How has no radio station closed down ?

Think it was The Foundry that CKR used to broadcast from via a UHF link every Friday and Saturday night. Speaking of UHF, I don't know why stations don't make more use of it for Outside Broadcasts. It would be far more preferable to the 'wishy washy' sounding POTS codecs in use now, which, no more than the exploitation of young presenters and staff, is used because it's cheap - not because it's good - and to keep costs low, which brings me back on topic. Phew.

CKR closed as a result of the franchise area change, not because of financial difficulties, though I don't believe it was exactly raking it in either.
KFM were awarded the new Kildare franchise, and KCLR won the Carlow and Kilkenny franchise, much to the disgust of the military wing of Radio Kilkenny, who continue to pine for its existence, even embarking on a broadcast under a temporary license a couple of years back. History and memory play funny tricks on the mind...it wasn't that good lads.

Part of the reason no station has so far failed, is that the BAI has done everything in its power to ensure no station will. Why? Because the BAI has licensed too many stations. Ireland is TINY. Yes, we're well known around the world and have a high 'profile' internationally, but WE ARE TINY, and there are TOO MANY radio stations here, particularly in Dublin.

When Lite FM, now Q102, first launched, there was a proviso that they could not change their format or name or ownership for the first 2 years, just as had been the case previously with Radio Ireland when it launched - now Today FM.
But when Lite FM's melancholic mix of wrist slashing 70's and 80's power ballads failed to draw the attention of Dublin's listeners, and advertisers, the BAI allowed them to change their name and format, just as they had done with Today FM. Although the BAI was the BCI at this point, just to keep the pedants happy.

Then we had Sunshine. I mean Sunshine Mix. I mean Mix 106.8. I mean Country Mix. I mean Sunshine Country Mix 106.8 - or whatever the jingle company is singing this month. A format change, countless name changes (see above) and mostly poor quality voice-tracked output. Gee whiz. A country music station that isn't successful in the thriving metropolis of Dublin - who'd of thought.

Then there's Phantom. Oh dear. The 'phantom menace' of the BAI's licensing ethos rears its ugly head again. I'm not sure what they were thinking here. Personally, I liked Phantom when it was a pirate, but never thought for a second that it could be commercially viable. XFM in London (it's nearest format neighbour) can compete, but that's in a city with, er, 5 / 6 / 7 times the population. Go figure.

There was an interesting article about the history of the station recently (pre and post pirate) by Patrick Freyne called "Phantom 105.2: The pirate that went straight". It's long (much like this post) but is well worth the read if you have time (possibly unlike this post.)

Recent changes to broadcasting / ownership agreements include the 'merger' or whatever term you wish to use, of Clare FM and Tipp FM. Though with their huge accumulated losses, and questionable output, there remains a massive uncertainty that these stations can really pull it around, especially with LIve95 next door making over 650,000 profit last year - how does that happen!

And finally (collective sigh of relief), there's iRadio. A great station. Or at least, it was. Still is, in parts, though some of the new (cheap) on-air 'talent' is letting it down. It originally broadcast from two sites - Galway and Athlone, under i102-104 and i105-107. The Galway studio was closed in 2010, with most programmes being simulcast across the entire 'iRadio' network. Originally, the BAI insisted that iRadio deliver live news to both regions separately, but this has been relaxed in order to cut costs.

So, for now, the BAI has staved off the inevitable and made every effort to stop stations from 'going under'. But for how long more?
You can speculate on their reasons for these actions. If a station fails, there'll be some very sweaty and frustrated shareholders who might feel they have been sold a bucket of steam - maybe it would be possible that one of them would take the BAI to court? If the business plan or franchise area was unable to support the license, then why was it advertised / awarded? I doubt this would stand up in court, but it's a fair question to ask the BAI. The dogs on the street knew that Phantom and Sunshine would never work. The BAI is supposed to be staffed with clever, educated, well-informed people, who know the broadcast industry - and as any solicitor would tell you, I'm sure it is - but how could they make so many mistakes and how can they continue to shift the goalposts and change the rules, purely to support radio stations that can't make money?

And why can't those radio stations make money? As mentioned above, Live95 made a huge profit last year, and given the atrocious trading conditions and an increase in their operating costs of around €300,00 (no wage cuts), was an exceptional achievement.
Contrast that, with successive losses at Clare FM and Tipp FM, who have now joined their toxic debts at the hip. Are these stations really capable of turning things around? You can cut staff, costs, budgets and wages, but eventually you have to start investing in people and programming, and paying your bills, and I personally can't see these stations having the capacity or ability to do so, regardless of how much 'protectionism' the BAi engage in.

Interesting times ahead, and sadly, more enthusiastic, brilliant and talented radio people, out of work.