Only two stations left in the Chrstian Radio race.

gosimeon

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has announced that, of the five applications received for a new quasi-national Christian and religious sound broadcasting service on the AM band, it has decided to call two groups to the next stage in the process. The two are Spirit Radio and Yes Radio.

A public oral hearing will now be held in Dublin on Monday 26th March, 2007. Each applicant will make a presentation followed by a question and answer session with the Board of the Commission. Further details regarding the venue and times for the oral hearings will be announced shortly. It is anticipated that a decision on the award of this licence will be made by the Board at their meeting in May.

The decision will come as blow to United Christian Broadcasters, which had operated without a licence for some years, and had been waiting for 10 years for the opportunity to run a licensed station in Ireland.

You can read all five original proposals here: http://www.bci.ie/licensing/radio/commercial_apps.html

Thank goodness Radio Maria aren't getting it. Here is what we would have been put through if they did!

A Proposed Daily Schedule for Radio Maria Ireland
Time Programme
7.00am Rosary
7.30am Good Morning: Morning Prayer, Saint of the Day
8.00am Spiritual Talk
9.00am Daily Mass
9.30am The Good News: Reading, discourse, and discussion
10.30am Current Affairs: reports, interviews and call-in
12.00pm Angelus
12.03pm Music of Praise and Thanksgiving
1.30pm Specialized Topic: Discourse or interview followed by call-in
3.00pm Chaplet of Divine Mercy,
3.30pm Youth Programme: Music, Instruction and Discussion for Youth
5.45pm Events Round up: reports and upcoming events
6.00pm Angelus meditation of the day
7.00pm Faith Journey: Prayer, interview and discussion with people
of remarkable faith
8.00pm Programming in Polish: prayers/music/discussion/call-in
9.30pm The Main Event: (rotated daily) programming for the incarcerated,
recovering drug addicts, other marginalised groups (the
mentally ill and others), young adults, special interest.
Reports, round table discussion, call-in
11.30pm Night Prayers with Rosary
12.00am Sign-off

Ugh, having such a station would kill off ant hope of Christian media taking off here!

Yes! and Spirit FM both seem balanced and interesting.

Asiaprod

gosimeon wrote:

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9.30pm The Main Event: (rotated daily) programming for the incarcerated,
recovering drug addicts, other marginalised groups (the
mentally ill and others), young adults, special interest.
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Count me in for that one, nearly as good as Boards.ie.;)
But seriously, what could one expect to hear from Spirit Radio or Yes Radio that would be so different.

gosimeon

Radio Maria, as a cursory glance at their schedule illustrates, are totally of Catholic persuasion. They are absolutely obsessed with Mother Mary (they are even called after her!). They would kill the airwaves with "shows" such as:
3.00pm Chaplet of Divine Mercy (30 mins)
7.00am Rosary (30 mins)
8.00pm Programming in Polish: prayers/music/discussion/call-in (90 mins)
6.00pm Angelus meditation of the day (60 mins)
11.30pm Night Prayers with Rosary (30 mins)

Their programming is totally Catholic orientated. Despite what the census says, 88pc of Irish people aren't practising Catholics, just like 500 people aren't atheists - far more people are atheists than that. That number of people that would listen to the type of programming Radio Maria proposed is minimal to say the least. I can't even think of a Catholic friend who would endure much of that schedule.

The rules of radio have changed. Radio has to be exciting, fresh and vibrant. Music is for people on the move, not just for crippled people lying in bed all day. Radio Maria would, as I have said, be a kick in the teeth for those Christians trying to start off a media culture in Ireland's Christian society. This includes making the station market driven.

Yes Radio and Spirit FM are both non-denominational (although they do have an Evangelical twist) and are therefore not doing to produce programming that is solely aimed at one particular church. They are more youth orientated, in particular Spirit. It is important that Christian media focuses on youth. Is is today's youth that seem to be pretty lost.

Basically the two remaining applicants offer something new, fresh, exciting, experimental, and market driven, as well as spiritually aware.

lostexpectation

who bank rolling these stations

gosimeon

All of their applications are online, with most stating that the station will operate off donations.