Phantom FM's automated service was off again overnight due to computer problems. Live programming resumed at 11am this morning. Phantom FM broadcast to Dublin on 91.6MHz.

Sun 101FM, who broadcast "All 80's, All the Time" on 101.3MHz in Dublin, now have an email address where they can be contacted. The address is sun101fm@hotmail.com

ESG FM have changed their website. Tonight there is just a front page stating that "The transformation is coming..." plus the station's frequency details (93.8 & 94.1).

Atlantic 252's new website is currently at the testing stage and the plan is for it to go live on October 16th. The site was originally due for relaunch on October 1st. Atlantic 252 can be heard across the UK and Ireland on the long wave band or by visiting their webpage.

ESG FM have restored RDS to their signal. It simply states STAND BY !

Dublin's Jazz FM have been off air again for the past couple of days due to ongoing problems with their main transmitter. They don't expect to be back broadcasting before tomorrow. The station can usually be found on 89.8FM.

FM104 have released details of their version of the successful UK television show 'Big Brother'. It is entitled "Big Rover" and the prize will be a Rover 25 which will be parked off Grafton St in Dublin's city centre from October 31st. The four contestants will be expected to live inside with a ten minute break every two hours. The person who manages to stay in the car the longest gets to drive it away. The car will be constantly monitored by microphones with regular updates on air and the public are also invited to drop by to take a look. Qualifiers will be chosen from next Monday. FM104 can be found on 104.4MHz in Dublin city and surrounding counties.

Mad Radio is back testing on 93.2FM in Dublin city and surrounding areas. Power has been increased slightly and a new set-up allows for further increases if necessary. They hope to have a return to normal programming by the weekend and are requesting reception reports at Madradio@Dublin.com.

An unidentified transmission has appeared on 91.0MHz in Dublin playing continuous music, mostly overmodulated and distorted.

Source: Mike Williams

ESG FM have changed their RDS message. It now alternates between the words GET and READY. ESG FM are about to relaunch and can be heard in Dublin on 94.1FM and 93.8FM.

High Voltage transformer problems are affecting Energy 106 with the result that the station continues on low power, despite repairs done on Monday. Energy 106 broadcasts into Northern Ireland from Co. Monaghan on 106.6MHz.

An unidentified station appeared on 106.8MHz in Dublin this evening playing an eclectic mix of continuous music. It disappeared again at 10pm.

A NEW 94 is the latest RDS message from ESG 94FM.

Comment: Can somebody please hide that RDS encoder?

Students at St David's Secondary School, Greystones have asked the Town Commission for an opportunity to present plans which they have for a temporary community radio service in the town. The Transition Year students will meet with authority representatives at their next meeting.

Tests were heard in Dublin today from Belfield FM. After an absence of two years, the station have received a temporary licence from the IRTC and are due on air for a week from this Monday on 103.8MHz.

A blank carrier reappeared overnight on Jazz FM's 89.8Mhz frequency.

Gay Byrne today gave evidence at the Flood Tribunal. He told the court that Oliver Barry arrived at his home in Howth with a cheque for £1m as a downpayment for joining Century Radio. He declined the offer because he didn't want to be seen as "muggins the frontman" for the new station. He said that he was nervous that the station owners had placed so much emphasis on having him on board and feared that he would be first to be criticised should the station fail.

Cork's dance music station Radio Friendly are to close after the Jazz Weekend (October Bank Holiday). "The station are part of a bid for a radio licence and we feel that being on air might jeopardise our chances", a spokesperson told Radiowaves. Radio Friendly can be heard until then on 106.4FM.

Comment: Best of luck with the bid.

Newstalk 106FM are now estimating a launch in early 2001 after receiving the go-ahead from the IRTC. The station, awarded a licence last year, have had problems since a number of shareholders withdrew support earlier this year but the IRTC has expressed satisfaction with the new shareholder set-up.

The IRTC announced this week that it was seeking applications for two new Dublin services. One will be a special interest FM music service and the other, a religious AM service.

Radio Limerick One, the station which lost its licence to broadcast on FM but continue to broadcast via satellite, have made some changes to their website. Surfers should head to rlo105.com.

DMR FM's automated service was down for most of today but is now back on 93.2FM in Dublin.

Today's offerings from the unidentified station on 91.0MHz in Dublin differed greatly from the mainly pop music which was played during the week. Both easy-listening music and religious programming were aired today. This is the same religious programming that has previously been heard on other stations. Radiowaves has learned that the agent who buys airtime for this programming has decided to launch his own station as an outlet.

Comment: God bless him.

