Atlantic 252 What happened?

I was 13 in 1989 so Atlantic 252 was a breath of fresh air. I didn't care about the sound quality because it was still much better than anything else that was on offer at the time. The pirates had gone, leaving just 2FM if you wanted pop music. That was a very mixed bag at the time, because they still had Alan Corcoran playing Declan Nerney records on Saturday evenings and Gerry Ryan talking sh**e for 3 hours every morning. I'm sure both ticked boxes somewhere but neither would be of interest to a young person. It's worth remembering that your average teenager didn't have access to particularly good audio equipment either. Unless your folks had a nice stereo system, you were listening to your music on crappy radios, on cassettes or on primitive car radios. It was a station that could be picked up anywhere and you knew you'd be listening to your Top 40 favourites. I don't know how popular it was in the UK but it must've had some sort of audience. It's a radio station that was very much of its time but it was great when it was needed.

It is true that most of the pirates had closed down at the end of 1988, and that, in Dublin, RTE's Millennium Radio was gone by the end of May 1989. However, there were still a handful of pirates around the country in early 1989. In Dublin, Radio Dublin had not closed down and one or two others popped up during the year. I have to admit that I was blissfully unaware of the newer pirates at the time. I think I might have heard a station called CAU in late 1989. Also, in Dublin, Capital Radio had launched in July - the first of the new licensed commercial stations anywhere in Ireland. Atlantic 252 did manage to launch days before Century Radio, Ireland's first licenced national commercial station. Dublin's second licensed station 98FM arrived in November.

Having said all that, it was true that Atlantic 252 was a breath of fresh air at the time and that there was not much choice for pop music fans, especially outside Dublin, and, of course, it had the advantage at the time of being on long wave which could be picked up easily on radios around much of Ireland. Reception of Century Radio, which seemed to be aimed at an older audience, was variable around the country, and particularly if you were relying on Medium Wave.

I alluded to much of what you said in my previous post. Outside of Dublin and much of Ireland, the choice was very limited for pop fans during that period for the reasons you mentioned, and it was perfect timing for Atlantic 252. Of course, during the nineties, the landscape changed somewhat with more licensed stations coming on board (again, some were not aimed at the younger market), pirates on the increase again in at least some parts of Ireland, the arrival of community stations (albeit with mixed programming and the risk of C & W in some quarters!), increased access to FM and decreased access to long wave and, by the late nineties, the arrival of Century's successor Radio Ireland/Today FM with much better reception. Atlantic 252 certainly filled a gaping hole for its first year or two.

I remember Achtung Baby era U2 getting plenty of airplay at the time. Can't remember Aslan or the Sawdoctors being played but maybe the Irish DJs snuck some songs in.

As discussed in previous posts, when A252 launched in September 1989, most of the locals had not started at that stage, so there was not much radio outlets for indigenous bands at that time. Neither of the two local Dublin stations, which did launch in 1989, played much of that kind of Irish music (Capital Radio, from July, and 98FM, from November). The national station Century Radio, which launched just after A252, probably played a little bit more with its specialist programmes. However, your point could well be relevant re local stations from 1990 on, when most came on board.