This article is from page 5 of the 2006-02-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
CLARE is to have a major new radio station, as competition opens for a new licence being offered by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI).
The new licence will allow a station to broadcast to Clare, Kerry, Limerick, north Tipperary and south-west Laois.
It is expected that media groups from Ireland and Britain will enter the race to get the valuable licence. Among the Irish groups expected to be in the competition is Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp, which owns a similar station in Dublin.
The new station will be aimed at the 15 to 34 year-old market and will have a ten year licence. The BCI are preparing for a searching review of applications which will look at proposals to air a mix of news, talk and music programming.
The Commission requires all licensed stations to broadcast at least two hours of news coverage each day. Applications will close on April 16 and the BCI may choose to hold oral hearings before awarding the lucrative licence. The number of independently owned radio stations on the Irish market has decreased in recent years, with big players such as Ulster Radio, Scottish Radio Holdings and EMAP entering the market.