  We explore giant resonance spectra and low-lying dipole strength in the Ni
and Sn chains from proton rich to very neutron rich isotopes, relevant in
astrophysical reaction chains. For the theoretical description we employ the
random-phase approximation (RPA) plus many-body effects through a phonon
coupling model with optimized selection of phonons. The nuclear force is based
on the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock energy functional carried consistently through all
steps of modelling. The main effect of phonon coupling is a broadening of the
spectral distributions (collisional width). This broadening is particularly
dramatic for low-lying dipole strength in very neutron rich nuclei delivering
there a qualitative change of the spectra.
