Pat Kenny’s Move Signals an Opportunity of Change for RTE
We are probably one of the last to comment on the news that the juggernaut of RTE Radio 1, Pat Kenny, is moving to Newstalk. We wanted to sit back and take stock – was this negative news story for all players or are the opportunities endless for the two broadcasters? We’ve taken an alternative view that Pat Kenny moving is an opportunity to be embraced by RTE and for Newstalk it was a gamble worth taking.
Firstly, let's address the thought that RTE’s audience are loyal and are unlikely to move to Newstalk. If you look at the drop in viewership when Pat Kenny was replaced on the Late Late Show, you know that his followers are loyal so surely they will seek him out. The Journal ran a poll asking how many people would follow Pat to his new location and 22% of those asked said they would move with the presenter. That may seem low but it would result in a significant increase for Newstalk. If 22% of listeners did move this would equate to an additional 72,160 all adult listeners – that’s more listeners than Newstalk currently have in that time slot and would be a 131% increase in listenership during that slot for them. Realistically, it’s unlikely that the figure that moves would be as high as 22%. However, even if only 10% of Pat’s current listeners move that will equate to a 60% increase in listeners for Newstalk during 10am-12noon time band. It is certainly an interesting move from Newstalk and they will be hoping that Pat Kenny will lead to increased listenership, which will allow them to increase revenues in line with changing audience figures. The hope from Newstalk will be to retain listeners throughout the day.
What of RTE? The media outlets are predicting this move will be devastating for the broadcaster. We asked some of our largest clients, including Musgrave and the National Lottory, their thoughts on the news and all agreed that there was opportunity for RTE Radio. RTE Radio 1 know what they are at; they have a great station, a loyal listenership, they have ever single one of the top 10 most listened to programmes according to the latest JNLR results and they are continuing to get it right. It is understandable that there could be concern over the Pat Kenny slot – the latest book showed an increase in average listeners of the show to 328,000 adults, but we have examined areas of opportunity which might bring some calm back to the news.
When we sat down and thought about it, we identified three scenarios for RTE Radio 1 and put these to our Starcommers and to our clients for their feedback:
Move Tubridy back to RTE Radio 1 and free up Dan Healy to really make changes at 2FM
Introduce Claire Byrne – fresh blood and a newer talent
Go for an unknown – introduce something completely different – save the money on salary efficiencies and pump the difference into reinvigorating 2FM into the national station it can be
There was unanimous agreement that moving Tubridy into Pat Kenny’s seat would be the most obvious and straightforward solution to this issue. However, not everyone agreed that the most obvious solution was the correct one. Regardless, the bigger opportunity here was for 2FM, as one client put it “irrespective of Pat Kenny leaving, 2FM requires a complete overhaul... Kenny leaving is a good thing for RTE - -it gives them the opportunity to rebase salary levels but more importantly to set themselves up for the future.” This would be in line with our feelings and the rest of our clients – we all want to see Dan Healy succeed in making 2FM a national station which is relevant for its target audience and competing ruthlessly to achieve that.
Forgetting about 2FM, what should be done with the RTE slot if it’s not Tubridy? Eddie Banville of The National Lottery suggested that replacing Pat with a like for like presenter could be a mistake as they are going up against Pat Kenny in Newstalk meaning listeners are more likely to draw comparison, which would not bode well. He also suggested that this was an opportunity for RTE to shake things up with their schedule. Much of RTE Radio 1’s programming is a slightly different take on the same premise of discussing the day’s issues. It would be interesting to see RTE introduce a new format in place of Pat Kenny’s show – which might result in moving some of their 2FM listeners across and freeing 2FM up to recruit a younger listener.
There was some caution from our own Starcommers and a number of clients that while now is a good time for bravery from 2FM, too many drastic changes on a station which isn’t broken could dangerously affect numbers.
Ultimately, feedback from all our staff and clients consistently showed the biggest opportunity here is for 2FM. Pat Kenny was a significant salary for RTE and with those funds now free to an extent, we hope to see Dan Healy flexing his radio muscle to shake up the station, bring in some new talent and change the format of programming to appeal to the audience it was originally designed to. Without bias, we want to see RTE seize this opportunity for change, to be brave and to embrace it – we need strong National stations to compete and to take chances making for a more interesting market.