Century Radio

thejuggler

Hard to believe it’s almost 30 years since Century radio/century fm was on the air as Ireland’s first national independent station.
Disappointing that it failed. The memories are hazy enough but Mark Byrne and Jim O’Neills shows on weekday evenings are a standout. Also the relay of the network chart with Kid Jensen on Sunday afternoons.

For those who were involved (aside from the financial problems) was there a good atmosphere working in the station? Were the facilities and equipment decent or were corners cut?
What became of the studio equipment and music library after the closedown?
I know one of the medium wave transmitters was left to deteriorate and was eventually scrapped after radio Ireland did not use it when they launched in 1997.
The studios were near Christchurch in Dublin I believe - what became of that building?

TheBMG

thejuggler wrote: »

Hard to believe it’s almost 30 years since Century radio/century fm was on the air as Ireland’s first national independent station.
Disappointing that it failed. The memories are hazy enough but Mark Byrne and Jim O’Neills shows on weekday evenings are a standout. Also the relay of the network chart with Kid Jensen on Sunday afternoons.

For those who were involved (aside from the financial problems) was there a good atmosphere working in the station? Were the facilities and equipment decent or were corners cut?
What became of the studio equipment and music library after the closedown?
I know one of the medium wave transmitters was left to deteriorate and was eventually scrapped after radio Ireland did not use it when they launched in 1997.
The studios were near Christchurch in Dublin I believe - what became of that building?

The STL link is still clearly visible on the side of the building nearly 30 years on! I’ll try and get a pic next time I pass by.

One of the ex-Century jocks told me he still has his life sized cardboard cut out in the attic. Apparently they were used in the reception area back in the day. Used to love Ray Summers at the weekend meself

This blog post, linked below, might answer some of your questions. Apparently Century Radio was on the corner of Christchurch and St Patrick's street, where Cornmarket, the insurance brokers, are situated today.

Written by somebody who used to work there, it's an interesting read.

https://wirelessflirt.radio.ie/2018/11/19/youre-playing-senior-hurling-now-in-the-deep-end-at-century-radio/

In fact, that whole website is very interesting. If the creator of that site uses this forum, you've done a smashing job.

Infoanon

Anecdotally I heard that no expense was spared on studio equipment, bordering on extravegence....

As per the article the Dublin TX was the ex Sunshine 531 (539) rig and the Cork TX was the ex ERI rig - you would be forgiven for thinking the towers hadn't been retuned.

There were some very good people in Century but imho it's failure can traced back to how it first gained it's licence.

Declan A Walsh

Marty Whelan - Lyric FM (and RTE)

Greg Gaughren - Radio Nova

Robbie Irwin - Retired from RTE but has turned up on Christmas FM the last two runs

Mark Byrne - Went through a number of Dublin-based stations as well as some national stations (Atlantic 252 and Radio Ireland/Today FM) as well as 4FM (Classic Hits), but spent more time flying. Last heard on Christmas FM in 2019.

Liam Quigley - Went through a few Dublin stations, last one being Radio Nova, as well as 2FM and the UK's Heartbeat along the way. Much in demand for voiceovers and also presenter on online station More Music Ireland.

Hugh O'Brien - had full-time job as solicitor but dabbled in some Dublin stations. Last time I heard him was 3 or 4 years ago on Christmas FM.

Scott Williams - CEO and presenter of Q102

Flo McSweeney - singer

Jim O'Neill - with East Coast FM. Along the way was with 98FM and Today FM.

Declan Meehan - with East Coast FM. Along the way was with FM104 and Radio Ireland/Today FM (for many years on weekends).

Aidan Cooney (only with Century for its first couple of months - now with Q102, along the wasy with 98FM, Newstalk and TV3/Virgin Media

Richard Crowley - RTE Radio One

Joe Harrington - Sunshine 106.8, and used to be involved with East Coast Radio

Owen Larkin - presenter with Q Radio and Citybeat, formerly with 4FM/Classic Hits, and voiceover artist.

