Veteran radio broadcaster and former-2FM DJ Gareth O'Callaghan has slammed the station's "disastrous business model" of hiring influencers and podcasters.
O'Callaghan, 63, now at Classic Hits, was hugely popular during his time at 2FM during its glory days, a golden period he attributed to his love of music he shared with his audience. He claims that this has now been lost as the station hires social media influencers and podcasters, Dublin Live writes.
He also believes that, as a result, the listener loyalty is tied to a given personality, and that their departure will simply mean the departure of their followers from the station.
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He describes 2FM’s clear-out of big names this week as "an avalanche - it’s like the side of the mountain has just collapsed. It’s a listenership wipeout for 2FM". He says RTÉ needs to put 2FM online replacing it with RTÉ Gold, which plays the greatest hits.
He continued: “Larry Gogan, Tony Fenton and all the other lads loved music and put music first and that was the foundation for the success of 2FM. What you really wanted to do in my day was impress the listeners and you did that by playing great music and having a bit of fun.
"We were a very solid crew and I think our focus was on making sure that the radio station was the priority. We were like a band and I was proud to be a part of that band.
"The joy for us was being on the radio because we were DJs playing music. We weren’t influencers. There was no one to influence."
He added RTE should have placed RTE Gold on FM, called it 2FM Gold, and put 2FM on to digital.
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