Comments on Muscat Mutterings: Radio Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Marcus is the weak link in HiFM. The guy sucks big...

2012-01-16T22:49:58.947+04:00

Marcus is the weak link in HiFM. The guy sucks big time and his jokes are not funny, it makes him sound dumb!!

I think we are getting there, slowly,I usually swo...

2012-01-12T22:16:12.523+04:00

I think we are getting there, slowly,I usually swop between stations & I must admit I prefer HiFm (& no I don't work for them or know anyone who does). In the "old days" I used to listen to "Fike on the mike" but puff the magic dragon killed it for me, then I started listening to HiFm, which I liked, BUT they did repeat the same song a lot. I really liked RachyRoo, she had a great radio voice the sort you could hear the laughter in and imagine her being a happy bunny.Hearing someone chirpy used to put me in a good mood on the way to work in the mornings.Personally I don't think the lady who replaced her, Erin was very good, she sounded "robotic",I like Darren, he is witty and thinks on his feet. Kathy is great,a funny and likeable lady. They are terrible at giving out prizes, I'm still waiting for a nawras dongle I won over a year ago!I'v tried listening to "Merge" but found it a bit boring & I didn't like the music they played. I'm suprised they don't have back up for techincal problems,or market themselves better.I do like Chris Fisher, infact I only listen if he is on air.Everyone will have favourites and that's what should up their game, a lot of room for improvement. Do you remember "our tune" from UK radio years back? YES I'm old school!!!where they read out letters sent in by listeners, telling their personal story & why a certain tune was "their song", well that would go down a treat here (us soppy women love a romance & nostalgia), mabe some shows for the kids to listen in to would be nice, like on the school runs stuck in traffic.Anyhow I don't want to bore you, just giving my input. Take care all.

Actually, Sythe, I do not have a grudge..lol You w...

2012-01-10T17:42:22.214+04:00

Actually, Sythe, I do not have a grudge..lol
You write what you write. It's cool. I have been working in radio for almost 20 years. I love what I do. Unfortunately, like one poster said (Thanks BTW), no one is really aware of what it takes to actually do a radio show. I learned along time you cannot please everyone, but at least respect what I do and respect everyone else that works on the radio in Oman.
We work in a job where even if we are having the worst day in the world, when we open the mic we have to sound happy. Imagine how difficult that really is?
For the person who thinks HI-FM is great besides me, thanks for the compliment on the cool tunes. I actually program the music : )(One of the best things about my job)For the record, I am GREAT to someone. : )
I think that we can all agree that Muscat has a wide variety of nationalities. Brits, Americans, Indian, Egyptians...Etc..Everyone has their personal preferences. That is what makes us unique!
Sythe, I love your blog, even when I get "hated" on. LOL
It's all good!
God Bless!

Erin @->--

HI FM is GREAT (besides Erin) So ignore the 'h...

2012-01-10T14:39:30.909+04:00

HI FM is GREAT (besides Erin) So ignore the 'haters' and keep rolling out the cool tunes... LOVE HI :)

I think Mr Anonymous works at HI FM....!!! Hit a n...

2012-01-10T14:35:03.987+04:00

I think Mr Anonymous works at HI FM....!!! Hit a nerve when told they were amateur...!!! Ouch...
Sorry to offend but I just say what I and many other collegues of mine think.
I think Darren is the best by far at HI but im not too keen on how 'American' the show has gone... As for the prizes I totally agree HI are the best and they also put on very good concerts.

Thanks for all your comments! In a direct answer ...

2012-01-10T09:12:54.779+04:00

Thanks for all your comments!

In a direct answer to the anonymous commenter asking me to keep the playing field fair - I ripped into HiFM & Darren personally so much in the past, another blogger actually ratted me out to Darren and told him both me and my wife's names (thanks for that) so when I finally felt bad enough to actually email darren and introduce myself, he said hi - and hows your wife **** doing?

HiFM give me tickets to give away on the blog because I have an audience that they feel is worth the cost of 2 tickets to get exposure and promotion for their shows on another media stream other than their airwaves.

Merge so far have ran a tweet-up where their manager struck my name from the guest list because he didnt like something I wrote in a comment on another blog (which was entirely true).

Then they were the "media partner" with The Experiment who ran the Hed Kandi event before Ramadan last year. No one from Merge showed up until Sami appeared after midnight, and I contacted Merge asking for tickets to give away and got no answer - I got the tickets for that gig through a personal connection I had with The Experiment - I even bought my own tickets to support my friends venture. They also promoted the Yanni concert last year, and again didn't respond to my emailed request for tickets to give away.

So, I am aligned with Hi FM right now because they interact with me, feed me news to blog about and also let me do what I like to do best: give stuff away. I am an equal opportunity giver away of free shit, it's just that Merge don't give me anything to give away.

Erin did morning show's for a short while last year, and I said straight away I didnt like it. To the point that I think Erin has a grudge against me for publicly writing about it - so it's not all rose-tinted sunglasses with daises spewing from Darren & his team's asses.