Daragh Maloney - RTE

Cathy Cregan - Freelance at RTE, used to be with FM104 and 4FM

David Harvey - media executive and along the way he presented on Dublin's Country Mix 106.8/ Sunshine 106.8 as well as Classic Hits 4FM.

alzer100

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Marty Whelan - Lyric FM (and RTE)

Greg Gaughren - Radio Nova

Robbie Irwin - Retired from RTE but has turned up on Christmas FM the last two runs

Mark Byrne - Went through a number of Dublin-based stations as well as some national stations (Atlantic 252 and Radio Ireland/Today FM) as well as 4FM (Classic Hits), but spent more time flying. Last heard on Christmas FM in 2019.

Liam Quigley - Went through a few Dublin stations, last one being Radio Nova, as well as 2FM and the UK's Heartbeat along the way. Much in demand for voiceovers and also presenter on online station More Music Ireland.

Hugh O'Brien - had full-time job as solicitor but dabbled in some Dublin stations. Last time I heard him was 3 or 4 years ago on Christmas FM.

Scott Williams - CEO and presenter of Q102

Flo McSweeney - singer

Jim O'Neill - with East Coast FM. Along the way was with 98FM and Today FM.

Declan Meehan - with East Coast FM. Along the way was with FM104 and Radio Ireland/Today FM (for many years on weekends).

Aidan Cooney (only with Century for its first couple of months - now with Q102, along the wasy with 98FM, Newstalk and TV3/Virgin Media

Richard Crowley - RTE Radio One

Joe Harrington - Sunshine 106.8, and used to be involved with East Coast Radio

Owen Larkin - presenter with Q Radio and Citybeat, formerly with 4FM/Classic Hits, and voiceover artist.

Daragh Maloney - RTE

Cathy Cregan - Freelance at RTE, used to be with FM104 and 4FM

David Harvey - media executive and along the way he presented on Dublin's Country Mix 106.8/ Sunshine 106.8 as well as Classic Hits 4FM.

Just a bit more information on Mark Byrne and Cathy Cregan.

Pre 1989, Mark Byrne was the main drive time presenter for Sunshine 101 (formerly breakfast presenter). He also presented "The Evening Press HotHit Showdown" from 7pm to 8pm (Sunshine 101's answer to 2FM's Hitlist)
As far as radio is concerned and iirc after Atlantic 252 he presented at 98FM in the mid 90's.

Pre 1989, Cathy Cregan was a news reader on Sunshine 101.

Declan A Walsh

alzer100 wrote: »

Just a bit more information on Mark Byrne and Cathy Cregan.

Pre 1989, Mark Byrne was the main drive time presenter for Sunshine 101 (formerly breakfast presenter). He also presented "The Evening Press HotHit Showdown" from 7pm to 8pm (Sunshine 101's answer to 2FM's Hitlist)
As far as radio is concerned and iirc after Atlantic 252 he presented at 98FM in the mid 90's.

Pre 1989, Cathy Cregan was a news reader on Sunshine 101.

I knew about their involvement with Sunshine 101. I was concentrating on what people did after Century Radio.

I summarised Mark's involvement with Dublin stations as he had so many! Incidentally, he went to FM104 after Atlantic 252. 98FM came after that in two traches: first in February 1997 after FM104. He left in December 1997 for Radio Ireland/Today FM and returned to 98FM during the summer of 1998.

alzer100

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I knew about their involvement with Sunshine 101. I was concentrating on what people did after Century Radio.

I summarised Mark's involvement with Dublin stations as he had so many! Incidentally, he went to FM104 after Atlantic 252. 98FM came after that in two traches: first in February 1997 after FM104. He left in December 1997 for Radio Ireland/Today FM and returned to 98FM during the summer of 1998.

Thanks for that but iirc Mark Byrne may have presented on 98FM before February 1997 as I am sure that I heard him present as part of a change to presenter lineup - the stations relaunch, "The new sound of 98FM" which took place in May 1996. 98FM had ditched the Classic Hits format to compete with FM104.

ford fiesta

Terry Wogan and Bob Gallico now deceased

Wasn't Robbie Irwin's brother also involved in Century doing a Dance Show at the weekends?

Also Richard Crowley is no longer with RTE

ford fiesta

Infoanon wrote: »

Anecdotally I heard that no expense was spared on studio equipment, bordering on extravegence....

EMT Turntables, Sonifex Carts and CD carts?

Standard at the time in the bigger Dublin stations and in RTE

Declan A Walsh

alzer100 wrote: »

Thanks for that but iirc Mark Byrne may have presented on 98FM before February 1997 as I am sure that I heard him present as part of a change to presenter lineup - the stations relaunch, "The new sound of 98FM" which took place in May 1996. 98FM had ditched the Classic Hits format to compete with FM104.

