2FM have panicked in the face of slipping listener figures and replaced their new Breakfast show presenters. Rick O'Shea and Ruth Scott have been on air for the last 5 months, and while the show was taking time to find its feet it had potential. Perhaps they needed more regular contributors in regular slots to back up the two main presenters or something. Ryan Tubridy, the current favorite within RTE, took at least as long to stabalise the show when he presented it for a couple of years. Moving him off breakfast and onto a mid-morning slot on Radio 1 may have been a mistake as both his new show and the current Breakfast show have so far failed to grab the interest of former listeners. In contrast Today FM and other stations have stood by their presenters for years and allowed them time to build up loyal listeners.
Instead of trying to improve the format of the show they have shunted Ruth and Rick to different time slots and apparently replaced them with Marty Whelan. Whelan had stood in for Gerry Ryan over the last few months and to be honest he really belongs on Radio 1 or Lyric FM. He hasn't got a personality for breakfast radio. In fact during his 5 weeks in Gerrys seat he managed to piss me off no end. For example every morning while reviewing the newspapers he was constantly talking about this great photo or that great picture in the papers. Its bloody RADIO! The listeners cant see the paper. Review the text not the visuals.
Now he's been moved to the Breakfast slot as a reward. He first started on radio in 1979 and that's where he should have been left. An old reliable hand isn't always the best to save a radio station. I suspect this is another example of panic in the ranks of 2FM, their recent rebranding of the station as RTE 2FM would just have served to make the station seem old fashioned in the eyes of young people, RTE is what their parents listen to.
Unfortunately I suspect I'll be listening to another station in the mornings.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Rip Off Republic Part 3
After a break for the Lovely Girls Contest (a.k.a The Rose of Tralee) Eddie Hobbs was back for the third episode of Rip Off Republic. This weeks episode was probably the weakest of the three, in my opinion, but then again I'm biased. You see this weeks episode was about Transport in Ireland today and the main focus was on cars and motorways. I don't actually own a car, seeing how I live a 20 minute walk to work, a 3 minute walk to a reliable bus and a 5 minute walk to the Luas, I am generally able to get anywhere I want faster out of a car than in one. I keep thinking I should get a car because I do need one for longer journeys and I'm beginning to cave to peer pressure. However last nights episode would actually put me off buying a car.
1/8th of all the governments tax take comes from motorists, through VAT, VRT, fuel and other stealth taxes. 4.2 Billion a year. Cars are more expensive here than in most if not all of the rest of Europe and after paying all that tax, you still end up having to queue to pay tolls on motorways. Personally I'm in favor of tolls, based on the idea that the user pays, so long as the tolling is fair and there are similar charges place on all new motorways and not a select few. Its the fact that you have to queue to pay that annoys me. The technology exists to handle electronic tolling and people should be forced to use it. No EasyPass? Then go back to the end of the queue for the single cash lane. Instead they turn off easy pass lanes to make everyone queue equally because a stubborn few wont get Easy Pass for the toll bridges.
The biggest controversy from last nights program was the insinuation that there was some dodgy dealings in the awarding of the contract to run the Westlink toll bridge to NTR. The company made political donations to politicians who then signed the contracts to award them the contract, knowing that huge profits would be made. In the interest of balance and fairness perhaps he should have listed all the politicians NTR made donations to, maybe it was all or most of them? Political donations from companies is a grey area, and Eddie should have been a little more careful cause I'm sure some of the parties would not be adverse to taking a libel action if they thought they had a case.
He briefly touched on the cost over runs and delays in the Luas, as well as how expensive train travel is. There seems to be massive cost overruns on all infrastructure projects with the average overrun a 86% in Ireland while the average in Europe is 20%. Projects don't seem to be costed or planned properly before they are announced to the public and the politicians don't feel any need to apologise to the public for massive over spending with tax payers money. I have to agree with him that the whole planning and costing process is a national scandal. In my opinion some companies bid for state contracts and just make up estimates knowing they will be able to take as long as they want and charge as much as they want once the work is started. That is a disgrace.
The show ended on a duller note than previously with Eddie explaining that 4.2 billion 1 euro coins side by side would stretch to the moon. No call for a public campaign which is a shame because he has the publics attention now and if he did ask them to do something as a sign of protest they would. One more episode to go. Hopefully he will go out with a bang.
1/8th of all the governments tax take comes from motorists, through VAT, VRT, fuel and other stealth taxes. 4.2 Billion a year. Cars are more expensive here than in most if not all of the rest of Europe and after paying all that tax, you still end up having to queue to pay tolls on motorways. Personally I'm in favor of tolls, based on the idea that the user pays, so long as the tolling is fair and there are similar charges place on all new motorways and not a select few. Its the fact that you have to queue to pay that annoys me. The technology exists to handle electronic tolling and people should be forced to use it. No EasyPass? Then go back to the end of the queue for the single cash lane. Instead they turn off easy pass lanes to make everyone queue equally because a stubborn few wont get Easy Pass for the toll bridges.
