Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IT’S EXPECTED DUBLIN radio station Phantom 105.2 will be rechristened in the coming weeks, as the station is restructured and its schedule chopped back.
A raft of job losses were confirmed at the rock and indie broadcaster last week — eight full-time positions are being cut, with on-air, marketing and sales staff all affected. A number of part-time and weekend presenters are also being dropped.
Communicorp, which has executive control of the station, confirmed last weekend that the BAI had granted shareholders permission to restructure “in order to ensure its long-term viability”.
A statement said the station’s niche market had been “disproportionately affected by ongoing reductions in advertising revenue in an increasingly competitive market”.
TheJournal.ie understands that several new station names are being considered by Communicorp executives in order to help achieve their stated aim of continuing “to deliver an alternative music service for young Dubliners”.
The doman name xfm.ie was registered by the company’s Chief Technical Officer Pat Balfe earlier this month. However, radio industry sources say that name is no longer being considered, and that several other options are now on the table.
The name change is expected to happen sometime in April.
Phantom FM has been part of the radio landscape in Dublin for the best part of 15 years. Initially set up as a pirate operation, the team behind the station gradually built up a dedicated listenership — occasionally going off air to bid for broadcast licences, before finally being granted one in 2004.
A legal challenge meant the legal incarnation was delayed from going on air until late 2006. However, the effects of the downturn led to financial strains by 2009, and a year later Communicorp came on board as shareholders. Most of the original ‘pirate’ team have since parted company with the station.
The staff given notice last week will finish up in three week’s time.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Goodbye Phantom, you were good back in the day when you actually played exciting independent music. Now you’re as bland as every other commercial music station. What a pity.
Phantom failed because it’s too mainstream? How does that make any sense?
Go home Beatrice, you’re drunk. :)
She has a point. If you want to listen to mainstream radio, there are plenty of options, and they would be done far better than Phantom. Phantom is supposed to cover a niche music interest. Were it to actually address this area, it *might* stand a better chance of success.
Alternative music???
I’m afraid Bilderberger Dennis (O’Brien), Commuinicorp’s
(and Today FM’s)
(and Newstalk’s)
(and IRadio’s)
(And Spin Radio’s)
(and 98 FM’s)
(And the Indo’s)
(And the Herlad’s)
owner and Seanie Fitz’s BFF
has other plans for what he wants you to listen too.
A few good Pirate’s would sort that out though.
Wouldn’t it Dennisconi??
Any crack in Harto’s these days Dennis?
You can hardly call Phantom mainstream. It already is niche. If it were to become even more niche it would have failed sooner.
Phantom is in decline not because it doesn’t play enough independent music. It’s in decline because Garth Brooks can sell out 5 nights in Croke Park. Look at the current charts and they’ll also show you why Phantom failed. To say Phantom failed because it’s too mainstream makes no sense. If it went even more left field it would have failed even quicker.
RIP Phantom – the only station that played decent music.
Well said, couldn’t agree more.
Great comment.
Great station and a real shame its going to change. Discovered some real good irish bands throigh them. No real station to liaten to now, may turn to nova a bit more often but the rest are not for me.
This was always the case. An alternative/indie music station (run well and understanding what makes a niche music station work) was never going to challenge mainstream music fans’ tastes. I would guess that Phantom’s target was 5% of listener figures in the Dublin area. By being simply another Nova, it was never going to succeed. It may also have failed had it tried sticking to its original remit, but I have a feeling we will never know for sure.
It didn’t help that the breakfast slot which probably accounts for a large share of listenership has been pure muck for the last year or more.
It’s a shame because it was a great station and there is some real talent there. Richie and Richie in particular deserve to go on and do better things.
Putting Richie and Richie in the breakfast slot would probably halt the station’s decline instantly.
They can’t have been all that great if they can’t even make enough money to keep a staff employed.
I have to say I’m gutted to see phantom struggle and eventually fail. It was the only credible music station left. The fact Nova is doing so well is beyond me, all they play is the same power rock crap that appeals to those on nostalgia trips, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, boston etc… Played day in and day out!
Maybe if Ireland hadn’t suffered the mass emigration it has in recent years I reckon a large proportion of Phantoms target listeners are sadly living/working abroad.
You clearly have no idea what you’re talking about.
He’s right with regards to the drivel played on nova. Terrible presenters too who don’t know their arse from their elbow when it comes to music.
JNLR figures tell quite a different story, as does the fact that Phantom can’t find a solid footing while Nova is a younger station and very much established.
You clearly don’t know how to contribute to an ” opinion” based comment thread.
When you say Nova plays only the old tunes, you’re wrong. There are various programmes on the station airing new music from all around the country. The presenters are solid, fun and know their business. Opining in such a way as to suggest another station with the same aim – to offer an alternative to mainstream – survives on the nostalgic preferences harbourbered by listeners is deeply incorrect. Finally, maybe it’s unusual but gathering information before forming an opinion is kinda interesting, you should try it.