Maybe so. I first became aware of him on 98FM when it launched it's new breakfast show - The Dawn Patrol - in February 1997, with Debbie Allen and Morgan Jones. This replaced it's long running breakfast show with Pat (Courtenay) and Elaine (Geraghty).

Speaking of Century Radio and 98FM.....

Aidan Cooney left Century after its first two months (as a weekend breakfast presenter) for the newly launched 98FM. For many years, he was its head of sport - remember "our man Aidan Cooney"? He was a breakfast presenter prior to leaving 98FM for TV3.

Liam Quigley left Century in the late spring/early summer of 1991 for 98FM. Lucky Liam! On the other hand, Suzanne Duffy and Greg Gaughren, unfortunately for them, came in the other direction! Likewise with Scott Williams who arrived from Capital Radio, which was about to relaunch as Rock 104. After the sudden closure of Century, those three unfortunates went to Rock104 - Scott should have stayed where he was! Scott and Greg were still there when it rebranded as FM104. Meanwhile, Suzanne had gone to 2FM and a bit of presenting on RTE television. She subsequently became a fulltime writer.

Aidan Leonard went to Century from Capital Radio like Scott Williams. After Century, he spent a few months in pest control before going to 2FM, the station he had been with before Capital! Gradually, over time, he became as much a producer as a presenter. In this century, he has also been a presenter on RTE Gold.

alzer100

TheBMG wrote: »

The STL link is still clearly visible on the side of the building nearly 30 years on! I’ll try and get a pic next time I pass by.

One of the ex-Century jocks told me he still has his life sized cardboard cut out in the attic. Apparently they were used in the reception area back in the day. Used to love Ray Summers at the weekend meself

That tiny antenna used as the main feed for a nationwide network!.Anytime I passed it at Christchurch I used to think of it as funny. If someone was been mischievous and got a ladder and snipped that tiny cable...

The whole station is off the air.

I can remember Century Radio coming to an abrupt end.

TheBMG

ford fiesta wrote: »

Wasn't Robbie Irwin's brother also involved in Century doing a Dance Show at the weekends?

Also Richard Crowley is no longer with RTE

That would be Ray Summers/Irwin .. can remember tapes of his shows being passed around school on Monday mornings after the weekend!

Declan A Walsh

TheBMG wrote: »

That would be Ray Summers/Irwin .. can remember tapes of his shows being passed around school on Monday mornings after the weekend!

I never knew that was his brother. Where did Ray Summers end up?

Siobhan Walls became a humanist celebrant and has taken part in a documentary or two on RTE Radio One in the last ten years.

Con Murphy, who used to do sport on Century, is a freelance radio and television presenter, dealing mainly in sports. Another sports presenter was John Saunders who ended up in PR.

Eamonn Carr replaced Richard Crowley on Century Radio as a presenter of an albums show. Since then, most of his time was taken up with journalism, but turning up from time to time on radio. His old group Horslips reformed but he did not get involved with live performances.

Kara Hanahoe presented a rock show in the first six months of Century. I know that she later co-presented a breakfast show on 98FM with the aforementioned Aidan Cooney - Kara and Cooney! I think she is a writer now. Maybe somebody knows.

David Davin-Power was head of news and a current affairs presenter on Century. He returned, where he had come from, to RTE. He is a journalist. I think he retired from RTE.

P. J. Curtis presented a rhythm and blues program on Century. He then went on to Clare FM. In more recent years, he had broadcast on RTE Radio 1 and Lyric FM. He is also a music producer.

Whatever happened to David Dennehy? The last station I heard him on was Sunshine 106.8, which was funny because the first station I heard him on was Sunshine Radio/Sunshine 101!

Ernie Gallagher is a freelance radio presenter and voiceover artist. He has turned up over the years on a few Dublin stations.

The East Coast Radio/FM link: a lot of Century Radio personnel have subsequently turned up on Wicklow's East Coast. They include: Declan Meehan, Jim O'Neill, Greg Gaughren, David Dennehy, Ernie Gallagher, and Joe Harrington.

ford fiesta

There were also ex RTE producers in Century, such as Pat Morley and Mark Storey.
Pat Morley returned to RTE Radio.