The biggest controversy from last nights program was the insinuation that there was some dodgy dealings in the awarding of the contract to run the Westlink toll bridge to NTR. The company made political donations to politicians who then signed the contracts to award them the contract, knowing that huge profits would be made. In the interest of balance and fairness perhaps he should have listed all the politicians NTR made donations to, maybe it was all or most of them? Political donations from companies is a grey area, and Eddie should have been a little more careful cause I'm sure some of the parties would not be adverse to taking a libel action if they thought they had a case.
He briefly touched on the cost over runs and delays in the Luas, as well as how expensive train travel is. There seems to be massive cost overruns on all infrastructure projects with the average overrun a 86% in Ireland while the average in Europe is 20%. Projects don't seem to be costed or planned properly before they are announced to the public and the politicians don't feel any need to apologise to the public for massive over spending with tax payers money. I have to agree with him that the whole planning and costing process is a national scandal. In my opinion some companies bid for state contracts and just make up estimates knowing they will be able to take as long as they want and charge as much as they want once the work is started. That is a disgrace.
The show ended on a duller note than previously with Eddie explaining that 4.2 billion 1 euro coins side by side would stretch to the moon. No call for a public campaign which is a shame because he has the publics attention now and if he did ask them to do something as a sign of protest they would. One more episode to go. Hopefully he will go out with a bang.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Eddie Hobbs Vs The Government
Fair play to Eddie and RTE, they took a successful format for stand up comedy mixed with documentary, did a fairly poor imitation of it but managed to touch a national nerve that is having huge political impact. I bet no one in RTE expected anything like the reaction or the ratings. Now of course the rational thing for the government to do would be to batten down the hatches and let Hurricane Hobbs blow over. Unfortunately most of the senior people in the government are on holidays leaving people like Senator Donnie Cassidy to run the country.
Donnie has decided to tackle the issue of Rip off Republic head on, by blaming the show and not the subject. He is calling RTE and Eddie Hobbs to a Dail Committee to answer questions about the accuracy of their show. I agree with him, some of the figures aren't 100% accurate, but he has completely missed the point. It's not the show that is the cause of the problems for the government, it is longstanding public opinion. For years the Irish have complained that we were being ripped off and Donnie did nothing. Now RTE has repeated the common belief and the public sat up and is now taking notice of where their money is going.
The government needs to do something about Rip Off Ireland NOW, and not stamp on anyone who complains about it.
The third episode is on tonight at 9:30 and its guaranteed to be the main talking point of the week.
Donnie has decided to tackle the issue of Rip off Republic head on, by blaming the show and not the subject. He is calling RTE and Eddie Hobbs to a Dail Committee to answer questions about the accuracy of their show. I agree with him, some of the figures aren't 100% accurate, but he has completely missed the point. It's not the show that is the cause of the problems for the government, it is longstanding public opinion. For years the Irish have complained that we were being ripped off and Donnie did nothing. Now RTE has repeated the common belief and the public sat up and is now taking notice of where their money is going.
The government needs to do something about Rip Off Ireland NOW, and not stamp on anyone who complains about it.
The third episode is on tonight at 9:30 and its guaranteed to be the main talking point of the week.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
SpaceShipThree
The guys who won the Ansari X Prize with their SpaceShipOne have announced that SpaceShipTwo will be the craft used by Virgin Galactic to send rich people into space but like SpaceShipOne it will be a sub-orbital trip. Then they will develop SpaceShipThree which will be an orbital craft. Thats going to be cool.
Want free Advertising? Attack others.
Sharon Osbourne has said that U2s stage show was boring and like watching CNN. That's a bit ironic considering it was her families show that helped make MTV boring. MTV is now just endless repeats of badly scripted "reality" TV shows like the Osbournes and Pimp My Ride.
But surprise suprise The X Factor started last Saturday so the trash marketting is in full swing. Yesterday Louis Walsh was on the front page of the Irish Daily Star saying The Rose of Tralee was boring (cant argue with him there, but you don't see me on the front page of a national newspaper pointing out the painfully obvious). Now Sharon attacks U2. Simon Cowell is probably going to come out tomorrow with some other publicity seeking attack. The media really should get wise to this rubish.
But surprise suprise The X Factor started last Saturday so the trash marketting is in full swing. Yesterday Louis Walsh was on the front page of the Irish Daily Star saying The Rose of Tralee was boring (cant argue with him there, but you don't see me on the front page of a national newspaper pointing out the painfully obvious). Now Sharon attacks U2. Simon Cowell is probably going to come out tomorrow with some other publicity seeking attack. The media really should get wise to this rubish.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Broken Bones and Rolling Stones
I read a news story about the Rolling Stones concert last night.
When I read that my initial reaction was "Well old age will do that to you" :-)
However it turns out she was 20 years old and had been sitting in the rafters of the venue to get a better view. Idiot :-)
a fan was hospitalised after suffering two broken ankles and a broken wrist
When I read that my initial reaction was "Well old age will do that to you" :-)
However it turns out she was 20 years old and had been sitting in the rafters of the venue to get a better view. Idiot :-)
Monday, August 22, 2005
Government failing to protect consumers
Bloody hell, I hate the way the Irish Government is failing to protect consumers and instead are basically telling the consumers who are being ripped off to deal with it themselves.