ABC 94FM were off air on 94.3FM since mid-afternoon yesterday due to aerial and transmitter problems. Broadcasts continued on 87.6MHz but that signal also went off air this afternoon before both transmitters returned this evening. The RDS reading of ABC 94FM has also been restored to the signal. The station's main transmitter is being serviced and should be back with full power shortly.

ESG FM were off air on 94.1FM this afternoon with transmissions continuing on 93.8MHz only. Speculation abounds that the relaunch is due to happen tomorrow.

106.8MHz in Dublin was today once again home to an unidentified station. Music selection was as varied as the last broadcast to appear on this frequency last Thursday evening. Transmissions stopped at about 5pm but returned later in the evening only to cease again at 10.30pm.

Both Power FM on 97.2MHz and Dublin's Kiss FM on 105.8MHz were off air for a short period this evening.

The Irish Mix's automated service was down for most of today. The station broadcasts to Dublin on 90.3FM.

Jazz FM in Dublin returned to the air with live programming this morning on 89.8FM.

Comment: Welcome back.

Management of both K.I.C. FM and Energy 106FM have recently discussed the possibility of relaying K.I.C. FM into Belfast. No decisions have been finalised.

Sun101FM are to introduce various themed weekends - an example being 'Boy Bands of the Eighties' weekend - over the coming weeks. Sun FM are an all-eighties music station broadcasting to Dublin on 101.3MHz.

The domain name energy94.com was registered by Daragh O' Sullivan from Dublin on Sunday October 1st this year. The site has a very familiar look.

Source: Billy Dane.
Comment: No comment!

The digital multiplex license for Northern Ireland was awarded to Score Digital Ltd - the only applicant. Duration will be twelve years and Score plan to launch their ten channel service by Autumn next year. Channels will include Radio Ulster, Classic FM, Virgin Radio, TalkSport, Downtown Radio, Cool FM, City Beat and Q102.9, who have just had their analogue license renewed for another eight years.

Source: ukradio.com.

The station formerly known as ESG FM will be live online when they relaunch. Last night there were no promos or commercials interrupting the music from the station but these reappeared overnight with the relaunch still being promised 'soon'. Tune in on 93.8FM and 94.1FM.

Mater Hospital Radio are carrying out technical work at present and hope to be back on air sometime within the next 24 hours. The station broadcast on 107.4MHz in Dublin city.

Chris Cary is still in HMP Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. He is able to walk (unsteadily) again but is still unable to use his left hand, according to an update to chriscary.com today. The job application request remains online but is a little more specific. The search is on for a radio station in the Home Counties who would like to employ Chris Cary as a talk-show host.

Details of Atlantic 252's new website, which is due to to go live on October 16th, have been released by the station. Visitors will enter a virtual nightclub where they can interact with djs, view playlists and send requests. Surfers can also enter the toilets [where else!] to chat to other visitors to the site . The nightclub theme is also featured on Atlantic's new advertising campaign. The station can be heard throughout the British Isles on 252kHz long wave.

DMR FM are promising major improvements to their sound very soon, along with new and improved jingles. DMR FM broadcast to Dublin on 93.2MHz.

An official from the Bank of Ireland has told the Flood Tribunal that Century Radio would have been considered by his company to be "a lost cause" but for the promised legislation to cap RTÉ's advertising revenue. Century was using the pending legislation to buy time, he said.

Jazz FM's problems continue as tonight sees them once again off the air on 89.8FM. The station recently replaced their previous transmitter which had broken down.

The Radio Authority in Britain has set a limit on automated programming during daytime on it's local radio stations. In it's letter to the stations the authority stated that they "...felt that the 'localness' of stations would be jeopardised if programming were allowed to be automated for more than limited periods during the day. They also considered that listeners have a reasonable expectation for presentation to be live, and that too high a level of automation could undermine the trust that exists between the station and its audience...FM stations are to be allowed a maximum of two hours of automation during daytime."

In the Supreme Court, judgement was reserved on the appeal against the High Court's upholding of the decision by the IRTC to award the so-called 'youth' radio licence to Spin FM. The decision was challenged by one of the other applicants - Storm FM - on the claim of bias against one of it's members.

In an effort to attract female listeners, Sweden's 106.7 Rock Classics is offering a breast enlargement as first prize in a competition. The woman who gives the best reason for having the operation shall receive the prize. Not surprisingly the station has been attacked by women's groups but station manager Jessica Melcher-Claesson points out that the competition is voluntary.

Comment: Prizes are getting bigger in some parts of the world.