Declan A Walsh

Another presenter on Century Radio was Emer Woodfull. She went on to 2FM and RTE as a journalist. She has since become a practicing barrister.

Clare McKeown hosted a chat/phone-in show on Century. She did a stint on FM104 hosting a phone-in show. She ended up presenting a chat show on RTE. I'm not sure what else she did when she was with RTE, but I think she might have been involved in the business world.

A lot of people from Century Radio went through Rock104/FM104. For example: Declan Meehan, Mark Byrne, Greg Gaughren, Scott Williams, Con Murphy, Daragh Maloney, Suzanne Duffy, Cathy Cregan and Claire McKeown.

thejuggler

Lots of great memories and info.
One name not mentioned to date is Frank O’Brien (RIP). I think he worked behind the scenes at Century and went on to work in a similar role with Cork’s 96FM. He passed away around a decade ago.
Was century live overnight?
No automation in those days.

ford fiesta

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Aidan Leonard went to Century from Capital Radio like Scott Williams. After Century, he spent a few months in pest control before going to 2FM, the station he had been with before Capital!

Was Aidan with 2FM before Century? Was he part of the "New voices" slot with Maxi perhaps, or was it as a swing jock?

As you say he joined RTE shortly after Century (in March April 1992) and has been there since.

alzer100

ford fiesta wrote: »

Was Aidan with 2FM before Century? Was he part of the "New voices" slot with Maxi perhaps, or was it as a swing jock?

As you say he joined RTE shortly after Century (in March April 1992) and has been there since.

I don't think he got back to 2FM after Capital and then went to Century if that is what you are asking. A lot of these guys wouldn't leave a reasonably secure job in RTE twice, especially after being burned in the private sector once. As far I can remember, Aidan was still with Capital in mid to late 1990. So I think he went from Capital to Century. Just a bit on Capital, this was also around the time when Martin Block who was PD at Capital started to tinker with the HotHits format that the radio station originally launched with. The radio station subtlety went into a "music mix" format in August 1990 (I recall Liam Coburn not being overly impressed!) and I think some presenters started to depart at that stage. Desperately trying to compete with 98FM, Capital went with a full on relaunch in May 1991 iirc to Rock 104 then shortly after relaunched again as FM104 (basically 98FM at another frequency!) I think Mike Hogan and Martin Block departed about 2 years later. I think they were replaced by Dermot Hanrahan.

Losty Dublin

thejuggler wrote: »

Lots of great memories and info.
One name not mentioned to date is Frank O’Brien (RIP). I think he worked behind the scenes at Century and went on to work in a similar role with Cork’s 96FM. He passed away around a decade ago.
Was century live overnight?
No automation in those days.

They were live 24/7 bar for the Wogan shows in the early days and a couple of syndicated chart/pop shows. Overnights were voiced shows.

Declan A Walsh

alzer100 wrote: »

I don't think he got back to 2FM after Capital and then went to Century if that is what you are asking. A lot of these guys wouldn't leave a reasonably secure job in RTE twice, especially after being burned in the private sector once. As far I can remember, Aidan was still with Capital in mid to late 1990. So I think he went from Capital to Century. Just a bit on Capital, this was also around the time when Martin Block who was PD at Capital started to tinker with the HotHits format that the radio station originally launched with. The radio station subtlety went into a "music mix" format in August 1990 (I recall Liam Coburn not being overly impressed!) and I think some presenters started to depart at that stage. Desperately trying to compete with 98FM, Capital went with a full on relaunch in May 1991 iirc to Rock 104 then shortly after relaunched again as FM104 (basically 98FM at another frequency!) I think Mike Hogan and Martin Block departed about 2 years later. I think they were replaced by Dermot Hanrahan.

Aidan Leonard was with 2FM in the late 1980s. He left for Dublin's (and indeed Ireland's) first licensed commercial station Capital Radio in 1989. As Capital was being relaunched as Rock104 in 1991, he moved to Century Radio, as did Scott Williams. After the demise of Century, Aidan spent a period of time in pest control, before rejoining 2FM during 1992. He was to get involved with the wider RTE organisation, including RTE Gold, as a presenter and a producer.