The environmental management charges that were recently introduced and were supposed to be paid by the manufacturer are now being passed on to the down trodden Irish consumer, even if they are not handing in their old electrical device to be recycled. And how does the government, which introduced this tax, respond to this? They support calls for users to boycott the retailers who do this. Come on, someone has to stand up for consumers and stop retailers ripping us off every chance they get.
The environmental management charges that were recently introduced and were supposed to be paid by the manufacturer are now being passed on to the down trodden Irish consumer, even if they are not handing in their old electrical device to be recycled. And how does the government, which introduced this tax, respond to this? They support calls for users to boycott the retailers who do this. Come on, someone has to stand up for consumers and stop retailers ripping us off every chance they get.
Starbucks in Dundrum Update
Yeah I know its sad, but I have another Starbucks related post. I went up to Dundrum on Saturday to get some stuff from Tescos and decided to go to Starbucks for lunch. Of course there was a queue out the door which I thought was caused by first weekend novelty. Instead it was caused by poor service and chaos behind the counter. It was taking about 3 to 4 minutes to serve some people. I know Starbucks take pride in their complicated ordering system, but even ordering a Venti Latte to take away took a couple of minutes.
There were 8 staff behind the counter, 2 were manning the tills, 1 was making coffee, 1 was making paninis and the others were getting in the way. 2 others were clearing tables, and at one stage 5!!! were outside handing out instruction leaflets and taking photos of themselves in their Starbucks uniforms standing in the queue, they thought the queue was very funny. The 2 at the tills were easily distracted spending time talking and watching the others behind the counter, even while serving customers. They also didn't understand the menu and people were resorting to pointing to items on the boards behind them to explain what they wanted. 1 person was making coffees and while busy, she was not swamped as the customers were not making it through the tills.
As proof that it wasn't the number of customers that caused the problem I counted 10 empty tables, which was about half the total. After all their preparation you would think they could have trained their staff? Also, considering a Venti Latte is €3.70 I'd expect decent customer service.
There were 8 staff behind the counter, 2 were manning the tills, 1 was making coffee, 1 was making paninis and the others were getting in the way. 2 others were clearing tables, and at one stage 5!!! were outside handing out instruction leaflets and taking photos of themselves in their Starbucks uniforms standing in the queue, they thought the queue was very funny. The 2 at the tills were easily distracted spending time talking and watching the others behind the counter, even while serving customers. They also didn't understand the menu and people were resorting to pointing to items on the boards behind them to explain what they wanted. 1 person was making coffees and while busy, she was not swamped as the customers were not making it through the tills.
As proof that it wasn't the number of customers that caused the problem I counted 10 empty tables, which was about half the total. After all their preparation you would think they could have trained their staff? Also, considering a Venti Latte is €3.70 I'd expect decent customer service.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Starbucks in Dundrum
The first Starbucks in the Republic of Ireland opened today in Dundrum. I like Starbucks, I know they are the evil empire or something and the anti-starbucks brigade will confiscate my coffee mug as punishment, but I actually like their coffee (you should taste the chemicals we call coffee in work and you'll know why I like Starbucks). I make a point of visiting a Starbucks when on holidays, much to the amused annoyance of a friend of mine who is usually with me. She thinks Starbucks coffee is warm milk and only goes there to keep me happy. :-)
I am quite happy to see Starbucks opening in Dundrum as that is just 5 minutes up the road from me. I expect any time I'm in the shopping center I'll call in to them for my caffeine fix.
Unfortunately for Starbucks in Dundrum they managed to piss off numerous customers with poor customer service 1 1/2 hours before they actually opened.
There was a sign by the door last night saying they were open at 8:30am Monday-Friday and another sign said they were opening this morning. I went up there this morning and got to the shop at 8:35am to find about 15 people standing outside waiting. The shutter was half down on the door but the staff were inside. Eventually one chap went over and spoke to a suited guy sitting on the couches beside the door. He came back and said he was told they were open at 10am.
I am quite happy to see Starbucks opening in Dundrum as that is just 5 minutes up the road from me. I expect any time I'm in the shopping center I'll call in to them for my caffeine fix.
Unfortunately for Starbucks in Dundrum they managed to piss off numerous customers with poor customer service 1 1/2 hours before they actually opened.
There was a sign by the door last night saying they were open at 8:30am Monday-Friday and another sign said they were opening this morning. I went up there this morning and got to the shop at 8:35am to find about 15 people standing outside waiting. The shutter was half down on the door but the staff were inside. Eventually one chap went over and spoke to a suited guy sitting on the couches beside the door. He came back and said he was told they were open at 10am.
Some people went away but most of us waited for confirmation, like a sign on the window or something. Eventually one woman went over and asked the suited guy. She had to ask 3 times before the guy acknowledged her presence. Then he gruffly said 10 am and walked over to seats further from the door. As the woman walked away she muttered "well they have just lost one customer".
Bad Starbucks, bad.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)