Luck Of The Irish: "Seriously Addictive" Radio
The surprisingly vibrant Dublin radio dial: Spin 103.8, FM104, RTE 2FM, Radio Nova, 98FM, Ireland's Classic Hits Radio, Sunshine 106.8
I spent last week traveling around Ireland; beautiful scenery, charming small towns, lots of history…it is definitely worth adding to your travel bucket list. One pleasant surprise was the state of radio in Dublin, the capital and largest city in Ireland. So, this post is a little scan of the current Dublin dial.
Dublin has about 2.1M people in the metro area. In US radio terms, that would make it about the same size of a radio market as Las Vegas and Orlando. However, Dublin would be considered “under-radioed” by US standards as it only has a dozen radio outlets, less than half of what the Las Vegas market has in terms of outlets.
Radio stations in Ireland are licensed as national, regional, and local radio stations. So, Dublin has a few national signals mixed in with local signals. As a result, it essentially has 3 CHRs — national RTÉ 2FM (90.7 locally in Dublin) and locals Spin 103.8 and FM104 104.4 — a rarity these days in the US. Also, Dublin radio is still very much live — and local — from morning to evening, even on weekends…and the stations have a sense of fun and vibrancy that sometimes is lacking on some US stations these days.
Also unique, FM104 is also the first station I’ve encountered that has a virtual space in the Metaverse for its Friday night mix show.
In terms of ratings, in the latest results from JNLR/Ipsos, full-service RTÉ Radio 1 dominates. Top 40s Spin and FM104 are practically tied with roughly 11% each. Among the stations I have airchecks of below, soft AC Sunshine 106.8 106.8 has 8.5%, rock Radio Nova 100.3 8.1%, 98FM 6.8%, 2FM 5.6%, and Classic Hits Radio 4.3%.
On the airchecks, the recordings were from the June Bank Holiday weekend Friday May 31-Monday June 3.
Let’s start our audio tour with the top 40 outlets. I actually have two of Spin and FM104. For each, one aircheck is from Friday evening when both stations have mix shows, and the other aircheck is more regular programming on Sunday. Spin, FM104, and 2FM were all over the hottest songs...or, in Irish and UK vernacular, bangers. One difference from US CHRs is that the music is skews very pop and dance and there is not a lot of hip hop product.
If your local top 40 outlet is now playing a sizable amount of songs each hour that are 10, 15, or 20+ years old, Spin is refreshingly new and fun. It appears to not have given up on teens and those under 25. The imaging is pretty tight…all in all a pretty great sounding top 40 outlet.
Spin is co-owned with rhythmic hot AC 98FM, and both were running a “weekend of winning” contest (competition in the local vernacular) to win a family trip to Disneyland Paris.
“Spin, Summer’s #1 Hit Music Station, Hit Music Now” Date: Friday, May 31, 2024 7:43PM Format: top 40 DJs: NewEra and Marty Guilfoyle
On Friday nights, Spin does mix shows. This aircheck has the back end of its “Friday Night Residency” show with Irish DJ duo NewEra and the beginning of the “Into The Mix” show with artist and DJ Marty Guilfoyle at 8PM. Both NewEra and Guilfoyle have singles that make it in the second aircheck below.
CamrinWatsin (Featuring Eljé)/”Crazy”
Morgan Seatree & Abi Flynn/”Follow You”
Cloonee & Morgan Seatree/”Sippin’ Yak”
Diplo & Jonas Brothers/”Lonely”
David Guetta & Bebe Rexha/”I’m Good (Blue)”
The Weeknd/”Can’t Feel My Face”
Jazzy/”Giving Me”
“Spin, Summer’s #1 Hit Music Station, Hit Music Now” Date: Sunday, June 2, 2024 10:57AM Format: top 40 DJ: Matthew Matthews
The Irish stations still feature regular info breaks/newscasts during the day. Spin does this with a hipper production. I kind of like “Spin’s 5 word weather,” which literally is 5 words: “starting to get warmer now.”
Hozier/”Too Sweet”
Kygo & Ava Max/”Whatever”
Perrie/”Forget About Us”
Kenya Grace/”Stangers”
Nathan Dawe (Featuring KSI)/”Lighter”
NewEra/”Birds In The Sky”
Ed Sheeran/”Eyes Closed”
Artemas/”I Like The Way You Kiss Me”
Ariana Grande/”We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)”
Marty Guilfoyle (Featuring Abi Flynn)/”I Wanna Love You” **
Cian Ducrot/”Heaven”
Charli XCX (Featuring Rina Sawayama)/”Beg For You”
Benson Boone/”Beautiful Things”
Coi Leray/”Players”
Alan Walker (Feature Gavin James)/”Tired”
Picture This/”LA House Party”
Compared to its rival, Spin, FM104 does incorporate more gold. Like Spin above, the first aircheck is from the Friday night mix show and the second from more typical programming.
