As expected the merging of the news departments of Today FM and Newstalk took place yesterday. Both stations, owned by Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp company, will pool resources with newsreaders and journalists appearing on both stations during bulletins.

There were further cutbacks at Newstalk as they cut two evening programmes. Late Night Live with Declan Carty, which ran from 10pm to Midnight has been replaced by a re-run of Tom Dunne’s morning show. Also, an Irish language show, Splanc, has also fallen foul of ruthless schedulers and will be replaced by a re-run of Tom Dunne’s morning show.

There is intense speculation that more job losses will follow among presentation staff with popular sports show ‘Off the ball’ set to be cut to one hour between 7pm and 8pm with the remainder filled by a re-run of Tom Dunne’s morning show.

Hook to fall back on Churchill Insurance commercials

Media experts warn that things could get worse. Professor Mike Ormonde, lecturer in Intense Media and and Gorgeous Communication at Senior College Ballyfermot, said “This is just the start. Communicorp has to save money for its other more important projects and getting rid of presenters is the most efficient way of doing that.

If you drop ‘the talent’ then you don’t have to pay their outrageous salaries. Of course it does leave you slightly light on content”.

Ormonde was convinced that more shows would be cut, saying “Yes, I can eventually see a situation where they decide to merge the two stations into one. It would become TodayTalk and as the streamlining process continues there would only be need for one presenter. I think by 2011 TomDunneFM will be one of the most cost-efficient and profitable radio stations in the world. Of course this is all dependent on taking Dunne and making him into some kind of robot as it would become rather dull if he just did one show which was repeated all day.

We’re close to entering the era of the 24 hour broadcaster. Dunne’s wife might not like it but when she finds herself married to the most influential cyborg broadcaster in Ireland I don’t think she’ll mind”.

But not everyone is willing to let that happen. John Connor, of the Irish Anoraks Association, said “We will do everything we can to fight Communicorp. This is the first step to a world in which machines take over and  begin a war with man will devastate the planet. And all because of re-runs of Tom Dunne’s morning show. We can’t let that happen”.

Paddy Powder is offering the following odds on the next presenter to be sacked by Newstalk: Claire Byrne 2-1, Eamonn Keane 4-5f, Moncrieff 20-1, Ger Gilroy 25-1, Eoin McDevitt 33-1, George Hook 7-1.

:  Roving reporter Henry McLean asks people on the streets of Dublin how they’d feel if the two stations merged.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.