2FM's uncertain future: Are Doireann Garrihy, Jennifer Zamparelli ...

The year was 1999 and Today FM was the new kid on the block eager to establish itself with listeners and advertisers alike. The problem was, it had no big mid-morning draw. 

Moya Doherty and John McColgan, part-owners of the station, knew something had to be done and were assiduously courting Gerry Ryan. He was then RTÉ 2FM’s hottest property and his morning audience had grown exponentially since his appointment in 1989. 

The papers were drawn up, the contracts issued, Gerry was enthusiastic. And then, nothing. An RTÉ executive, alerted to the poaching exercise, had appeared at Ryan’s house armed with a large cheque, a promise of unconditional love and more TV time. 

The ruse worked as Ryan faltered, won over by the biggest show in town. He was fearful of setting up against his alma mater and prioritised safety over opportunity. He remained with the Montrose broadcaster until his death in April 2010. 

Spool forward to 2024 and on-air staff at 2FM are hastening to the exit, leaving the mothership seemingly eager to embrace new challenges.

In the last week, 2FM announced that its show Drive it with The 2 Johnnies will finish at month-end. They didn’t overstay their welcome. They were only with the station a little over two years, hardly long enough to register with the Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) audience measurement.  

Their exit was preceded by that of Doireann Garrihy who, along with former rugby star Donncha O’Callaghan and broadcaster Carl Mullan, had fronted 2FM’s breakfast show. Then Jennifer Zamparelli announced she too was quitting her daily show, after a decade at the station.

All this was happening at a time when 2FM continues to trail its main rival Today FM by over 200,000 listeners per week (764,000 vs. 992,000 JNLR 2024). A string of departures won’t help narrow the gap.

To lose one show could be considered unfortunate but to lose three and at such proximity could be considered careless, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde.

What is going on? Why are the cool cats deserting the ship? And is the ship sinking?

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The first truth is that for on-air talent, 2FM is no longer the draw it once was.  An on-air contract with the station is a stepping stone in someone’s career, not an endpoint. Young presenters, much like young people everywhere, are less tied to careers, organisations or continuous employment. And they don’t have to be. 

National radio has changed beyond recognition from its early days when it was dominated by RTÉ. 

After Gerry Ryan rejected the offer to move, Today FM (fronted by Ian Dempsey, Ray Darcy and Matt Cooper among others) drove a coach and four through 2FM’s listenership and revenue. By 2008, RTÉ’s virtual monopoly of national broadcasting was well and truly breached as Today FM and NewsTalk continued to grow audiences. 

And then the recession happened. For almost a decade, people in media were just happy to have a job. Pay cuts were the order of the day and all media downsized in the face of declining revenue and the rise of social media. But nationally, RTÉ was no longer the only show in town and it would just take the passing of the recession to prove it decisively.

2FM announced that its show Drive it with The 2 Johnnies will finish at month-end.

At the same time, social media had just matured commercially. Podcasting became the sine qua non of every media organisation from The New York Times to Paddy Power. Everyone, it seemed, had become a broadcaster. Joe Rogan, the US comedian, got €200 million from Spotify for the rights to distribute his podcasts.

Suddenly, everyone was at it. Influencers, initially primarily female, were promoting and hosting and creating an alternative pathway for advertisers to audiences. 

In Ireland, younger media-literate types could use social media to supplement their income. Much of it was under the radar and hard to track if you weren’t in the target group.  

I remember enquiring of one former colleague how she was making a living after her position was made redundant. “I’m grand,” she told me. “I’m on Instagram.” This from a former sales executive who had been very good at her job. “Selling?” I enquired. “Kinda,” was the reply. “I have 18,000 followers who are middle-aged and female and I show them how to apply make-up quickly and properly.” Truly a new career path.

Lottie Ryan and Doireann Garrihy are media in their own right.

Of course, there are questions to be asked of these new media. Their commerciality is often unregulated and open to abuse. Some of the practitioners seem (and I’m being charitable here) unaware of the conflicts of interest that their unbridled promotion presents. Younger members of 2FM were slow to realise the conflict between the use of RTÉ backdrops funded by the public purse and their own financial enhancement. 

Out in Montrose, Lottie Ryan, daughter of Gerry, was taken to task about some paid-for promotional spots for the likes of Smyths Toys and Captain Morgan Rum. Doireann Garrihy was forced to defend her links with Horse Racing Ireland.

But the cat is out of the bag. Ryan, with over 80,000 followers on Instagram, and Garrihy with more than 327,000, are now substantial media in their own right. Like my former colleague, the queen of middle-aged make-up, they have their own personal audiences. 

Sponsors, too, are prepared to treat them as media and pay for the privilege of access to their airwaves. 

It was noticeable that Horse Racing Ireland stood over its use of influencers, telling The Irish Times it intended to use them again. The payment of €27,000 to Garrihy was seen as “real value for money for the promotion of Irish Racing”. 

2FM will have no issue filling the spots vacated by its retiring stars but its loss will be substantial. Broadcast media, as well as paying wages to their presenters, invests and develops those personalities through promotion and long-term commitment. 

The presenters are part of the character and personality of the host broadcaster. Over time, both parties can gain immeasurably from consistency and familiarity. Think Gay Byrne on Radio 1, Larry Gogan on 2FM. Think Dermot and Dave across Dublin’s 98FM and Today FM. 

For 2FM, the investment in Garrihy and The 2 Johnnies has come to nought. Its management will need to think carefully about the next steps.

A dilemma for RTÉ

If it follows a strict public service remit, it will tightly control its stars and how they exploit and monetise their personalities. But if it follows this pathway, it may well exclude those young innovative voices that it so much needs to grow its audience and bolster its creaking relevance.

The decision, increasingly, is not 2FM’s to make. In this age of social media, there are other lucrative choices for the personalities it wants to attract. To attract talent and have any chance at cutting the gap with its competitors, 2FM will have to bend with the wind. This means accommodating some of their commercial ties and perhaps even engaging with agents such as Noel Kelly. 

In the audio world, 2FM has been overtaken by the Bauer group of music stations that includes the like of Today FM, Spin FM and 98FM. It is very much on the back foot against consolidating commercial pressure. It needs of €3.5 million from the licence payer to stay on the air, according to RTÉ’s 2023 annual report, while the opposition prospers solely on commercial revenue. 

Yet despite its reduced role, 2FM is an important touchpoint for RTÉ. RTÉ’s mandate is to reach all audiences but its Radio 1 and TV audiences are predominantly over 50. 2FM, with its 15-34 age profile, is the broadcaster’s main contact with this next generation.

It’s squeaky bum time. If 2FM can’t hold on to engaging presenters, it will find it impossible to grow audiences. And if its audiences decline further, it will find its public mandate and annual subsidy increasing under threat.  

Willie O’Reilly is a former director of Today FM , FM104, Highland Radio and iRadio. He was RTÉ group commercial director from 2012 to 2017.