{"id":339189,"date":"2026-03-10T18:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/339189\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T18:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T18:26:11","slug":"ray-darcy-will-need-to-do-more-than-ponder-aimlessly-to-draw-listeners-to-his-daily-podcast-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/339189\/","title":{"rendered":"Ray D\u2019Arcy will need to do more than ponder aimlessly to draw listeners to his daily podcast \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

If nothing else, Ray D\u2019Arcy<\/a> sounds excited, if slightly nervous, as he begins his new career chapter as a podcaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is something I\u2019ve dreamed of doing forever,\u201d the former RT\u00c9 Radio 1<\/a> presenter remarks during the first edition of his podcast, Ray D\u2019Arcy Daily, on Monday. But while podcasting offers an opportunity for the host to reinvent himself following last year\u2019s acrimonious exit from RT\u00c9, it\u2019s the very much old D\u2019Arcy who features in the opening instalments.<\/p>\n

For his daily venture \u2013 he also launches an interview podcast, Being Human, next week \u2013 D\u2019Arcy doesn\u2019t break new ground so much as follow the well-worn formula he established as a radio host. While there\u2019s no faulting his enthusiasm, his first two episodes feature familiar content such as self-consciously quirky items and random chats, as well as the rambling introductory monologues that marked his Radio 1 afternoon show.<\/p>\n

The podcast iteration of the latter element is even more aimless, in fact. He ponders the correct pronunciation of \u201cmarathon\u201d (\u201cLoads of words in English are pronounced differently than they\u2019re spelt,\u201d he observes), plays clips of the late GAA commentator Miche\u00e1l \u00d3 Muircheartaigh<\/a> and discusses \u2013 for two days running \u2013 the sound effects on a vintage toothpaste ad. To describe these opening spiels as meandering is to give a false impression of dynamism.<\/p>\n

The choice of guests also harks back to his radio days. Mairead Ronan<\/a>, who worked alongside D\u2019Arcy during his peak years on Today FM\u2019s<\/a> midmorning show, joins him on Monday, chatting about the latest developments on Dancing with the Stars<\/a> and advising him on building his Instagram following. This is hardly stuff with which to grow a podcast following. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s also joined by his long-time producer \u2013 and wife \u2013 Jenny Kelly<\/a>, for a daily debrief. While palpably affectionate, these conversations have all the mass appeal one would expect from hearing a married couple chat in their livingroom.<\/p>\n

Other segments are less predictable but try too hard. On day two D\u2019Arcy introduces an item called Pin Drop, which involves him gingerly calling businesses in random parts of the country: if listening to D\u2019Arcy navigate voicemail messages is your idea of enthralling listening, you\u2019ve hit pay dirt. <\/p>\n

True, the resultant conversation with a Co Clare agribusiness owner has a certain shaggy-dog appeal, but it\u2019s not nearly enough to anchor a podcast.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ray D\u2019Arcy: \u2018I\u2019ve lost my job and my mother. What\u2019s going to happen next?\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Media veteran that he is, D\u2019Arcy knows he has a formidable task in attracting his old audience to the online sphere each day. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to change your listening habits,\u201d he says. But on this (very early) evidence, it\u2019s difficult to discern what incentive there is for putative listeners to work his podcast into their routine. There\u2019s no obvious purpose or mission on display beyond the chance to hear D\u2019Arcy shoot the breeze about whatever\u2019s on his mind.<\/p>\n

While this approach may have worked \u2013 or at least sufficed \u2013 for afternoon audiences already tuned into national radio, it seems insufficient to bring over erstwhile fans in large numbers, much less win new followers in the ultracompetitive podcast world. (In contrast, his fellow ex-RT\u00c9 presenter Ryan Tubridy<\/a> has parlayed his much-trumpeted love of books into a literary-adjacent podcast, The Bookshelf.) <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Dancing with the Stars review: A ludicrous decision hits the contest\u2019s credibilityOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In this light, D\u2019Arcy\u2019s decision to devote another podcast to long-form interviews is possibly overly ambitious, robbing his daily show of a potentially strong component.<\/p>\n

For all that, D\u2019Arcy sounds happy, which wasn\u2019t always the case in his latter years on radio. And while the opening episodes are more throwback than forward-looking, he makes it clear that the daily podcast is a work in progress. \u201cIt\u2019ll be great over time,\u201d he says, chuckling.<\/p>\n

He certainly has the time to make it work, and even the scope, too: as last weekend\u2019s interview<\/a> with my Irish Times colleague Patrick Freyne<\/a> attests, D\u2019Arcy can be reflective and revealing presence, a side he might tap into more. If he\u2019s to make the most of his fresh start, he will need more than stale retreads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If nothing else, Ray D\u2019Arcy sounds excited, if slightly nervous, as he begins his new career chapter as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[21183,42,155507,117240,43,32975,6085,47179,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-339189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-dancing-with-the-stars","tag-headlines","tag-jenny-kelly","tag-mairead-ronan","tag-news","tag-ray-d-arcy","tag-rte","tag-today-fm","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}