still very popular indeed. Hmmm.

[Kopek]

A million squids for a dwindling audience? Doesn't seem justifiable?

I regularly check in on MRs online 'news'.

Is there an alternative????

[Gagster]

18 hours ago, Stu Peters said:

Hmm. So you’d put maybe 25 people out of work to fund a homeless shelter instead?

Again, no. Again, I’d want to look at the funding model.

I’d want to find way to make improvement to the current process. 

Although I would put the Programme Controller out of work, as they are not performing at all well!

You’ve spoken before about how your ‘Talking Heads’ had no producer. I agree with you that was a poor decision for a news and current affairs strand. So how can it now be right that 3-5pm has two presenters (Alex Brindley and Christy D?)? Does 7:30am-9:30am need two presenters (BBC local breakfasts have 1 presenter, 6-10am)?

Edited October 28, 2023 by Gagster

[Holte End]

16 hours ago, Stu Peters said:

Hmm. So you’d put maybe 25 people out of work to fund a homeless shelter instead?

And in 2015 I was on every lunchtime. No wonder the figures are down now.

(Kidding. Again!)

So when you vote for work permit to be temporarily switch-off , Never to be switched back. How many people do you think you will be putting out of work. If you listen to accents of the people telling you businesses who want this and the person laying this before Tynwald, it might give you a clue. 

 

[Gagster]

So, here is an alternative schedule…

 

5-7:30am Christy D

7:30-9:30am Sian Cowper or Beth Espey

9:30am-1pm Marc Tyley

1-2pm Mannin Line with John Moss

2-5:30pm Chris Williams

5:30pm Update with John Moss

6:30-8:30pm Chris Quirk

This alternative schedule would utilise existing staff, including John Moss who is a capable and versatile current affairs expert but lost his daily Mandate show in 2019.

We say goodbye to Ben Hartley, Alex Brindley, Andy Wint and Chris Kinley - sadly surplus to requirements in this new structure. In the case of the Head of Programmes (Brindley) and Programme Co-ordinator (Hartley), they’ve demonstrated that neither of them are up to the job as seen in the audience figures show. Greatest Hits with Chris Quirk could utilise the existing technology and be “voice-tracked”, he could easily do this alongside his full-time Social Media Content role.

Would this be an outrageous overhaul that would frustrate listeners? Highly unlikely that many people would even notice as all the main parts are there - breakfast, mornings, Mannin Line and Update - just done in a more economical way. You could recruit a new Head of Programmes, somebody that knows what they’re doing, and still save money overall.

[Omobono]

we need to go back to programmes like mandate , where from 7-30 am to 8-30am  all the political  and topical issues  of the day  can be discussed  in a proper balanced manner , 

we need a couple of presenters who actually know whats going on in the isle of man  and will put politicians and invited guests under scrutiny , 

people will then take an interest in whats going on in their local community and be much better informed ,  

the current local news and political programmes are un informative  and  dire ,  I am fed up listening to bean can music  and one  sided  pro government   press releases   every morning  

so will the state funded management of Manx radio please start to address this short coming  and get someone trained up to put various invited guests and government ministers under the  spotlight so we can at least  get a better understanding of their policies and exactly where they think  the island is going ,  

[Non-Believer]

43 minutes ago, Omobono said:

and one  sided  pro government   press releases   every morning  

so will the state funded management of Manx radio please start to address this short coming

The answer is no and you've answered the question why in the first part of the second para.

[Blade Runner]

Has anyone seen that advert on BBC for their content and the female boss of C4 says - With a kind of mad look in her eyes and voice  " Linear television will die out"

The same thing is true of radio, most peeps will pluck what they want to watch/ listen to and not be dictated by schedules.