Speaking of Scott Williams....
Here are some Century personnel that subsequently got involved with Lite FM/Q102:
Scott Williams, Hugh O'Brien, Liam Quigley, Mark Byrne, Ernie Gallagher and Aidan Cooney.

While I am at it, here are some Century personnel that got involved with Dublin's Country 106.8/Dublin's Country Mix 106.8/Sunshine 106.8:
Hugh O'Brien, Ernie Gallagher, David Dennehy, Greg Gaughren, Joe Harrington, David Harvey (who was the original chairman of the station) and the late Bob Gallicoe (RIP).

ford fiesta

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Aidan Leonard was with 2FM in the late 1980s. He left for Dublin's (and indeed Ireland's) first licensed commercial station Capital Radio in 1989. As Capital was being relaunched as Rock104 in 1991, he moved to Century Radio, as did Scott Williams. After the demise of Century, Aidan spent a period of time in pest control, before rejoining 2FM during 1992. He was to get involved with the wider RTE organisation, including RTE Gold, as a presenter and a producer.

Thanks Declan
What shows did Aidan present on late 1980s 2FM, pre-Century? As I stated above - was it "New Voices" or just as a fill-in jock?
I only remember Aidan on 2FM, from 1992.

alzer100

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Aidan Leonard was with 2FM in the late 1980s. He left for Dublin's (and indeed Ireland's) first licensed commercial station Capital Radio in 1989. As Capital was being relaunched as Rock104 in 1991, he moved to Century Radio, as did Scott Williams. After the demise of Century, Aidan spent a period of time in pest control, before rejoining 2FM during 1992. He was to get involved with the wider RTE organisation, including RTE Gold, as a presenter and a producer.

Speaking of Scott Williams....
Here are some Century personnel that subsequently got involved with Lite FM/Q102:
Scott Williams, Hugh O'Brien, Liam Quigley, Mark Byrne, Ernie Gallagher and Aidan Cooney.

While I am at it, here are some Century personnel that got involved with Dublin's Country 106.8/Dublin's Country Mix 106.8/Sunshine 106.8:
Hugh O'Brien, Ernie Gallagher, David Dennehy, Greg Gaughren, Joe Harrington, David Harvey (who was the original chairman of the station) and the late Bob Gallicoe (RIP).

Ok just let me clarify my post to avoid any confusion. I was simply responding to Ford Fiesta's quote regarding Aiden Leonard, with respect to the fact that he may not have returned to RTE immediately after departing Capital 104 FM. I think he went to Century after Capital but I am just making reference to his movements within radio.
With regards to Aidan Leonard, he presented for RTE doing some nightly shows on 2FM in early to mid 1989. Before that he was a regular presenter for Pierre Doyle's Q102 and a regular weekend presenter later as Super-Q102, up untill December 30th 1988. Before that he presented on the original Radio Nova** iirc.

** Open to correction.

Declan A Walsh

alzer100 wrote: »

Ok just let me clarify my post to avoid any confusion. I was simply responding to Ford Fiesta's quote regarding Aiden Leonard, with respect to the fact that he may not have returned to RTE immediately after departing Capital 104 FM. I think he went to Century after Capital but I am just making reference to his movements within radio.
With regards to Aidan Leonard, he presented for RTE doing some nightly shows on 2FM in early to mid 1989. Before that he was a regular presenter for Pierre Doyle's Q102 and a regular weekend presenter later as Super-Q102, up untill December 30th 1988. Before that he presented on the original Radio Nova** iirc.

** Open to correction.

As regards Aidan's pirate past, I don't think he was with Radio Nova, but, like yourself, I'm open to correction on that!

As regards his first stint with 2FM, I think he did indeed come through some New Voices thing as Ford Fiesta said. I thought I heard him one or twice at weekends during the mornings. I did not know about his nightly shows, or maybe my memory is failing me!

alzer100

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

As regards Aidan's pirate past, I don't think he was with Radio Nova, but, like yourself, I'm open to correction on that!

As regards his first stint with 2FM, I think he did indeed come through some New Voices thing as Ford Fiesta said. I thought I heard him one or twice at weekends during the mornings. I did not know about his nightly shows, or maybe my memory is failing me!

I only heard Aidan on 2FM during the 1989 period at nighttime (10pm - 12am slot) as I took an interest as I used to listen to him on Super-102. He didn't have a standard 2FM jingle to announce his name so RTE allowed him to use his old Q102 jingle, the one's that all the Q102 presenters got around the 1987 time period.
He may have had other slots on 2FM during this time but I wasn't a regular listener so I don't know.

