| Broadcast area | Ireland |
|---|---|
| Slogan | One Hundred to One O Two, Today FM |
| Frequency | 100-101.8 (105.5 north east) MHz Digital terrestrial television DAB digital radio |
| First air date | 17 March 1997 |
| Format | Contemporary |
| Facility ID | Marconi House, Digges Lane, Dublin 2[1] |
| Owner | Communicorp |
| Sister stations | Newstalk 98FM |
| Website | www.todayfm.com |
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk. Recently purchased by Denis O'Brien's Communicorp Group Ltd, Today FM holds a licence from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland to the year 2017.[2] The station recorded pretax profits of €7.4 million on a turnover of €19.4 million in early 2009, more than twice what it was two years previously.[3]
Contents |
The original Independent National Radio franchise holder in Ireland was 100-102 Century Radio, which launched in 1989 and closed down abruptly in late 1991. The Independent Radio and Television Commission did not re-advertise the contract for several years, until 1996.
Radio Ireland Limited, originally owned by John McColgan and Moya Doherty (and because of their involvement, dubbed "Radio Riverdance"), won the contract when it was advertised. The station went on air on 17 March 1997. At first the station was a mixed network, airing much talk programming and various types of music. However, following six months of disastrous ratings, and with a listenership of just 1%, the station was revamped, and on 1 January 1998 became 100-102 Today FM.[4] The station axed almost all of its programming and changed its music policy entirely.[4] Eamon Dunphy's co-host (Anne-Marie Hourihan) was axed, with him being heavily promoted as a solo act and Ian Dempsey and Ray D'Arcy were poached from arch-rivals RTÉ.[4] The IRTC went along with the schedule changes, though in a statement soon after the relaunch said it was not entirely satisfied with the new schedule. However, within three months, the station's listenership had almost doubled. Since the autumn of 1998, experienced broadcaster and radio programmer Tom Hardy has been Programming Director of Today FM.
Today FM reshuffled its daytime schedule in 2004, reducing The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show to add an extra hour to The Ray D'Arcy Show so that it could compete directly with rival, The Gerry Ryan Show.[5] Philip Cawley's afternoon show was reduced and Tony Fenton was given a lunchtime show.[5]
In 2002, Scottish Radio Holdings plc acquired Radio Ireland Limited from its shareholders. In June 2005, an agreed takeover offer for that company was made by EMAP plc.
On 16 July 2007 it was announced that Denis O'Brien's Communicorp had agreed to purchase FM104, along with national station Today FM and Donegal station Highland Radio. The sale is however subject to both Competition Authority and Broadcasting Commission of Ireland approval. Had the sale been approved in its originally proposed form, both FM104 and 98FM would be owned by the same company.[6][7]
On 8 October 2007, Communicorp's takeover of Today FM was approved by the BCI.[8] Following the Competition Authority's approval for the takeover (on the condition that the enlarged Communicorp disposed of FM104 to UTV Media), the takeover closed in April 2008.
In 2008, Today FM moved their studios from their original base at 112 Upper Abbey Street, Dublin across the Liffey to Marconi House in Digges Lane, Dublin 2. Presenters Matt Cooper, Ray D'Arcy, Ian Dempsey and Tom Dunne spent hours recreating the iconic picture used for the cover of The Beatles's 11th album, Abbey Road to publicise their move.[9] On 29 February 2008, Matt Cooper's The Last Word was the final show to be presented from the old studios. The first show to be presented from the new studios was Friday Night 80s with Phil Cawley from 19:00. The first song played was "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Also in 2008 (25 October) Today FM celebrated ten years of broadcasting live English Premier League football.
In April 2006, Ray D'Arcy conducted an interview with comedian Des Bishop. Bishop joked about being gay. D'Arcy asked Bishop to provide an "exclusive". Bishop said, "I'm gay... I'm not, but hey!"[10] D'Arcy said, "You're very comfortable with your sexuality?"[10] Bishop said, "Me and Derek Mooney are doing a show".[10] The audience laughed.[10] D'Arcy moved to a commercial break before, he said, Bishop "outs anyone else".[10] The incident provoked much commentary in the media, with the Sunday Independent observing "Instantly, the Irish-American comedian was the villain of the piece and Derek was all over the front page", while Ray D'Arcy was also criticised for his choice of words.[10][11][12]
This happened in March 2009, involving Will Hanafin and The Ray D'Arcy Show.