“FM104, Dublin's Hit Music Station” Date: Friday, May 31, 2024 8:45PM Format: top 40 DJ: Al Gibbs
FM104’s competing Friday night mix show is the electronic “Freaks On Friday” with DJ Al Gibbs. The show has been on the air for over a decade, and, according to the station, “is a huge part of Irish club culture but also has a massive international audience.” The show runs three hours and has a quite a bit of gold with the first hour devoted to a decade, hour two for “tried and tested,” and the last one with “The Official Beatport Chart.”
Interestingly, as mentioned on the aircheck, the show has its own virtual nightclub in the Metaverse. From the FM104 website:
FM104's Freaks on Friday is the first radio show in Ireland to launch its own virtual nightclub in the Metaverse with participants joining from all over the world to dance virtually, listen to the show and swap NFT‘s.
They can be part of the online Metaverse community and can catch Al Gibbs streaming live into club Club freaks this Friday on the Spatial app...
The virtual club is a penthouse in Dubai in the Metaverse.
Michael Mandal/”I Don’t Know”
Jerry Ropero (Featuring Jaqueline)/”Coracao”
MK (Featuring Alana)/”Love Changes”
Chez Damier (MK Remix)/”Can You Feel It”
4th Measure Men (MK Remix)/”4 You”
Jodeci (MK Dub)/”Freek’n You”
Pet Shop Boys (MK Remix)/”Can You Forgive Her?”
Mall Grab/”Believe”
Mall Grab/”I Just Wanna”
“FM104, Dublin's Hit Music Station” Date: Sunday, June 2, 2024 8:05PM Format: top 40 DJ: Tara Murray
This audio is the Sunday edition of the nightly “The Hit Mix” show. FM104’s active competition is tied into the upcoming “Bad Boys: Ride Or Die” movie where the winner gets a trip to Barcelona that includes a sports car driving experience. That’s a pretty good payoff for whoever wins that. FM104 does mix in some older titles, compared to Spin. Like Spin, it’s a good sounding outlet; clearly the fact the two rivals are nearly tied in the ratings is pushing both to be better.
Olivia Rodrigo/”Obsessed”
Benson Boone/”Slow It Down”
Billie Eilish/”Lunch”
Peggy Gou/”(It Goes Like) Nanana”
Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg/”The Next Episode”
Anne-Marie/”2002”
Taylor Swift (Featuring Post Malone)/”Fortnite”
Lil Nas X/”That’s What I Want”
Chappell Roan/”Good Luck, Babe!”
Kenya Grace/”Strangers”
Kelly Clarkson/”Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
Metro Boomin & The Weekend & 21/”Creepin’”
Teddy Swims/”Lose Control”
Navos/”Believe Me”
Post Malone & Morgan Wallen/”I Had Some Help”
Jack Harlow/”Lovin’ On Me”
Amy Winehouse/”Rehab”
Taio Cruz/”Break Your Heart”
Hozier/”Too Sweet”
Zedd & Alessia Cara/”Stay”
RTÉ's is Ireland’s state broadcaster and essentially is the equivalent to the BBC in the UK. Like the British, the Irish pay a yearly television licensing fee to help fund it. Unlike the BBC, RTÉ does also have some advertising to bring it revenue.
2FM is the equivalent to BBC Radio 1: it is available over the air nationally via numerous signals (generally 90-92 MHz in most of Ireland and 97 MHz in the northeast part of the country), and it programs a top 40 format. In Dublin, 2FM is on 90.7, making it the 3rd top 40 against Spin and FM104.
“2FM” Date: Sunday, June 2, 2024 7:09PM Format: top 40 DJ: Conor Behan
This aircheck is the Sunday night “The Request Show.”
BLACKPINK/”Kill This Love”
Sabrina Carpenter/”Espresso”
Taylor Swift/”I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”
Luke Combs/”Fast Car”
The Shapeshifters/”Lola’s Theme”
Brad Heidi/”Don’t Let Go”
Paul Woolford & Diplo (Featuring Kareen Lomax)/”Looking For Me”
Frank Ocean/”Thinkin’ ‘Bout You”
U2/”Magnificent”
Robert Grace/”Fake Fine”
The Prodigy/”Firestarter”
Tommy Richman/”Million Dollar Baby (VHS)”
Dua Lipa/”Houdini”
Manjola/”Go Wrong”
Until this trip, the only aircheck I had from Ireland was 2FM from 29 years ago this month. So, as a bit of bonus, here it is to contrast against the current sound. Unfortunately, after 29 years, the tape is pretty damaged, so I’ve tried to salvage what I could from it…
“2FM” Date: Sunday, June 25, 1995 Format: top 40 DJs: Michael Cahill, Dusty Rhodes
East 17/”Hold My Body Tight”
Scooter/”Hyper Hyper”
Damaso Perez Prado/”Guaglione”
Robson & Jerome/”Unchained Melody”
Bobby Brown/”Two Can Play That Game”
The Outhere Brothers/”Boom Boom Boom”
Oasis/”Some Might Say”
Van Morrison/”Days Like This”
Tina Arena/”Chains”
“Radio Nova” Date: Saturday, June 1, 2024 7:15PM Format: rock DJ: Greg Gaughran
Radio Nova operates a couple of signals in and around Dublin — with the 100.3 signal from Three Rock Mountain to the south the main one targeting Dublin. It has an interesting rock format. It has a tag line of “Seriously Addictive Music,” which is seriously awesome.
