Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s what happened
KC is leaving the breakfast show at Corks 96FM to return to rival station Red FM. The move marks Bauers first presenter shake up since buying red FM earlier this year.
As part of the deal, KC will also have occasional hosting duties on Today FM, which is also owned by Bauer. KC has hosted on both stations before, starting with the Red Rooster in Red FM’s early days. he then moved to Today FM, before returning to Red FM for the KC Show with KC and Jay.
96FM poached the KC Show before eventually rebranding it to KC and Ross in the morning, and now Red FM have poached KC back. That’s some radio journey.
96FM are moving Loraine to host alongside Ross on breakfast, so it’s going to be an interesting few weeks ahead.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Bauer Media family and returning to Cork’s Red FM, the station that kick-started my radio journey. It feels like coming home. I cannot wait to bring Cork our brand-new breakfast show which will be filled with messing, music and chats with listeners who have been incredibly supportive throughout my career.”
KC’s statement following the news
Very best wishes to KC and everyone making moves as part of the deal. It’s going to be fun to see it all play out.
Wireless group owned radio station Pride Vibes has launched on FM for the first time after receiving a licence from Coimisiún na Meán.
The station launched as an online only service last year, but is back this year with its first run on FM. McDonald’s, Dalata and Voltarol are all on board as sponsors showing their support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Presenters on the service include Sean Munsanje, Shivani Dave, Crossy, Stephen Byrne, Vicki Blight and Brian Kennedy. Sean Munsanje is also taking on the role of station manager.
We’ve seen a lot of temporary stations on air recently, with The Sound Of Ireland, Classic Hits 80s, and freedom FM all having temporary FM broadcasts in recent times. We’ve also heard talk of a permanent Irish language youth station coming down the road, so it looks like there’s exciting times ahead.
Best of luck to everyone involved in Pride Vibes, it’s cool to see stations popping up like this.
You can listen on the following frequencies, Dublin 105.2FM, Cork 106.7FM and 88.7FM, Limerick 105.5FM, Galway 87.9FM, North East 104.2FM and South East 103.8FM. The station is also available nationwide on http://www.pridevibes.ie.
South east radio has been criticised over a clock showing the time the emergency department at Wexford General hospital has been closed.
A fire at the hospital saw the emergency department close for months, leading the radio station to put a clock on its website counting how long it had been closed.
Right next to the play button, a clock said “WEXFORD A&E IS NOW CLOSED FOR: ……time.….. THIS IS A MATTER OF LIFE & DEATH”.
A simple protest, but not everyone was approving of the clock. In a speach thanking everyone for their hard work, Fianna Fáil’s New Ross councillor Michael Sheehan took aim at South East Radio saying “I hope our public broadcasters will be a little more understanding now and won’t be carrying on with this ticking time clock now that we have a date.”
Leaving aside the fact that South East Radio isn’t technically a public broadcaster, the point was still clear. Michael Sheehan didn’t like the clock. South East Radio has had a rough relationship with Wexford County Council in recent times, as their were threats made to advertising spend due to perceived negative coverage.
While it’s easy to look at this and dismiss it as a politician not liking a clock on a website, it’s a bigger deal in the context of press freedom. It’s a messy situation and one that’s worth being aware of.
I’d highly recommend you check out our previous coverage on the South East Radio Council dispute, as it will give you important context for this story. Our coverage of that situation can all be found here.
You can also get more details on the whole clock incident below.
Quick Bits
A pop up station will launch in august to commemorate Irelands first commercial radio station 2BP
Here’s an article and podcast about the impact GAA on radio has for Irish people living abroad
Dave Macs case has been covered in phoenix magazine
RTÉ presenter Aidan O’Hara has died aged 84
The Reuters Institute Digital News Report has been published
And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for more fun from the world of radio.