98FM
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| Dublin's 98 | |
| Broadcast area | Dublin |
|---|---|
| Slogan | Dublin's best Music Mix |
| Frequency | 98.1 MHz DAB |
| First air date | November 10th,1989 |
| Format | Commercial |
| Owner | Communicorp |
| Website | www.dublins98.ie |
Dublin's 98 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, and can be heard in Dublin and neighbouring counties. The station slogan is "Dublin's Best Music Mix".
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[edit] 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 98FM 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". It can be found at 98.1 on the frequency dial and the station website was recently updated with DJ blogs, Entertainment news, all found at www.dublins98.ie
[edit] 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 Dublin's 98 in the Joint National Listenership Research survey. This led to something of a crisis at Dubin's 98, 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 June 12th 2008, the station's on-air identity was changed to Dublin's 98.
[edit] Presenters
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The Morning Crew
The Workforce
98FM Drive
Playschool
The Psychic Zone
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The Inbox
Online @ Night
Now That's What I Call Sport
Thar Focal Agus Céol
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[edit] News/Sport Presenters
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[edit] PPI Awards 2006
- Best Breakfast Programme In Ireland in 2006
- Best News Broadcasts of 2006
[edit] Toll Trolls
Dublin's 98 presents a comedy sketch each morning called the 98FM 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.
[edit] Little Becky's Prank Calls
One of Dublin's 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[1].
