This year a plethora of media happenings conspired to produce a fair imitation of an Australian soap opera. There has been the obligatory birth (after a difficult labour) of TV3, the makeover of the formerly dowdy Network 2, not forgetting the character that underwent a radical personality change, Today FM. Meanwhile, one of this mediasoap's stalwarts has announced he is to step down. G'day Gay.
First the baby. TV3, the State's first free and wholly commercial station was three months old last week and its Irish/New Zealand parents, The Windmill Lane Consortium and CanWest Global, are delighted that it has shown such early promise. Initial prognoses were less than positive with critics tut-tutting at TV3 for daring to employ good looking newscasters and cringing at the antics of wacky prop-wielding weatherman Martin King.
But its moderate year-end target, to reach an 8 per cent share of total adult viewing here, was achieved almost immediately and an independent report carried out by media consultants Fairbrother White pronounced it the second most successful media launch of the 16 that have taken place place across Western Europe since 1995.
So far, the station some have described as the Bastard Son of Sky (a label they appear to wear with pride) has offered a predictable schedule, feeding its broad target audience of the 15-44s a staple diet of movies, mini-series, music and news. Their most watched programmes have been blockbuster movies such as Heat and Bad Boys while the Ireland v Yugoslavia match, when it finally happened, provided a much needed boost to the ratings.
TV3 bosses say they are exceeding their remit to devote 15 per cent of their schedule to programmes of Irish origin laid down by the Independent Radio and Television Commission. But exactly how true is this claim?
The only thing Irish about the Pepsi Chart Show, for example, is neutral-accented presenter Sarah O'Flaherty - the pop programme is made entirely in London where TV3 shares production facilities with the UK's Channel 5.
Also cited as of Irish origin is the current affairs programme 20-20 despite the fact that two of its three segments are clearly American news productions. Meanwhile, the Irish content of Gimee 3, TV3's equivalent of Network 2's Den TV, is limited to the links by presenters between a host of non-Irish cartoons and programmes.
In this context, far from exceeding the remit, TV3's Irish programming could be interpreted as falling short of the promise made to the IRTC who, a source said, will shortly be reviewing the new station's output.
This aside, the station has provided the first indigenous alternative to RTE television and, while not exactly setting the airwaves alight, has had smouldering cult hits with Sex in the City, a programme recently acquired by Channel 4. The schedule will not evolve too dramatically in the future but the temperature is set to climb further with programmes such as the irreverent cartoons Southpark and Stressed Eric planned for the new year.
From a viewer's perspective, TV3's finest achievement to date has been its impact on the quality of output from the State broadcaster. Since the pre-emptive strikes began, the visual content of RTE 1 has improved but it is Network 2's revamp - designed to steal a march on TV3's aggressive targeting of younger telly addicts - that has impressed this year.
The rebranding of the station, which began in November 1997, has meant that for the first time since its launch 10 years ago, Network 2 has a firm and recognisable identity. Creators of programmes such as the Later on 2 series, the satirical quiz show Don't Feed the Gondolas and @last tv deserve praise.
The late-night News 2 segment is also a departure managing, unlike TV3's news coverage so far, to offer viewers equal measures of style and substance. The re-emergence of Ray Darcy and Zig and Zag in the form of the refreshingly original game show 2Phat was also a welcome addition while fellow puppets Podge and Rodge continue to deliver some of the funniest stuff on TV.
This year, RTE1 also managed to break its first news story, if not quite in living memory, then in some years prompting well-deserved awards for journalists Charlie Bird and George Lee and a hastily produced book about their coverage of the National Irish Bank scandal. Bird was also responsible for making some of the 2,334 requests filed by the end of October through the Freedom of Information Act which was introduced last year.
1998 was the year that Today FM rose out from the rubble of Radio Ireland and it is a relaunch that has worked so well as to banish almost all memory of the failed broadcasting entity.
It was much more than just a change of logo. Radio Ireland's three success stories (Eamon Dunphy's The Last Word, John Kelly and Donal Dineen's music show) were wisely retained but almost everything else was dumped.
While music lovers may bemoan the middle-of-the-road tunes played during daytime, The Last Word - with Navan Man and the Drunken Politician combining to provide the the kind of comedy missing since RTE scrapped Scrap Saturday - has carved a definite niche. The station now reaches as many listeners between the age of 25-35 as RTE Radio 1.
In what was a considerable coup for the new station, Ian Dempsey departed RTE to join Today FM. The sheen was offset slightly by John Kelly's subsequent defection to the enemy with a slot on Radio 1 but insiders say Today FM is still set to break even by the end of next year.
Other developments in Radio l included former Radio Ireland producer Anne Marie O'Callaghan taking over as the first head of Radio 1, where her performance so far has won her few admirers.
THE new morning radio schedule has not pleased some of the station's heavier hitters, notably Pat Kenny. Community radio stations were awarded five-year licences this year and college radio started to develop as a breeding ground for new broadcasting talent.
For newspapers, it was a good year to be green. The republican-toned Sunday Business Post consolidated its readership and the last JNLR figures suggest similarly minded Ireland on Sunday (also dubbed the Sunday Press in drag) should survive. Independent Newspapers, whose Sunday In- dependent title has been losing sales and its Evening Herald suffering the effects of a dwindling evening newspaper audience had a more disappointing 12 months.
With a mid-market mix of news 'n' showbiz, Ireland on Sunday has spent a fortune this year on ear-catching radio ads, one of which earned them more publicity than money could buy. It concerned rumours about Bertie Ahern's private life that were discussed by the Taoiseach in his authorised biography, which was serialised in that newspaper.
Speculation that Associated Newspapers (the Mail group) are set to buy into a daily incarnation of Ireland on Sunday has gone on for much of this year, but how a paper featuring journalists such as Niall O'Dowd and Tim Pat Coogan could reconcile getting into bed with the Irish-bashing bastion of Tory opinion is still the subject of much debate at the paper's Quayside premises in Dublin.
Joining the State's magazine family this year was new men's glossies Himself and Patrick while Vincent Browne finally said goodbye to Magill, selling it to publisher Mike Hogan.
The man they thought would become the new Magill editor, John Ryan, has since turned the post down. It has gone to Emily O'Reilly. Ryan has had a good year, increasing the Irish content of the Sunday Times Culture section where quality critique by journalists such as Michael Ross, Mick Heaney and Liam Fay sits easily beside copy from some of the best arts writers in Britain. It is likely that Ryan's role within the paper will be widened and that he will co-ordinate the revamp of other sections in the paper.
Next year promises to be less hectic, but the search for Gay Byrne's replacement still intrigues. The word in Montrose is that those doing the choosing are considering skipping a whole generation of more well-known presenters in favour of a combination of youth and mass appeal. Ginger-haired Northern comedian Patrick Kielty is one name being bandied about as the newly competitive state broadcaster continues to surprise.