Declan A Walsh

The late Sandy Harsch presented a country music show on Century Radio and went on to do the same thing on RTE Radio 1.

Didn't Century actually have excellent ratings ? 18% with coverage only in 3 cities, that's like 3 times the listenership today FM has today with full national coverage.

TheBMG

Johns nephew wrote: »

Didn't Century actually have excellent ratings ? 18% with coverage only in 3 cities, that's like 3 times the listenership today FM has today with full national coverage.

Different times. Rock 104 was seen as a disaster in Dublin yet had audience figures most stations would kill for today!

California Dreamer

There was a partial rebrand around the beginning of 1991 when it became Century 100 - Just the music, the PD was an English guy called Bob Hopton.

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2016/01/tribute-to-first-radio-tees-programmer-bob-hopton/

Declan A Walsh

California Dreamer wrote: »

There was a partial rebrand around the beginning of 1991 when it became Century 100 - Just the music, the PD was an English guy called Bob Hopton.

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2016/01/tribute-to-first-radio-tees-programmer-bob-hopton/

I think it was around the relaunch, or maybe just after, that Century took on those presenters from the two commercial Dublin stations at the time: Scott Williams, Aidan Leonard, Greg Gaughren and Suzanne Duffy. Greg was the only one amongst them who did not have previous national radio experience and/or end up with future national radio experience.

If only they had “poached” Ian Dempsey for their breakfast show it may still be on the airwaves

Losty Dublin

Deleted User wrote: »

If only they had “poached” Ian Dempsey for their breakfast show it may still be on the airwaves

The only way Dempsey could have saved them was if he had the key to all the FM sites in Ireland and a truck full of transmitters and folded dipoles.

ford fiesta

alzer100 wrote: »

I only heard Aidan on 2FM during the 1989 period at nighttime (10pm - 12am slot) as I took an interest as I used to listen to him on Super-102. He didn't have a standard 2FM jingle to announce his name so RTE allowed him to use his old Q102 jingle, the one's that all the Q102 presenters got around the 1987 time period.
He may have had other slots on 2FM during this time but I wasn't a regular listener so I don't know.

Later in 1992 / 93, Aidan was still using his own Q102 jingle when he started permanently on 2FM in 1992, on weekends 10 to 12 am slot.
I think Aidan took over from Lorcan Murray, as Lorcan had moved elsewhere on the weekend 2FM schedule.

Declan A Walsh

Who went through 98FM after Century Radio: Aidan Cooney, Liam Quigley, Mark Byrne, Kara Hanahoe, Jim O'Neill. Unless I am forgetting anybody, surprisingly few.

Speaking of Jim O'Neill, here are the brave few who dipped their feet into the water of national independent radio again with Radio Ireland/Today FM: Jim O'Neill, Declan Meehan, Mark Byrne, Robbie Irwin. and Cathy Cregan.

There is also Classic Hits/4FM - the not quite so national station! Mark Byrne, Cathy Cregan and Owen Larkin are the only ones I can think of.

Losty Dublin

Losty Dublin wrote: »

The only way Dempsey could have saved them was if he had the key to all the FM sites in Ireland and a truck full of transmitters and folded dipoles.

I wonder what would have happened to Gay Byrne's career if he had said yes to joining them ? I think RTE would have replaced him with Mike Murphy or Derek Davis, both gentlemen would have maintained his giant audience for RTE.

bureau2009

ford fiesta wrote: »

There were also ex RTE producers in Century, such as Pat Morley and Mark Storey.
Pat Morley returned to RTE Radio.

Didn't Mark T Storey work as a producer in BBC Radio 1 at one stage?

Losty Dublin

bureau2009 wrote: »

Didn't Mark T Storey work as a producer in BBC Radio 1 at one stage?

He did, and Capital London as well.

Declan A Walsh

Writer and former journalist Dairena Ní Chinnéide has the dubious distinction of being the last voice heard on Century Radio when she announced its closure in a short news bulletin. After Century, she worked on Raidió na Gealtachta. She has had books of poetry in Irish and in English published. Dairena was appointed writer-in-residence at Dublin City University for the 2017-2018 year.[

Losty Dublin

Johns nephew wrote: »

I wonder what would have happened to Gay Byrne's career if he had said yes to joining them ? I think RTE would have replaced him with Mike Murphy or Derek Davis, both gentlemen would have maintained his giant audience for RTE.

