A major change in RTÉ 2fm’s schedule was revealed today, with the unexpected announcement that popular presenter Rick O’Shea’s weekday show is no more – but it’s not all bad news for his listeners, as he’s moving to a weekend slot.
Nonetheless, fans of Rick’s show have been tweeting their dissapointment over the changes, with Rick himself being upbeat about the situation, posting “The weekends are a brand new adventure for me and the guys and we very much look forward to disrupting your mornings with our usual brand of total nonsense.”
Although The Rick O’Shea Show with Cormac Battle will air from 11am-1pm on both Saturdays and Sundays and – the station say – “will continue to bring listeners their unpredictable, off-the-wall show with great competitions, live bands, social media trends and live broadcasts from around the country”, regular listeners have been venting online.
@rickoshea @RTE2fm Nooooo!!! Ye’re my favourites!! Who will keep me company at work now?! Genuinely unhappy about this!
— Claire Morley (@cmorley87) August 28, 2015
The afternoon show was one of the longest running on the station, as Rick has been broadcasting on 2fm for over 14 years and has worked in the radio sector since he was 19 years old. “For all the shows listeners, we’re moving shop around the corner and the sign over the door will remain the same. See you on the other side!”, he commented, clearly seeing the positive in the change. Meanwhile, head of the station, Dan Healy, said he’s always been a huge fan of Rick’s: “I’m delighted Rick is bringing his brand of fan to a weekend audience.
Just so you hear it here first – we’re moving the radio show to weekends starting Sept. Sat & Sun at 11am @RTE2fm 😉 pic.twitter.com/C5j99WU6i9
— Rick O’Shea (@rickoshea) August 28, 2015
“2fm has been increasing its audience at the weekend and Rick will definitely help accelerate that. Being a leader in the social media field and with his broadcasting prowess, I know that there’s a huge opportunity to grow 25-34 audience in the market.”
Replacing Rick during the week will be Tracy Clifford from Spin 1038’s Fully Charged with Ryan and Tracy, and it seems she’s already ready to start, although she won’t take over until September.
“Growing up, 2fm was always the station on in the car. I actually think that is where my interest and love of radio started at a young age,” she commented. “So for me now to say that it’s my new radio home is such a surreal but unbelievably exciting moment. It is an honour to follow in the footsteps of my radio heroes. I cannot wait to get cracking.”
Ever the gentleman, Rick tweeted Tracy with a goodwill message, writing: “A huge congratulations to @TracyClifford. I was once that newbie in the door, may she be as happy here for as long as I’ve been ;-)”
Best of luck to them both in their new ventures!
