Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s What Happened

Iradio has been officially purchased by Bauer Media, giving the German company an even bigger presence in the Irish market.
Bauer immediately started to make their mark, launching the IRadio Cash machine. You can now text yes to 57557 at a cost of €2.50 for your chance to win. Other stations use phrases like win, spin and red so that Bauer can track what stations are bringing in the cash.
It’s crazy to see how quickly Bauer can integrate a station into their network after a purchase. The deal went through on Monday and the station has basically been integrated within a week.
The GoLoud network now consists of Iradio, Red FM, OTB sport, Newstalk, today fm, 98FM, Spin 1038, spin south west, as well as a number of GoLoud branded stations and main brand spin offs. Bauer also operate various ad companies such as sales house media central and digital platform AudioXi.
The scale of the company is crazy to think about, but ever since buying Communicorp they’ve been incredibly committed to expansion.
Best of luck to all at Iradio on their new journey with Bauer.

There’s a brand new lunchtime show coming to today FM in 2024. Louise Cantillon will be taking over the 12-2 slot on the station from the 8th of January.
Louise has hosted lots of shows in the Irish language, and in recent years has been a host on the selection show for Irelands junior Eurovision entry on TG4. It’s unclear if there will be Irish language elements in the new show, but it would be a lovely touch.
Louise takes over from Pamela Joyce, who recently left Today FM. It’s a big show with a large listenership, so it’s a massive move for Louise.
Best wishes to Louise on the new gig from us at Radio Land.

Finally for now, Wexford county council and South East Radio are at war again. It’s an insane story, so let’s try go through the basics.
About 2 years ago, in a dispute over coverage of Wexford County council, it was alleged that the councils chief executiveTom Enright threatened to pull advertising spend from South East Radio. South East Radio felt this was a threat to press freedom, and long story short there was a standards in public office investigation that criticised mr Enright. The councillors voted not to act on this.
The county secretary repeated history by asking that presenters wouldn’t share their opinions in exchange for between €40,000 and €50,000, and that also caused a falling out between the parties.
And don’t forget about the time the two sides fell out over an online clock. you can read about the entire backstory here, but in short the relationship between Wexford county council and South East Radio is extremely extremely messy.
What’s happened now
Remember Tom Enright, so he’s now been banned from the premises of South East Radio following what the station called an unprovoked verbal assault on presenter Alan Corcoran. The incident took place following an interview at the station, and South East Radio say Alan Corcoran had to be sent for a medical assessment following the incident.
Tom Enright has denied these allegations.
Lawyers have been engaged on both sides it seems, and the whole thing is nothing short of a mess.
The Irish Times cover this story in way more detail, so I’d encourage you to give their article a read.
Quick bits
Q102 are swapping their schedule around a bit when Tubridy starts
Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí obituary from the Irish Times
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.