RTE'S new full-time "music and arts" radio station will have a populist sound when it starts broadcasting on May 1st.
Most of Lyric FM's weekday daytime schedule will feature short musical pieces of the sort popularised by Classic FM in Britain. A talk-led evening "drive-time" programme, hosted by Eamonn Lawlor, is also on the cards.
The programming details of Lyric FM, which replaces the part-time FM3 service, were announced at a launch in Limerick yesterday. The new station's premises are in the Cornmarket area. The station's head is Mr Seamus Crimmins, a veteran RTE producer who has been in charge of FM3.
Mr Crimmins announced the names of the station's presenters, who in addition to Mr Lawlor include Prof Anthony Clare, Henry Kelly and Lorcan Murray of 2FM. Maire Nic Gearailt, an experienced RTE presenter and producer, will host the programme in the commercially-vital 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. slot.
The emphasis is on "accessibility" and "relaxation". Speaking at the launch, RTE's director of radio, Ms Helen Shaw, said: "Already Lyric FM has come to mean a station that is first and foremost about beautiful music that is for everyone, not simply an elite."
She said the arrival of Lyric FM completed the FM spectrum for Ireland. The team which had worked on creating Lyric FM had "sought to create a station which will enhance the nature of radio in Ireland and ensure listeners have wider choice available to them every day".
The project has been in train since early last year. "It has been a long gestation," Ms Shaw concluded, "but we know it will be a wonderful birth."
RTE's director of public affairs, Mr Kevin Healy, said Lyric FM was "an important addition to RTE's public service remit".
As these comments indicate, Lyric FM, despite its logo, studio location and frequencies, is very much part of the greater RTE family. Unlike Classic FM, which is a commercial station, Lyric FM will rely on public monies to pay most of its budget. "We expect a ratio of about two-to-one public to private funding," said Mr Crimmins.
Advertisers will be able to avail of special discounts for booking packages on Lyric FM in conjunction with block bookings on RTE Radio 1.
Elements of the FM3 schedule, notably the evening concerts and the overnight Euroclassic Nocturne, will be retained by the new station. In addition to the new daytime programming, with its "light" emphasis, the schedule provides scope on weekends for more music-oriented documentaries and request programmes.
Test transmissions for the station can already be heard in the Dublin area at 96.7 FM and on frequencies between 97 and 99 FM elsewhere. FM3 continues to share frequencies with Raidio na Gaeltachta until the end of this month.