Just the other day, around 8AM January 3rd 2012, Merge's link went down and they had dead air for AGES. Why didnt they have a back up? I dont know, it's just not - to my unprofessional mind - indicative of a professional and well run radio station.

So, to answer your comment to me - I do still keep it balanced, but it's hard when 90.4 just refuse to acknowledge the internet exists, and Merge management dont talk to me, other than the odd cake-based tweet from Chris Fisher.

Thank you for your comment.

And what is your definition of Amateur? You saying...

2012-01-09T22:43:02.444+04:00

And what is your definition of Amateur? You saying Rachael was a woman who knew what she was doing leads me to believe that you know nothing about commercial radio. The same stupid trivia questions every single day. Please.
I am so tired of the haters giving their "opinion" on what they think about the radio stations here.
Usually the majority of comments are garbage from friends of people who work at these stations and want to slam the competition.
How about some constructive criticizing? Wait, I forgot I am in Muscat where people hide behind an "anonymous" post on the internet.
We are in Muscat, what do you expect? Radio stations can't even do the things they are supposed to do here because of the corruption and lack of experienced people available to work for them.
I actually take offense to your amateur comment however. I know a lot of the people at Hi Fm and they are anything but amateur. Go sit in the studio for a whole day and see for yourself what goes into running a radio station. Better yet, try hosting a four to five hour show, trying to please everyone. It is impossible.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion after all, but remember opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one.

Peace!

Darren looks like he has a big-pimping combover in...

2012-01-09T20:41:24.524+04:00

Darren looks like he has a big-pimping combover in that picture!

Hi All, Enjoyed reading your comments. I personal...

2012-01-09T18:58:55.533+04:00

Hi All,
Enjoyed reading your comments.
I personally think that all the radio shows are a bit shocking!
Hi Fm has these expat D.J's who try hard to sound professional but are truthfully just amateurs... Merge needs to put some work into their music and I find it quite hard to understand the female presenter in the afternoon?! However, they do have Chris Fisher who i think is fab :) His voice is chirpy and fun which makes me keen to listen to him. He is coming in just under par of Rachel 'Roo' Howarth. Now that womwn was good. Fun and chirpy and actually a decent presenter who seemed to know what she was doing. Imagine a Fisher & Roo show..?
And as for 90.40 I think they DEF need a re-vamp and new presenters who actually make the radio sound fun!!! Here's hoping they up their game soon, as Hi Fm is just not floating my boat anymore, and Merge is slowly boring me... Come on 90.40 up your game please :)

p.s... TO BLOGGER, I notice now that HI FM are giving you free tickets that you are being much nicer about their place in the market ;) Lol... It's radio wars after all... keep up the opinions.

I am scratching my head, thinking about the articl...

2012-01-08T14:44:41.613+04:00

I am scratching my head, thinking about the article. My point of view is that all three stations are absolute rubbish. I can understand the government station being from a different planet, but HI-FM is the absolute worst channel I have ever listened to. Anywhere. Ever. What Merge must do to quickly and emphatically kill off Hi-FM is offer something DIFFERENT! Stop relying on formulas and take bloody chance on some local music, local personalities etc. Get off the "British" regime of a crap morning DJ with no sense of humour and dumb "trivia" questions as entertainment.
In short, stop treating your audience like dimwitted fools.
Back to the iPod for me...ggrrrrr

merge has carl cox ... Seals the deal for me. The ...

2012-01-08T14:35:37.456+04:00

merge has carl cox ... Seals the deal for me. The rest of the stations play nothing but dime a dozen pop garbage including roger sanchez. Nice try hi fm

Well, maybe time is all Merge needs. I remember wh...

2012-01-08T14:18:10.470+04:00

Well, maybe time is all Merge needs. I remember when Hi FM started and was not impressed for the first two years (all - presumably license free - 80s music!). And as Viji says, probably most people switch between stations. I personally cannot stand Hi FMs morning show and generally think that Fyke seems to be well on his way on becoming a radio icon here in Oman. But Oman Radio needs to fill the rest of the day qualitatively as well, as I with many others switch over to HiFM as soon as Fyke on the mike finishes...

Hi Enjoyed the article . Yes a positive war betwee...

2012-01-08T11:45:00.074+04:00

Hi
Enjoyed the article . Yes a positive war between the FM stations in Oman though I must say that I listen to all three, just switching the stations and am enjoying it.
Well it's good that 90.4 has started thinking of revamping itself. They have started messaging now but it is a pain trying to collect their cash prizes as too many unwanted hassles.
Hi Fm has brought in many musical shows though they do not give many prizes.
Merge has lot of prizes in their show.
Oman FM has bounty of prizes especially during the Ramadhan season.
So let's have positive war among the FM stations to outdo each other.
Hip hip hurray
Wishes for a good year
Viji