Fact

[CrazyDave]

1 hour ago, Omobono said:

we need to go back to programmes like mandate , where from 7-30 am to 8-30am  all the political  and topical issues  of the day  can be discussed  in a proper balanced manner , 

we need a couple of presenters who actually know whats going on in the isle of man  and will put politicians and invited guests under scrutiny , 

people will then take an interest in whats going on in their local community and be much better informed ,  

the current local news and political programmes are un informative  and  dire ,  I am fed up listening to bean can music  and one  sided  pro government   press releases   every morning  

so will the state funded management of Manx radio please start to address this short coming  and get someone trained up to put various invited guests and government ministers under the  spotlight so we can at least  get a better understanding of their policies and exactly where they think  the island is going ,  

Very few people want to listen to that on their way to work.

I guess it’s perfect for the retired chilling out over their breakfast and daily paper, but would undoubtedly see the listening figures fall and the age of listener rise even further than they already have.

[IOM]

12 minutes ago, CrazyDave said:

Very few people want to listen to that on their way to work.

I guess it’s perfect for the retired chilling out over their breakfast and daily paper, but would undoubtedly see the listening figures fall and the age of listener rise even further than they already have.

It all depends on the demographic you are targeting. There is undoubtedly a demand for radio stations that target older demographics you only have to look at Boom across and see the growth they are experiencing by being very targeted in their approach. One of the criticisms I think you could level at Manx Radio is they are not clear which audience they are targeting and hence you end up with an erratic non consistent product . 

[CrazyDave]

7 minutes ago, IOM said:

It all depends on the demographic you are targeting. There is undoubtedly a demand for radio stations that target older demographics you only have to look at Boom across and see the growth they are experiencing by being very targeted in their approach. One of the criticisms I think you could level at Manx Radio is they are not clear which audience they are targeting and hence you end up with an erratic non consistent product . 

Agreed.

By the nature of their remit they are going to appeal to an older audience yet especially since Brindley came in they seem determined to go toe to toe with 3FM and try and also appeal to the younger generations.

The end result is they don’t really appeal to any one type of person right across the day so people dip in and about, and in doing so come across stations that suit them better.  Especially now we all have tens of thousands of stations available to us wherever we are.

The subvention is no longer justified just to keep a few oldies happy for a few hours a day with local news before they switch back to Radio 2, Radio 4 or something else.

For what it’s worth I haven’t listened to any local radio since lockdown and the discovery of so many stations that suit me much better online which are available to me just as easily.

[IOM]

3 minutes ago, CrazyDave said:

Agreed.

By the nature of their remit they are going to appeal to an older audience yet especially since Brindley came in they seem determined to go toe to toe with 3FM and try and also appeal to the younger generations.

The end result is they don’t really appeal to any one type of person right across the day so people dip in and about, and in doing so come across stations that suit them better.  Especially now we all have tens of thousands of stations available to us wherever we are.

The subvention is no longer justified just to keep a few oldies happy for a few hours a day with local news before they switch back to Radio 2, Radio 4 or something else.

For what it’s worth I haven’t listened to any local radio since lockdown and the discovery of so many stations that suit me much better online which are available to me just as easily.

I think you could quite easily argue there should be no subvention but that the BBC should cover that especially given they are funding 39 local radio stations across with money from the licence payer . I think they are paying circa £1.7m to Guernsey and £1.3m to Jersey so why not the Isle of Man ? I would therefore say there is a role for Manx Radio but a portion of its running costs which are much less than those channel island costs should covered by licence payer money . 

On your other points I entirely agree they are trying to appeal to everyone and need a more targeted and consistent offer . 
 

 

 

[asitis]

On 10/27/2023 at 9:40 AM, P.K. said:

The gov have a duty to get their message out to the Great Manx Public.

Only the message they want us to hear ! Now an investigative radio station would be worth a subvention !

[CrazyDave]

4 minutes ago, asitis said:

Only the message they want us to hear ! Now an investigative radio station would be worth a subvention !

An investigative radio station that dug into government and the civil service would have all funding cut within the hour of their first expose 😂

[Lilly]

17 hours ago, Kopek said:

A million squids for a dwindling audience? Doesn't seem justifiable?

I regularly check in on MRs online 'news'.

Is there an alternative????

I really like MR what's on guide. 

Although hidden under a different section now.  Took me ages to find it 😄 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Lilly
Added last bit.