“The Saturday Soundtrack With Greg Gaughran” is what this aircheck captures. Nova is also running a “Bad Boys: Ride Or Die” competition…the prize here is for a trip to Miami that includes a speedboat ride and a helicopter ride. It also runs a variation of the “identify the sound” contest called “Nova Noise” where the winner could win a jackpot worth €15,000.
The playlist is fairly broad…I dig it. Perhaps one of the best things of the aircheck is that there is a local insurance broker called Quote Devil, where you can get “a hell of a quote.”
Gorillaz/”Dare”
Eurythmics/”Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)”
Status Quo/”Roll Over Lay Down”
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band/”Shakedown”
Hozier/”Too Sweet”
The Faces/”Ooh La La”
Led Zeppelin/”When The Levee Breaks”
Guns N’ Roses/”Sweet Child O’ Mine”
Coldplay/”Trouble”
Paul McCartney/”My Love”
“98FM, Dublin's Good Times” Date: Sunday, June 2, 2024 11:53AM Format: rhythmic hot AC DJ: Paul Ryder
Most online radio resources describe 98FM as just an AC. It would not fit in that classification in the US. What we classify as an AC in the US is stereotyped to women wearing mom jeans hauling kids to soccer practice and the Chick-Fil-A in their SUV listening to a soundtrack of bland and non-edgy music. 98FM is going after those women’s much younger and hotter sisters… By US standards, the station is better classified more as a rhythmic hot AC with new and old school “dance and R&B anthems.”
This is from midday Sunday, the day of the annual VHI Women’s Mini-Marathon charity event, which 98FM is also broadcasting remotely from. It’s a big event that closes and blocks most of the streets in central Dublin make getting around difficult — particular for American visitors unaware of such an event until they are spending a 90 minute Uber ride for a trip that would normally take 10 minutes. Ask me how I know…
Like co-owned Spin above, 98FM is upbeat and fun and a pretty solid station.
Taylor Swift/”Anti-Hero” (Remix)
Fedde Le Grand/”Put Your Hands Up For Detroit” (Remix)
Faithless/”Insomnia”
Kygo & Ava Max/”Whatever”
The Weeknd/”Can’t Feel My Face”
Kylie Minogue/”Padam Padam” (Remix)
Hi_Tack/”Say Say Say (Waiting 4 U)” (Remix)
Snap!/”The Power”
The Blessed Madonna (Featuring Clementine Douglas)/”Happier” (Remix)
Blue/”Fly By II”
Kiesza/”Hideaway”
David Guetta (Featuring Akon)/”Sexy Bitch”
Jazzy/”Giving Me”
“Ireland's Classic Hits Radio, The Home Of The 80s & 90s” Date: Monday, June 3, 2024 5:40AM (June Bank Holiday) Format: classic hits DJ: None (holiday)
Ireland’s Classic Hits Radio is classified as an independent multi-region station as it covers Dublin and a large part of the country through multiple signals. In Dublin, it is heard on 94.9.
Unfortunately, I taped this early on a holiday and the station was running jockless instead of its usual breakfast show.
Again, by US standards, the playlist is pretty atypical of what we would likely hear on most classic hits stations in the US. It’s a good thing…it is kind of nice to hear something by Prince outside “1999,” “When Doves Cry,” “Raspberry Beret,” and “Kiss,” for example, in addition to Euro hits.
Toto/”Africa”
Hothouse Flowers/”Give It Up”
Sophie Ellis Bextor/”Murder On The Dancefloor”
Passenger/”Let Her Go”
Sting/”Fields Of Gold”
Queen/”We Are The Champions”
Westlife/”When You Looking Like That”
Heart/”All I Wanna Do”
The 4 Of Us/”Mary”
Prince/”The Most Beautiful Girl In The World”
D:Ream/”U R The Best Thing”
Ace Of Base/”All That She Wants”
Cher/”Believe”
Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes/”(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life”
“Sunshine 106.8, Dublin's Easy Place To Relax” Date: Monday, June 3, 2024 6:40AM (June Bank Holiday) Format: soft AC DJ: Robbie Fogarty
While 98FM, Ireland’s Classic Hits Radio, and Radio Nova are fairly distinct from their typical US counterparts, Sunshine feels pretty similar to soft ACs in the US — mostly gold-based lite rock with a few brighter songs tossed in.
Dolly Parton/”Here You Come Again”
Gladys Knight/”Midnight Train To Georgia”
Lady A/”Just A Kiss”
Michael Bublé/”Everything”
Air Supply/”All Out Of Love”
Kool And The Gang/”Cherish”
Ed Sheeran/”Perfect”
Simply Red/”Stars”
Crystal Gayle/”Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”
Rod Stewart/”Have I Told You Lately”
Roy Orbison/”I Drove All Night”
Doobie Brothers/”What A Fool Believes”
Lonestar/”Amazed”
Sinead O’Connor/”Nothing Compares 2 U”
John Legend/”All Of Me”
As always, the logos and other intellectual property belong to the stations. The recordings were made from over the air broadcasts.