KCLR 96FM

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This is a station which broadcasts to Carlow and Kilkenny in Ireland. It began broadcasting in May 2004, when the franchise areas for local radio stations in the region were altered.

[edit] Launch

CKR (Carlow Kildare Radio) was the predecessor to KCLR 96fm and served counties Carlow and Kildare. In 2002, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) announced that the franchise areas in the region were to be changed, giving Kildare its own separate radio station and creating a new Carlow Kilkenny franchise area. In particular, this wasn't popular in Kilkenny, where Radio Kilkenny was one of the most successful local radio stations in the country. CKR, whose headquarters were in Carlow, were also frustrated. Both Radio Kilkenny and CKR applied for the license to the new franchise area, however it was announced that a third entity had submitted a stronger bid.

KCLR was initially supposed to hit the airwaves in October 2003 [1]. However, a long legal battle ensued as both stations attempted to retain their licenses. The BCI granted each station a temporary extension to their license while the matter was sorted, but Radio Kilkenny pulled the plug in December 2003, while CKR ceased broadcasting in January 2004. This left both counties without local radio for several months, a matter which resulted in much criticism.

KCLR officially began broadcasting to both counties at 11am on Thursday May 6th, 2004. Alan Swan, an award-winning DJ who was with the stations' predecessor, CKR, was the first voice heard on KCLR. Chief Executive John Purcell welcomed listeners to the station, telling them that "we are determined that KCLR 96FM will be a station local people can be proud of and I am confident listeners are going to like what they hear." [2].

Later that day, however, technical difficulties caused the station to go off-air affecting much of the opening day schedule. The station came back on air at 7am the following morning, but much of the following days were interrupted with frequent break ups in the signal. By the end of the week the station was able to maintain a complete schedule.

The station's slogan "The Heart of Carlow Kilkenny" is taken from the idea that the shape of the two counties, as they appear on maps, form the shape of a heart.

[edit] Schedule

The station's schedule has remained much the same since it's inception. It's flagship news and listener participation programme is On The Record, which airs between 9am and 11am. It's presented by Sue Nunn, who joined the station from Radio Kilkenny and is KCLR's Head of News, Current Affairs and Community Programming. The news division also produce One O'Clock Live, presented by Tomm Dowling. News is available on the hour, and is produced in-house during the daytime. Off-peak news bulletins are taken from INN

Alan Swan is one of the station's best-known presenters. A fluent Irish speaker and an award-winning DJ, he presents Take a Break between 11am and 1pm on weekdays. He also hosts the Irish-language programme Tobar an Ceantair during the special interest block on Wednesday evenings. The Community Diary is a service provided free-of-charge to groups who wish to advertise the service but might have no other means to do so. It airs at 11:45, 2:45 and 5:45 p.m. each day.

The station has the ability to offer separate programming to each county when needed. At 6pm each evening, local news is available to each county. The frequencies are often "split" at the weekends to offer coverage of local sporting events.

Between 7pm and 9pm on weekdays, the station has a varied schedule which aims to meet the needs of the different communities and special interests around the two counties. Between 7:30pm and 8pm on Tuesday evenings, Ade Oke presents The Rainbow, a multi-cultural programme. In 2005, the programme won the Broadcast Media Award at the MAMA Awards [3].