Good question. Whatever about the audience but between him and Marty they would certainly have taken a lot of the agency radio ads from Montrose. Trouble is, the deliberate deficiencies that RTÉ had created in Century's transmission network would have bitten them soundly in neck let alone in the the arse, possibly even taking the station down entirely before the end of year one with the added wages that they had offered Gaybo and Emer Woodfull (Who had signed up assuming that he was there already.).

As it was Century were out of the spotlight to some extent so they were able to hobble along by shaving off a lot of costs and by flogging ad time on the street to supplement the extra cash that Capital and Oliver Barry coughed up to prop up the project. Equally, Capital were willing to take a larger shareholding than the 30% they had bought out and were prepared to expand the FM network across Ireland; the IRTC wouldn't allow them to take on more and thus they pulled the plug.

ford fiesta

Taking the above names into consideration - those who have moved on within National radio or have passed on (Sandy Harsch and Terry Wogan) ...

...Is Marty Whelan the only ex-Century presenter, who has his/her own show today on a "National FM" Irish, NI or UK radio station?

Losty Dublin

ford fiesta wrote: »

Taking the above names into consideration - those who have moved on within National radio or have passed on (Sandy Harsch and Terry Wogan) ...

...Is Marty Whelan the only ex-Century presenter, who has his/her own show today on a "National FM" Irish, NI or UK radio station?

Daragh Moloney does a lot of sport on Radio 1 and TV. Aidan Leonard is still on RTÉ from time to time while PJ Curtis pops up on occasion but they are not high profile.

ford fiesta

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Daragh Moloney does a lot of sport on Radio 1 and TV. Aidan Leonard is still on RTÉ from time to time while PJ Curtis pops up on occasion but they are not high profile.

Daragh doesn't have his own show on national FM radio.

Aidan has his own show, but it's not on national FM radio.

PJ is only a guest contributor on RTE Radio 1 or Newstalk (national FM), though not very often.

bureau2009

ford fiesta wrote: »

Taking the above names into consideration - those who have moved on within National radio or have passed on (Sandy Harsch and Terry Wogan) ...

...Is Marty Whelan the only ex-Century presenter, who has his/her own show today on a "National FM" Irish, NI or UK radio station?

But the real question is SHOULD Marty Whelan be anywhere near national radio........

Losty Dublin

ford fiesta wrote: »

Daragh doesn't have his own show on national FM.

True, he’s on a lot on Sports but not as a regular presenter.

Declan A Walsh

ford fiesta wrote: »

Taking the above names into consideration - those who have moved on within National radio or have passed on (Sandy Harsch and Terry Wogan) ...

...Is Marty Whelan the only ex-Century presenter, who has his/her own show today on a "National FM" Irish, NI or UK radio station?

I was just going through the names in my head and I think he could well be.

Declan A Walsh

I was reading an article by John Walsh about the newsroom in Century Radio. Some names came up that went on to be associated with RTE as reporters and journalists: Rónán Mac Aodh Bhuí, Caroline Erskine and Carole Coleman. Caroline is also a communications consultant. Another name mentioned was Orlaith Carmody who is now a business woman and author. She sat on the board of RTE during the 2010's. Orlaith is also co-founder of Gavin Duffy and Associates, along with her husband Gavin Duffy. John also mentioned that Century Radio had more Nuacht bulletins than any other station.

As regards the author himself, there have been a few John Walshes involved in journalism and I think he was one of them! As far as I can make it, his most recent foray into radio has been with student station Flirt FM.

alzer100

Curious to know how successful Century Radio may have been if it had launched with 98FM's Classic Hits format.
Around the1989/1990 period I think every PD (in Dublin local radio anyway) was under pressure to repeat the success of 98FM from a revenue perspective. As I have stated before this led to Capital 104.4 FM to eventually relaunch to Rock 104 then to FM104.
From the 2nd week of listening to 98FM in November 1989 I knew that this was radio bland but the advertisers loved it.
I wonder if Century Radio had of fared better using and executing that format in the way 98FM did.

alzer100

alzer100 wrote: »

Curious to know how successful Century Radio may have been if it had launched with 98FM's Classic Hits format.
Around the1989/1990 period I think every PD (in Dublin local radio anyway) was under pressure to repeat the success of 98FM from a revenue perspective. As I have stated before this led to Capital 104.4 FM to eventually relaunch to Rock 104 then to FM104.
From the 2nd week of listening to 98FM in November 1989 I knew that this was radio bland but the advertisers loved it.
I wonder if Century Radio had of fared better using and executing that format in the way 98FM did.

