Dublin's 98

Infobox Radio station
name = Dublin's 98 (Previously 98FM)


slogan = Dublin's best Music Mix
airdate = November 10th,1989
frequency = 98.1 MHz
DAB
area = Dublin
format = Commercial
owner = Communicorp
website = [http://www.dublins98.ie/ www.dublins98.ie]
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Dublin's 98 ("Previously: Dublin's 98FM") is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland, operated by Radio Two Thousand Limited, a subsidiary of Denis O'Brien's Communicorp Limited, under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The station broadcasts on the 98.1 MHz FM frequency. 98's Broadcast tower is located on "Rock Solid" tower on Three Rock Mountain, Co.Dublin at 5 kW and can be heard in Dublin and neighbouring counties. The station slogan is "Dublin's Best Music Mix".

Programming

The station broadcasts mainly popular music, aimed at 25-44 year olds. Its flagship is "The Morning Crew", broadcast from 06:00-10:00. Other programmes include the "Workforce" and the "98 Drive". The station broadcasts news on the hour (half-hour at peak times) along with sports, Traffic and Weather updates from their newsroom (also known as the Dublin News Centre). They started broadcasting in November 1989, the first song played on the radio station was "The Eagles - Hotel California".

History

The Station's first broadcast was in 1989, as a Rock station called Classic Hits - 98FM and quickly overtook rival Capital Radio 104.4 (now FM104), sometimes attributed to the "Morning Crew" show, originally presented by Pat Courtnay and Elaine Geraghty, and to its evening talk show presented by Fr. Michael Cleary. However a series of revamps led FM104 to eventually overtake 98FM in the Joint National Listenership Research survey. This led to something of a crisis at 98FM, with the station changing a number of long-established aspects of its programme mix - firstly dropping Pat and Elaine for the "Dawn Patrol", a short lived attempt to compete with The Strawberry Alarm Clock (the "Morning Crew" name was later revived, but with a new presenting team). The station name was changed (dropping "Classic Hits") and slogan, and Chris Barry was poached from FM104 (causing a legal wrangle). The station eventually settled down to competing with FM104, and the two stations maintain a healthy rivalry.

In the most recent MRBI/JNLR survey (Apr 06 - March 07), 98FM was the number two music station in Dublin with a market share of 14% (source: www.bci.ie). In 2003, 98FM introduced Late Night Talk with Tom O'Brannigan and Producer John "Roz" O'Donovan & Lisa Gernon. In March 2007, Late Night Talk (rival to the Adrian Kennedy Phone Show) was axed after a presenter's departure. Two weeks later, a new show, reformatted and rescheduled to 8pm - 10pm, "The Inbox," was formed with hosts Paul Connolly and Alison O'Reilly.

On the 12th June 2008, The station was officially re-branded from 98FM to Dublin's 98. All the station's jingles and advertisements changed to the new name. The website was re-designed (removing 98FM). Television advertisments can now be seen on various television netoworks in Ireland. The Slogan being "Smile" is backed up with the song Smile by The Supernaturals

Presenters

Other
* Darragh O'Dea
* Paul Duffy

News/Sport Presenters

PPI Awards 2006

* Best Breakfast Programme In Ireland in 2006
* Best News Broadcasts of 2006

Toll Trolls

Dublin's 98 presents a comedy sketch each morning called The Toll Trolls. The two characters names are "M" and "50" (named after the M50 motorway that runs around Dublin). The trolls live under a toll bridge in Dublin. They often make fun of well known Irish celebrities, the latest being new RTE daytime show Seoige and O'Shea.

Little Becky's Prank Calls

One of Dublin 98's most famous features is "Little Becky", otherwise knowns as Rebecca Barry, a young girl, who is well-known, particularly on the Internet for her prank telephone calls [ [http://www.johntedwards.com/2006/10/15/little-irish-girl-prank-calls/ Merchantprince » Little Irish Girl Prank Calls ] ] .

ee also

* Late Night Talk

References

External links

* [http://www.dublins98.ie/ www.dublins98.ie]