Radio 1 waves goodbye to intelligence

AFTER Ryan Tubridy, can RTÉ Radio 1 get any more inane? Well, with its newly announced schedule, it just has.

With every radio sold from now on you should get a free lobotomy.

Anyone with even an average IQ should have their frontal lobes removed — to make them stupid enough to listen to the hysterical whining taking over Radio 1’s airtime. And who will foot the bill for all this brain surgery? Well, deduct it from RTÉ’s licence fee, of course.

The schedule Ana Leddy, the new head of RTÉ Radio 1, has in store for us signals nothing less than dumbing down. More than that, it’s an abdication from RTÉ’s public service remit. In the race to the radio bottom, Ana Leddy and Radio 1 are leading the way.

It’s laughable. Quality shows like John Kelly’s Mystery Train, the arts show Rattlebag and Cork’s own John Creedon Show get axed or downgraded, while the stalling radio delivery of Des Cahill gets more exposure, with his own half-hour show — and, keeping the best whine ‘til last, Joe Duffy’s Liveline gets 15 minutes extra whinging daily.

Add to that Dave Fanning parading his irritating, fast-talking rock hysteria on Radio 1 (in a move from 2FM) and you have a recipe that amounts to slops.

Get your bibs on, because it’ll be served up to you from next September.

And with that lobotomy, you’ll need that bib, what with all the brain-dead drooling you’ll be doing.

This all comes on the heels of the latest JNLR figures, which signalled a hit for Radio 1. Matt Cooper on Today FM won a greater listener reach by dint of extending the hours of his show (RTÉ’s new bright plan, or should I say scam?). But that aside, isn’t there a difference between independent radio and public service? Hasn’t RTÉ a responsibility, under the Broadcasting Acts, to provide things like arts programming and quality music shows? The new schedule sidelines these, dumbs down and runs after the lowest common denominator. All that is good and civilised in our national culture is jettisoned. The airwaves are given over to moaners.

But then again, this is the public broadcaster that has offered an accountant to the Irish public as its new hero. Eddie Hobbs — the new hero of the Irish people? He’s an accountant, for God’s sake.

The word in RTÉ is that Ana Leddy has been largely invisible to staff since she took over Radio 1 in March. For some in Radio 1, the first time they met her was on Thursday, when they were summoned to her office for the bad news.

After John Creedon was given the bad news, in came Myles Dungan. Then it was John Kelly’s turn — and he had to go on to do his show that night.

As for those in the ascendant in Montrose, apart from Joe Duffy and Derek Mooney (who’ll be presenting an afternoon show called Afternoon

Ireland), there’s Áine Lawlor, currently of Morning Ireland. The word is she’ll be heading up the new evening show Drivetime, a kind of replacement for 5-7 Live. That means the tipped Philip Boucher Hayes has been passed over.

Maybe his voice sounds too intelligent.

RTÉ insiders describe Thursday’s blood-letting as a ‘Night of the Long Knives’, and say the firing was done in “a military fashion”. As one RTÉ source said: “morale is rock-bottom.” Surprise, surprise.

Myles Dungan, the Rattlebag presenter, is heading off to Berkley University, in California, with a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship under his arm. Small wonder he’s leaving.

What does he think of it all? “My contract doesn’t allow me to comment on schedule matters.” Enough said Myles.

As for John Kelly, he remains tight lipped about his plans. All he would say was: “Radio 1 appears to be going in a different direction. There’s no place for me to do what I do there anymore. So, it’s time for me to move on.”

What John Kelly has offered on RTÉ 1 has been quality, intelligent and entertaining radio.

Obviously there’s no room for that on our flagship, public radio service anymore.