Informed & Educated

Abstract

Using the Irish Radio Industry as a case study, this chapter illustrates how the public service broadcaster (PSB), Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), was slow to react to change and the effect this had on the organisation's competitiveness. The chapter analyses how RTÉ's youth radio station, RTÉ 2fm, lost its place as the market leader to the competing commercial stations as it resisted the required technological, cultural and talent changes required which ultimately affected its listenership. The author argues that the independent radio sector led the way in innovation and affected change which greatly benefited the industry as a whole and brought public radio in Ireland into the digital age. The article outlines how commercial radio played a crucial role in the transition of radio into the digital age and how RTÉ enacted the required change to bring it in line with modern practice. This research was based on a methodology involving in-depth interviews, textual analysis, direct observation and a longitudinal content analysis.