Michael Grant, a senior civil servant, today told the Flood Tribunal that the idea to introduce a national independent radio service came totally out of the blue from then Minister for Communications, Ray Burke. He said that the Government had already approved plans for local radio stations, but his staff were then told that a national station would be included too.

Power cuts at ABC 94FM's transmitter site forced the station off the air last night and again this morning. Service has been restored and the station can be found on 94.3FM and 87.6FM in Dublin.

Friday the thirteenth proved to be unlucky for Ian Dempsey who arrived 22 minutes late for his 7am breakfast show on Today FM this morning. After a night on the town, Iano fell asleep at his kitchen table and didn't wake until 6.45am.

Comment:And the rest the country rely on Ian to wake us up.

The station formally known as ESG FM reintroduced live programming today but the relaunch is now scheduled to happen at 7am on Monday.

Unidentified transmissions are once again going out today on 106.8MHz in Dublin. Setanta Sport is scheduled to appear on this frequency tomorrow according to the IRTC website.

Confusion surrounds Magic 105 from Monaghan at the moment. Different members of the station hierarchy are carrying out a very public war by posting conflicting messages on a radio anorak board. Closure has both been mentioned and denied and, as of today, Energy 106 is being carried on Magic's frequencies. The very nature of public forums throws doubt on the validity of any (or all) of the messages but one person involved behind the scenes with the station has contacted Radiowaves to state that Magic 105 is under attack.

An unidentified station playing R'n'B music appeared on 107.0MHz in Dublin over the weekend.

Source: Anorak Hour news.

White noise went out on both Hot Radio's 99.1FM and 99.4FM frequencies earlier today due to equipment problems in their studio. The station are now back to normal.

Dublin's North-East Access radio station has restored RDS to their signal after a long absence. The station were also having transmission difficulties this morning but normal service has been resumed on 101.6MHz.

Energy FM is the name of 'The New 94'. The station - previously ESG FM - relaunched this morning with RDS reading ENERGY. The website is up and running but there is no telephone number yet and the live stream is coming soon.
Comment: It seemed like an age arriving and the new name surprised nobody but it should all be worthwhile. The best of luck to all at 'The New 94'.

Freedom 92's automated service was down last night and again this afternoon. The BBC Radio 1 relay, however, was carried as normal up until 12 midday. Freedom FM broadcast in Dublin on 92.0MHz.

Waterford's WLR FM have recently relaunched their website and it's well worth a visit at wlrfm.com.

Sun 101FM - the all eighties station fast gaining popularity in the Dublin area - was off air this morning due to a power cut. Normal service resumed on 101.3MHz at 12.30pm.

Jazz FM are back on air after a week's absence. Recent problems have seen them on and off over the past few weeks but this was the longest period the station has been off. On offer for the evening was continuous music only. The station can be heard in Dublin on 89.8MHz.

Dermot Desmond today denied that, in 1990, he told the directors of Century Radio that they owed the former Government Press Secretary, PJ Mara, 30,000. The claim was made by James Stafford, a former director of Century Radio.

A large UFO has been spotted at the Energy/Magic tower, according to station engineer Miles J. "A Radio Star engineer working at the transmitters looked up to see the large oval UFO, which made itself scarce once it was seen", he told Radiowaves. The engineer was in the process of putting Magic 105 back on the air. Similar claims have been made in the past, most noticeably by Energy 106 station manager Lawrence John, who says he has been abducted by aliens.

The consequences of the decision to cap RTE's advertising revenues were never considered by the Department of Communications, the Flood Tribunal heard today. Michael Grant, who worked at the department, said that the move might have resulted in over 200 job losses at RTE.

The Chris Cary website has been revamped with a fresh new look. The latest news on Chris himself, however, remains the same. He is still in HMP Parkhurst despite a hope that he would be moved to a rehabilitation clinic this week.

WXTC - formerly Radio Caroline Dublin - is a new project offering radio on demand over the internet. All of the Radio Caroline Dublin shows previously heard on FM will be available on a weekly basis and can be accessed at any time. Live streams are also planned for special weekends. To listen to the first pilot show go to: wxtc.net/

There is now a blank carrier on 102.5MHz in Dublin, which was most recently the home of Radio Caroline Dublin.

A dance music station calling itself DDRFM today claimed that they plan to launch in Dublin early in the new year. No frequency has been mentioned. They are seeking presenters and are requesting those interested to write to ddrfm@hotmail.com.

Phantom FM's new and improved live web stream is being tested at present, due for launch this week. There will be an increase in capacity, making it easier to access the service which will be utilising the recently revamped Windows Media Player.

The Irish Mix - the all-time favourite Irish music station operated by Alan Hunter - was off the air this morning for a short period. The station can be found on 90.3MHz on your Dublin FM dial.

