Musical chairs for DJs in 2fm shake-up
Dave Fanning will get a more prominent daily role early in the New Year.
Tuesday December 22 2009
BOSSES at 2fm are going back to the future in an attempt to increase its audience share.
Veteran broadcasters Larry Gogan and Dave Fanning will get more prominent daily roles early in the New Year, with Gogan bringing his Just a Minute quiz back to weekday afternoons as part of an hour-long show.
Fanning's evening show will be extended by an hour, and he will also host a new two-hour show on Saturday afternoons.
Both men lost their daily shows on 2fm in the past as the station chased a younger audience, with Fanning moving to Radio One and Gogan to a weekend slot.
However, the managing director of RTE Radio, Claire Duignan, said in August that 2fm would be targeting the 20- to 44-year-old age bracket rather than a younger audience.
The first set of changes to the schedule will see an increase in speech and feature programming, but more changes are expected.
As revealed earlier this month by the Irish Independent, the new schedule includes a Saturday morning show for comedians Tommy Tiernan and Hector O hEochagain, and sees Rick O'Shea replacing Nikki Hayes at midday during the week with a three-hour show.
Will Leahy's show will be extended by an hour while Dan Hegarty will host a two-hour music show each night from 9pm.
"2010 will see major changes to RTE 2fm as the station evolves to meet the needs of its listeners," John McMahon, Head of 2fm, said yesterday.
Among the shows to be axed are Robbie Irwin's Sports Bag on Sunday mornings, Dave Redmond's weekend show and the All Request Lunch.
- Jason O'Brien
Irish Independent