I woke up yesterday and as usual turned on nova and the first three songs were aerosmith tom petty and oasis. The newest was 18 yrs old. I like nova but not all day….they play grandad rock….i wished they played dad rock it wud be a vast improvement!
Didn’t they fire loads of staff relatively recently? They seem to be chronically badly mismanaged, and there are some terrible shows with some presenters showing little or no chemistry with each other. The two Richies are great though, and that Friday night show is something I will always try to listen to. I still miss Pearl on Sunday mornings.
They seem determined to hang on to some lousy presenters while happy to lose other vastly more talented ones. Pearl was great. I loved Cinerama. I still mourn Sinister Pete. The Richies are fantastic and I hope they survive the shake up.
Xfm tried for the license years ago and lost out to Phantom.
They should sell the licence to Xfm and let them try make a success out of being an alternative radio station.
I have listened to Phantom since it’s pirate days, and whilst it may not be as good as it once was, it’s a damn sight better than the others.
They have put me on to a load of new music throughout the years. No chance of hearing The Wild Beasts, Eels, Vaccines, Bombay Bicycle Club etc travelling to and from work on FM104 etc.
RIP Phantom, I wish all the staff in there the very best.
Phantom has been a disaster for a few years now. They basically decided to turn it in Rock 104fm (showing my age). It was a cynical ploy to overly commercialise the station. I stopped listening a while back when I realised I hadn’t discovered any new bands in ages. Saying it’s down to the Garth Brookes squad is deluded, there is enough non mainstream stuff to support a station like phantom but Denis O’Brien decided against it.
There’s plenty of quality stuff on Phantom but it tends to get pushed to the outer regions of the schedule while the more bland stuff clogs up the daytime. Late night Phantom can still be great.
Problem is that the playlist they use is too short, it wouldn’t be uncommon to hear the same tracks 3 or 4 times in the same afternoon. It’s still the best station in Dublin for music, John Caddell is a pleasure to listen to. My fear is that the people of Dublin’s musical tastes are probably too mainstream. Garth Brookes sold out 5 nights in Croke Park, so there is a possibility the station may need to go closer to Radio Nova to get the audience, sad but might be true.
As soon as communicorp took over it nose dived. They tried to change it… Such a good station. So sad that it’s ending.
TuneIn. Whole world of music out there.
Metal notes
I’m gonna miss Phantom.It’s radio so you’re at mercy of someone else’s tastes but i’ve discovered a lot of great contemporary music through Phantom,stuff that i would certainly have missed out on.
Preferred The Pirate Xfm now XfmDublin.com in its hey day. The 90s pirates were great. Xfm, Jazz Radio, Sunshine and Phantom.
What’s the bets Joe Donnelly will keep his job after the re-brand though?
Typical Jobs for the boys stuff that he is not one of the 20 DJs to go despite the fact that very few people rate him as a DJ on that station.
A poor fit for Phantom from day one of his appointment
How he is still kept on there while others who have been there far longer and are much better at what they do are given the bullet is a joke.
I perceive this to be typical cronyism & would be nice to get some clairifiaction as to why he was spared whilst the likes of the two Richies & Derek Byrne, Wil St Ledger etc get the boot
Him & Keith Walsh were appalling breakfast show DJs for a station like Phantom. A real low ebb for the place when they returned (I recall them not being much better back in the pirate days too)
Reading out crappy text messages from half wits and get into silly Facebook and Twitter spats with anyone who dared criticism them was truly painful stuff to contend with in the mornings. Sub Hector/ FM104 style ‘Bants’
Maybe this sort of stuff worked on Spin or iBallygobackwards radio in Athlone or wherever but it certainly didn’t on a niche alt music station like Phantom as the JNLR ratings would testify.
RIP Phantom & the very best of luck to all the other staff who will sadly lose their jobs come March.
Sadly Phantom has been creaking for a while, I think when they were based upstairs in Whelans it somehow came through in the music. As for a new name, before Phantom there was Spectrum…if only we could get back to that
continuing “to deliver an alternative music service for young Dubliners”.
if you live in dublin do you become a dubliner?? yikes
I used to listen to Phantom when it was pirate and after that when they got the licence. In recent years I stopped, as all they seemed to play anymore were the Foo Fighters (who I can’t stand) and the likes of. Now I listen online to Raidio na Life, the Irish language station for Dublin at 106.4. Their music programmes e.g. Neuromancer are eclectic and first-rate. Katie Kim – from Waterford? I heard her there first.
Spot on Ricoard- Radio na Life is great and has been since its inception over 20 years ago.
Time for Phantom to go back to piracy!
…and potentially to relevance?
have your say