Live 95FM

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Live 95FM
Broadcast area	Limerick / Munster
Slogan	Limerick's Best Music Mix
First air date	November 6, 1997
Frequency	95.0, 95.3 MHz
Format	Pop / Variety Mix
Owner	UTV Radio
Website	www.live95fm.ie

Live 95FM is a local radio station in the Republic of Ireland owned by UTV Radio, broadcasting to Limerick city and county. It is aired from Radio House on the city's Dock Road.

[edit] History

The station was launched from O'Connell Street in Limerick as the "New 95FM" on November 6, 1997 as a replacement for the previous local radio franchise holder Limerick 95 which broadcast from 1989 until 1997. When Limerick 95 finally lost its licence to broadcast in 1997 (after unsuccessful legal battles to reverse an IRTC decision to terminate its licence), the 95FM frequency was unused with just a test tone for months before Live 95fm took over. The first song to be aired on the station was "Dreams" by Limerick band The Cranberries. Throughout the late-1990s the station began to increase in popularity with Limerick people and the station was always ranked high in JNLR/MRBI listenership ratings, despite continued competition from Radio Limerick One, which had continued as a pirate radio.

[edit] Reinvention

In 2000 the station changed its name from "New 95fm" to "Limerick's Live 95fm". The start of the new decade also saw the station move out of its O'Connell Street base and move to Radio House on the Dock Road in Limerick. The introduction of new shows and DJ's improved the stations status and became Limerick's most listened to radio station with 58% of Limerick people tuning into the station every weekday by 2003. Its success continues.

[edit] Shows and Competitions

The station is renowned for its fast moving shows and prize winning competitions as well as its sports commentary. Over the years a number of such shows and competitions have come and gone.

Cash-Call: The Cash-Call competition ran until 2003 and comprised of a number between 1 and 99 given out after the news every hour. At the end of the hour the station would phone up a member of the public and ask them if they heard what the number was. If the person got it right, they would win €250. The competition was replaced by "Cash On The Streets". The Cash-Call had been a feature for many years on Cork's 96FM since the early 1990s.

Hot-7-@-7: Every weekday at 7pm, DJ JP Dillon would run down the top 7 requested traks of the day. It also included a competition line where Declan would phone somebody back and ask them what song was played at a particular chart number. The "Hot-7-@-7" ran until 2004 and was replaced by "Most Wanted".

Cash On The Streets: This popular money winning competition was introduced in the summer of 2004 and is still running. Members of the Live 95fm crew go out onto the streets of Limerick and ask members of the public if they know "The phrase that pays" or "What radio station do you listen to?". If that person replies "I Listen To Limerick's Live 95fm", they instantly win €50. If they can show it written down on paper or on a mobile phone, they win €100. Sometimes, especially during the summer, the prize money is doubled or trebled. The competition resembles a similar technique adapted by Atlantic 252 in the 1990s.

Most Wanted: This show runs from 8pm to 10pm every weekday night and is a slight rendition of 2FM's "Most Wanted" show which ran until 2003. The concept of the show is pretty simple - people ring up and request their favourite chart tracks. The songs with the most requests get played.

Hot Mix (formally "Emma's Saturday Night Party"): 6 hours of non-stop party music from 6pm to midnight with Eric Murphy every Saturday night.