THE applicants for the new national radio licence have spent several months preparing lengthy outlines of their plans, but the final decision could hinge on a mere 75 minutes.
On Monday, the five consortiums will each present an oral submission to the 10 members of the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) at a public hearing in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. A good performance is essential if they are to have any hope of winning the 10 year licence, as one well placed industry source explained "Some people performed appallingly badly during the last oral hearings for the Community Radio licenses. They seemed impressive on paper, but the minute they got up on their feet they were finished."
Each consortium, beginning with National FM, is expected to make an audio visual presentation on its bid, and win also face up to 35 minutes of questions from the IRTC. They will be judged on their performance under pressure, their ability to handle questions, and how they explain their plans. The decision will be taken in conjunction with the contents of each applicant's written submission but according to insiders a poor oral performance could scupper even the most impressive of documents.
After the failure of the previous licence holder Century, which lost about 7 million, the IRTC will want to ensure that the winner has a viable business plan that will deliver both an audience and sufficient advertising revenue. However the Commission will also be looking for a station that has something more to offer than wall to wall music.
An estimated 35 million is currently spent on radio advertising in the state but this figure is increasing. Advertisers and radio operators agree that there Is a shortage of space, particularly on a national level as demand for premium RTE radio space outstrips supply. However given Century's humbling experience, and RTE's current strangle hold on the national market, few of the applicants view the licence as a cash cow.
The five consortiums include many of the major players in Irish independent radio, other media companies, well known entrepreneurs and both private investors and venture capital companies.
The joint favourites, according to industry sources, are New Ireland Broadcasting which is headed by the company responsible for the highly successful Cork based independent station 96FM/103FM and Radio Ireland which is commonly known as the Riverdance consortium.
These two are closely followed by Ireland 100 Productions, which includes investors from the Dublin station FM104 and the Irish Times the Energy Radio consortium which includes 98FM in Dublin and three local independent radio stations The National FM bid, which is headed by Scottish Radio Holdings, is considered an outside bet, however little separates the five groups, according to industry sources.
Paddy Power Bookmakers has made Radio Ireland and New Ireland Broadcasting the joint favourites at 7/4 Energy Radio and Ireland 100 are at 3/1, while National FM is at 4/1.
The IRTC has said that it hopes to make its decision known in the Spring so that a new station can be on the air by the second half of this year. But the winner could be known very quickly as the last time the commission considered oral submissions for a new national licence the winner was announced within a week.
