Independent radio a success at long last

Ten years ago today independent legal radio began broadcasting in this State with the launch of Capital Radio at 8 a.m. on July 20th, 1989. In the main, independent radio has been a tremendous success here despite the highly publicised failure of Century and the struggles of Radio Ireland/Today FM.

Today, 21 independent stations are in operation and between them have garnered 52 per cent of the national listenership, according to last year's figures. RTE Radio 1 had 33 per cent, 2FM had 28 per cent and Today FM 11 per cent. The total combined equals 61 per cent for RTE and 63 per cent for the independents. The figures take into account the fact that people listen to more than one station.

The independents rose by 1 per cent while both RTE stations each dropped by 1 per cent over the same period. It is likely this downward trend may have continued for RTE in recent months, particularly after the departure of Gay Byrne. Industry sources indicate a continuing rise for Today FM.

It is all a long way from the grim days of the 1970s and 1980s when, despite a plethora of pirates, people were told Ireland could not support local radio stations and independent radio was not viable.

RTE, the sole national broadcaster at the time, argued that with proper wage levels and adherence to copyright payments etc, local radio could not survive. An ideological civil war in the coalition government became focused on who might control such stations should they exist.

Heavily influenced by unions at RTE, Labour argued that any new stations should be controlled by the State - an extended RTE - while Fine Gael favoured genuinely independent radio. So nothing happened.

Then Ray Burke became minister for communications in 1987 and immediately set about righting the situation, possibly out of revenge for RTE's threat during the 1987 general election campaign to black every politician who went on-air on the pirates.

By then the existing 74 pirates had a large and loyal listenership who identified with them as their local station.

Mr Burke's arrival on the scene was an immense relief to the many hundreds involved in the pirate stations, and his decisiveness was welcomed. With the 1988 Broadcasting Act he established the IRTC and set in train the granting of licences to consortiums all over the State. This was completed by February 1989.

All pirates had to go off-air by midnight New Year's Eve 1988, and anyone still on-air after that would incur the full rigour of the law, as well as forfeit any chance of securing a licence. It was a very successful strategy in the main, though old stalwarts like Radio Dublin continued to do as they had always done.

But the journey to the current situation has not been without its bumps. Capital Radio (now a successful FM104) went through some torrid early years and two name changes before it turned the corner, primarily because its music policy did not click with the aimed-for audience. Meanwhile 98FM, which came on air in November 1989 following intensive market research, was a success from the beginning.

While the station in Limerick lost its licence because of non-compliance with IRTC requirements, the most spectacular failure in the independent radio story to date has been that of Century Radio, the State's first independent national radio service.

It went on-air in September 1989 and survived to November 1991. Again it would seem that lack of research and preparation was the main reason for its slow, agonising death. This appears to be even more the case following the Radio Ireland/Today experience. It seemed destined to follow Century's fate until astute decisions turned it around.

RTE's strength as a national service is, however, its weakness when it comes to local broadcasting. It cannot identify as closely with its listeners as Highland Radio in Donegal, for instance, which has a colossal 68 per cent listenership in its area.

Similarly with Radio Kerry, Mid West Radio, North West Radio, Shannonside/Northern Sound, Clare FM, 95 FM in Limerick, Radio Kilkenny, South East Radio, Waterford Local Radio (WLR FM), and Galway Bay FM for example, all of which have one-third more listeners than RTE Radio 1 in their areas.

One of the consequences of all this is that politicians now show a distinct preference for dealing with local stations, not least at election time.

For many involved in independent stations it has been a heartening outcome to a long struggle. Most would then have been young people motivated by a mixture of idealism and a taste for adventure.

Few were motivated by a money-grabbing instinct, as was suggested by some RTE personalities in a recent TV documentary on the pirates.