On 15 October 2011, Today FM confirmed Sam Smyth's Sunday radio show was being dropped. He had been presenting it for 14 years. Smyth had previously offended his bosses by commenting in a newspaper and on television about the Moriarty Tribunal which criticised Today FM owner Denis O'Brien. Smyth said on air the next morning that he had been told not to talk about the end of his show and stopped one of his guests from talking about it too "before someone comes downstairs and pulls a wire we better move onto something else."[13] The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said it was concerned at the development.[14] The Irish Independent, of which Denis O'Brien is a leading shareholder, reported that Anton Savage was being lined up to replace Sam Smyth.[15] Eamon Dunphy subsequently resigned from Today FM's sister station Newstalk, in solidarity with Smyth and because, he said, the radio station's management wanted “dissenting voices” such as Constantin Gurdgiev off the airwaves.[16]
Today FM airs a mixture of popular music and news and current affairs programming. The station broadcasts 24-hours a day; however, from around 0200 until 0500 on weekdays and 0100 until 0600/0700 on weekends, the station just broadcasts back-to-back music overnight with no presenters or programmes. This is done by many Irish radio stations, usually to save costs in employing overnight presenters and technicians.
The flagship current affairs programme on Today FM is The Last Word, currently presented (most of the time anyway) by Matt Cooper. The latest JNLR figures revealed that this programme enjoyed a listenership of 215,000, over-taking rival Drivetime on RTÉ Radio 1 for the first time ever. The Last Word is precded from Monday until Thursday by Tony Fenton's self-titled afternoon show and followed by Paul McLoone's self-titled evening music programme.
Of note is the station's satirical slot, Gift Grub,[17] a feature broadcast during The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show (presented by Ian Dempsey from 0700 until 0900 each weekday morning), which is performed by Mario Rosenstock and includes popular caricatures of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, politician Joan Burton and singers Daniel O'Donnell and Keith Duffy. The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show is followed by the "Two Rays": D'Arcy and Foley, both of whom have each won three Meteor Music Awards. The Ray D'Arcy Show has more listeners than its RTÉ rivals as of 2011.[18] Ray Foley is originally from rural County Mayo, a NUTS Level III region in the West of Ireland, and his presence is particularly novel at a Dublin radio station.
Some other less important, but nonetheless worth mentioning, DJs at the station include Phil Cawley, KC, Dave Couse (also the singer with A House), Donal Dineen, Derek Flood and Tim Kelly. Bob Conway is a "swing jock". Declan Meehan and Martin King are two weekend-only presenters, with Declan Meehan having been involved with the station from its inception.
Former presenters of Radio Ireland/Today FM include Philip Boucher-Hayes, Mark Byrne, Mark Cagney, Enda Caldwell, Breffni Clack, Alison Curtis (The Last Splash and The Alison Curtis Show featuring Mister Ed Smith), Tom Dunne (Pet Sounds), Eamon Dunphy (original presenter of The Last Word), Bob Gallico, Tommy Greene, Anne-Marie Hourihan (originally Eamon Dunphy's co-host), Bill Hughes, Robbie Irwin (weekend sports programs presenter), Mark Kavanagh (dance show), Ann Marie Kelly, John Kelly, Stephen Keogh, Tracey Lee, Nails Mahoney (briefly), Marty Miller (now rockin' out on Radio Nova 100FM) the late Dermot Morgan, Paddy Murray and Liam Mackey (Murray and Mackey), Ian Noctor (newsreader who also for a period presented Dad Rock) Ed Myers, Paul Power, Ita Ryan (The Celtic Reel), John Ryan (original presenter of The Sunday Supplement), Donal Scannell, Jon Troy (Between The Sheets - love songs), and Karl Tsigdinos (The River of Soul).
This is the current Today FM Schedule.[19][20]
| Time | Monday - Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05:00 | Louise Duffy | |||
| 06:00 | ||||
| 07:00 | The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show | The Saturday Breakfast with Martin King |
Declan Meehan | |
| 08:00 | ||||
| 09:00 | The Ray D'Arcy Show | |||
| 10:00 | The Very Last Word | Sunday Business Show | ||
| 11:00 | Phil's Saturday Show | Sam Smyth On Sunday | ||
| 12:00 | Ray Foley | |||
| 13:00 | Classic Gold Sunday | |||
| 14:00 | Premier League Live | |||
| 14:30 | Tony Fenton | |||
| 15:00 | ||||
| 16:00 | Today FM Top 40 | |||
| 16:30 | The Last Word | |||
| 17:00 | ||||
| 18:00 | Planet Hits | |||
| 19:00 | Paul McLoone | Friday Night 80's | KC at Night | |
| 20:00 | ||||
| 21:00 | ||||
| 22:00 | KC at Night | Ed's Indie Disco | The Lighthouse with Dave Couse |
|
| 23:00 | Friday Night with JP | |||
| 00:00 | Small Hours Donal Dineen |
|||
| 01:00 | ||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||