Bernard McDonagh, a former secretary of the Department of Communications, today told the Flood Tribunal that he was instructed by Ray Burke to make the necessary arrangements towards capping RTÉ's advertising revenue at a meeting in December 1989. This was a "radical departure" from the plans to that point. Later, as a law to implement this measure was being prepared, a further provision to divert 25% of RTE's licence money had been mysteriously included, the Tribunal also heard.

Dublin's newest licensed station Lite FM has managed to capture 17% of listeners after only four months on air. This is far in excess of their expectations, which were for 10% of listeners in the 35 years plus age group, for which they've managed 20%. The survey shows, however, that many tuning into the station are also in the 15-34 years age group. Lite FM were included in the figures for the first time in an interim survey which covers April to September.
RTÉ Radio 1's national figures (30%) remain unchanged as are Lyric FM's (3%), indicating that Lite FM's listeners have come from an unexpected source. 2FM has managed a 1% increase - to 29% - as has Today FM - to 15%.
Independent local stations are continuing to show impressive figures with an increase of 1% listenership to 55%.
Finally, Dublin's major players FM104 and 98FM, show figures of 24% and 23% respectively.

Power FM in Cork are off the air following a visit from a member of RTÉ's technical department last night, station manager Rick Sky has told Radiowaves. The RTÉ representative requested the station to cease broadcasting because of complaints of interference in the local area from the station's transmissions which were causing "overload" on radios nearby and added that a report will be sent to the ODTR with a recommendation of closure. Although the transmissions themselves were clean, the RTÉ staff member pointed out that the power of 150w was the main cause of the problem. Rick added that Power FM will be off the air for "the foreseeable future".

Phantom FM are now broadcasting on 102.9MHz in addition to their main 91.6MHz service. The low powered transmission from the west of the city is designed to cover areas that the station's 91.6FM cannot reach. There is no RDS at present but the plan is to add it at the weekend.

The ODTR does not have sufficient resources to tackle the issue of regulating pirate radio, an employee has told this week's Business & Finance. The priorities of the regulator "lie in other areas such as mobile telephony and digital tv." Pete Reed, general manager of Phantom FM, sees it differently. In the same article, he says that "the political will is not there to close down the pirates," and adds, "it would be too much bad PR." Pete also says that the IRTC should free up the airwaves and issue more licenses, thereby reducing the need for pirates - an argument rejected by the IRTC who say that they have given out as many licences as they can at this stage. Read the article in full.

Meanwhile, Phantom's worldwide live web-stream is still testing and needs a litle more technical adjustment, but will now launch next Tuesday, a spokesperson for the station told Radiowaves.

Static FM are currently testing on 103.7MHz in Mayo with 30W of power.

NewsTalk 106, the station awarded a licence by the IRTC last year, is seeking a new investor for 20% of it's equity. The original consortium for the station consisted of all 21 licensed local radio stations around the country, a number of which pulled out earlier this year. The IRTC have indicated that they do not want either of the two largest shareholders - Radio 2000, which owns 98FM in Dublin and also has a stake in Spin FM or Capital Radio, which owns Dublin's FM104 - to increase their holdings. The station now hopes to commence broadcasting by the middle of next year.

Source: Business & Finance

Civil servant, Tom Kennington, told the Flood Tribunal today that the former Minister for Communications, Ray Burke, ordered him to allocate a particular frequency to Century Radio, despite being aware that this would cause "difficulties". The station wanted to use 1143kHz on medium wave but the decision had already been made to allocate it 1431kHz.

Freedom 92's relay of BBC Radio 1 continued on into the Jo Whiley show today but reverted to automated Freedom programming after just over an hour. Freedom's relay usually stops at midday following the Simon Mayo show. Freedom 92 - and BBC Radio 1's morning programmes - can be heard on 92.0MHz in Dublin.

Limerick's broadcast community are in shock today following the death of Live 95FM presenter, Benny Keane, in a road accident last night, Radiowaves' Limerick contact Frank Dunne reports. The presenter was knocked down while crossing the Ballinacurra Road at 6.30pm and died from his injuries in Limerick Regional Hospital. Benny, 36, was married with two children and was originally from Roscommon. He had been working in radio since the early eighties, before joining Limerick's first licensed station, Radio Limerick One, in 1989. He moved to Live 95FM when it launched in 1997 where he jockeyed on the overnight shift.

Comment: Our deepest sympathies go to all concerned.