Their issue wasn't the format , it was that they were an national station broadcasting with only 3 FM transmitters

alzer100

Johns nephew wrote: »

Their issue wasn't the format , it was that they were an national station broadcasting with only 3 FM transmitters

Agreed but if I am not mistaken they had FM transmission coverage for two of the country's top cities in terms of potential listenership figures and advertising revenue. Yet everyone in one of those cities wanted to advertise with 98FM!
I do get the whole transmission debacle at that time but even Denis O'Brien admitted on the Late Late Show sometime after, that 98FM was making huge amounts of money shortly after its launch.
As much as I hate to admit it, 98FM did everything right. They used the former Q102 studios at 8 Upper Mount St in Dublin (nothing to extravagant) albeit with new equipment from the ground up but also carried out extensive market research into their target audience and from a potential revenue perspective.
Denis O'Brien never cared about the experience or how exciting and satisfying radio can be, he just wanted a fast and consistent return on his investment. He got it!

Declan A Walsh

alzer100 wrote: »

Curious to know how successful Century Radio may have been if it had launched with 98FM's Classic Hits format.
Around the1989/1990 period I think every PD (in Dublin local radio anyway) was under pressure to repeat the success of 98FM from a revenue perspective. As I have stated before this led to Capital 104.4 FM to eventually relaunch to Rock 104 then to FM104.
From the 2nd week of listening to 98FM in November 1989 I knew that this was radio bland but the advertisers loved it.
I wonder if Century Radio had of fared better using and executing that format in the way 98FM did.

Johns nephew wrote: »

Their issue wasn't the format , it was that they were an national station broadcasting with only 3 FM transmitters

alzer100 wrote: »

Agreed but if I am not mistaken they had FM transmission coverage for two of the country's top cities in terms of potential listenership figures and advertising revenue. Yet everyone in one of those cities wanted to advertise with 98FM!
I do get the whole transmission debacle at that time but even Denis O'Brien admitted on the Late Late Show sometime after, that 98FM was making huge amounts of money shortly after its launch.
As much as I hate to admit it, 98FM did everything right. They used the former Q102 studios at 8 Upper Mount St in Dublin (nothing to extravagant) albeit with new equipment from the ground up but also carried out extensive market research into their target audience and from a potential revenue perspective.
Denis O'Brien never cared about the experience or how exciting and satisfying radio can be, he just wanted a fast and consistent return on his investment. He got it!

Interesting points raised about 98FM's format, and, of course, Century Radio's transmitter issues.

It reminds me that there was a dispute in RTE News around 1992, and news bulletins were affected on the radio. During that period, around Dublin anyway, 98FM's news service seemed to step up to the plate. I think that might been through IRN (Irish Radio News). I remember thinking at the time that could have been an opportunity for Century Radio had it still been around.

TheBMG

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Interesting points raised about 98FM's format, and, of course, Century Radio's transmitter issues.

It reminds me that there was a dispute in RTE News around 1992, and news bulletins were affected on the radio. During that period, around Dublin anyway, 98FM's news service seemed to step up to the plate. I think that might been through IRN (Irish Radio News). I remember thinking at the time that could have been an opportunity for Century Radio had it still been around.

After the demise of Century (and their syndicated news service) both 98 and 104 began offering the local radio network their own rival services.

98FM had IRN and 104 had NRN (Network Radio News).

98FM didn’t broadcast IRN on their own Dublin station but 104 did air NRN every hour.

At some point IRN was fed via satellite (through Ger Madden?)

NRN was via ISDN and some stations took an off air feed from FM which tended to sound nasty as various different airchains got to work on it!

I worked on a station which had NRN on a lovely clean ISDN feed and if you PFL’d the desk just before news began you could hear the 104 TOTH in the newsreaders cans.