Lite FM have updated their website for the first time since the day they started broadcasting, back in May of this year. The station are, not surprisingly, indulging in a little self-congratulatory trumpet-blowing following the release of the JNLR interim report earlier this week, the results of which far exceeded Lite FM's projected expectations. Lite FM broadcast to Dublin on 102.2FM.

East Coast Radio presenter Nick Eogan has announced his retirement after almost twenty years of broadcasting in Wicklow. The station's executive producer Pat Hannon speaking to The Bray People, said: "Nick would be one of the founding fathers of radio in Bray. He will be sorely missed by the listeners. Nick is very natural on the radio and this I think is his appeal to listeners. He doesn't put on a radio voice, he is just himself. He was also a great man for telling stories on the radio".
Nick's last show will be this Sunday although he has indicated that he will continue to do the odd special for the station

Today at the Flood Tribunal, RTÉ's chief financial officer, Gerry O'Brien denied that the station's proposed charges for transmission services to Century Radio were inflated to make a profit. He said that the station's charge of £1.14m were based on real costs. Mr O'Brien did admit, however, that they had left some margin to ensure that RTÉ would not be short-changed. The Tribunal is carrying out an in-depth examination of how RTÉ compiled its charges. The former Minister for Communications, Ray Burke, intervened to reduce those charges after claims by Century that they were inflated. Mr O'Brien is to resume giving evidence next Tuesday.

2FM's 612kHz AM transmissions from Athlone were off the air this evening. The station disappeared from this frequency this afternoon, although their other medium wave transmitter on 1278kHz is broadcasting as normal. 2FM can also be heard nationwide on 90-92FM as well as 97.0MHz in northern parts of the country.

Kiss FM Cork ceased broadcasting today in order to apply for a licence. The station thanked all their loyal listeners and advertisers and hope to return "bigger and better" in the future.

Nova Dance were off air for most of this afternoon on 94.7FM in Dublin and Energy 94's 93.8FM transmitter was also off, although broadcasting continued as normal on 94.1FM. The Irish Mix were off air again this evening - the station have been on and off all week. Hits 106 also had problems this evening.

Hot Radio were well ahead of their competition this morning - by one hour to be precise. This morning's on-air dj - who will remain unnamed to spare his blushes - was giving out the time as it would've read had the clocks not went back last night. A phone-call from Radiowaves saved any further embarrassment!

Mag FM - the proposed station which was calling itself DDR FM last week - now say they will launch on February 4th next year. A spokesperson for the station told Radiowaves that they have bought a 500W transmitter from America and are also planning to purchase an AM transmitter. The station are "99% sure" they will broadcast on medium wave, making them the first Irish dance station on AM.

Freedom 92's relay of BBC Radio 1 failed to materialise today with silence going out on their frequency until their own automated programming kicked in at midday. Freedom - and usually BBC Radio 1's morning programmes - can be received in Dublin on 92.0MHz.

The blank carrier on 102.5MHz in Dublin was not on today.

The blank carrier on 102.5FM returned today around midday in stereo with RDS COUNTRY. After briefly going off again it returned as a blank carrier with no RDS.

Phantom FM will be introducing more live programming over the coming weeks, the station's general manager Pete Reed this evening told Radiowaves. They have had a recruitment drive and are training new presenters, the first of whom was on air this afternoon. Phantom usually commence live programming at 4pm on weekdays, but are now looking at a possible 1pm start and are also looking at the feasibility of broadcasting later at weekends. Phantom broadcast to Dublin on 91.6FM and 102.9FM and to the world on their live internet stream which will be relaunched at 6pm on Thursday.

Magic 105 are now broadcasting to South Down on 101.5MHz. The station are also promising that their Magic 'I' service will be in action very soon. It is now testing - but this is not the final version - at www.ni-network.com/magic/jukebox/

Evidence continued at the Flood Tribunal today about Ray Burke's plans to divert licence fee money from RTÉ to the independent sector in the early nineties - a "radical departure" from the original plan which only involved the capping of RTÉ's advertising. The Tribunal has also heard that the Minister also considered changing 2FM into an educational channel. Tribunal lawyers suggested that this would have had a serious impact on its advertising income. These plans were dropped and the Minister later reverted to the original proposal to cap RTÉ's advertising revenue.

DMR FM are promising live programming and RDS in the next few weeks, once they move into their newly acquired studio.

Kiss FM in Cork are broadcasting again. Their website has changed from the page that said they had stopped broadcasting on Sunday. They are now scheduled to close on the 9th of November, but may last until Sunday the 12th, a spokesperson told Radiowaves. Kiss FM can be heard on 105.5FM and 107.1FM.

Comment: Best of luck with the licence application.