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DUBLIN RADIO STATION Q102 could be set to lose its broadcast licence when it expires next May after another company expressed an interest in taking it over.
The licence which comes up for renewal every 10 years and goes out to public notice, was held for two consecutive terms, meaning City Broadcasting Ltd. which runs Q102 has held it for 20 years now.
The licence relates to a music-based sound broadcasting service for a general audience of between 35-55 years in Dublin city and county.
As part of the bidding process, interested parties are invited to submit an expression of interest in the licence before submitting a formal bid for it.
A spokesperson for the Broadcast Authority of Ireland confirmed two parties – Q102 and another party, Punelli Technologies Ltd. – have both expressed an interest.
Dublin’s Q102 is part of the Wireless Ireland group, which also owns Dublin station FM104, Cork’s 96fm and C103, and regional stations Limerick Live 95, LMFM and Belfast’s U105.
Margaret Nelson, station director at Dublin Q102 said it has a track record of “delivering a winning feel-good formula for audiences over 35 years old.
“Our team has also done a superb job of delivering our licence obligations, and I’m delighted to say that we have an exceptional compliance record with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland,” she said.
“We have also seen consistent growth in our audience figures over the past two years.
“The latest JNLR figures, just released, now places Q102 as the second most popular music station in Dublin in the all-important demographic of Adults Prime Time market share.
Nelson said the application process will provide an opportunity for the station to showcase it experience and understanding of its audience.
“I welcome the opportunity of entering into a full licence application process,” she said.
“It will allow us to showcase our wealth of experience, our abundance of on and off-air talent, and our deep understanding of the audience, which has put Q102 at the heart of the Dublin conversation.”
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Be a shame if Q102 lost the license, then who’d play the same 50 songs on constant repeat.
@Gerard Martin: I dont think theres even humans in the station. Just one big playlist with thin lizzy played at least once every single day
@Gerard Martin: 4FM
@Gerard Martin: especially Shallow… played by every presenter on every show!
@Gerard Martin: especially Shallow… played by every presenter on every show!
I’ve tuned out of TodayFM, FM104 and 98 as it’s just talk all the time and usually about absolute crap that’s happening in the deejays life and find myself listening to Q102, Sunshine and whatever 4FM is called now. Think it’s Classic Hits or something but the three of them play music for my generation I suppose. Be a shame to lose Q.
The only decent station for some corny tunes
Who are Punelli Technologies LTD? The only Google results are for this article
@Johnny Liberty: not registered in ireland anyway!
@Johnny Liberty: I would be concerned if for example this was connected to a US outfit called TenX. I could be wrong, but we the citizens need to know who is bidding to control radio licences in our country.
@Johnny Liberty: not registered in UK either
Bring more radio stations to listeners outside of Dublin
@Ed: I know BAI will argue the economics of that idea but why shouldn’t people who live in Wexford or Westport not have the same choice as those in Dublin and the commuter belt?
@Michael: There is not the money for the stations to exsist. You pays for what you gets
It’s far past time that Ireland had DAB nationwide.
@Michael: Totally Michael. Ireland needs DAB.we are lagging behind the UK in regards to this where DAB IS THE NORM. The sound is crystal clear ,No hissing. All stations are listed Alphabetically and often the song the Singer /Group are shown on the Display. All my Radios are DAB (digital audio broadcast) when I moved to Ireland over 5 years ago. I was so disappointed to find it doesn’t even exist. Typical Ireland. Years behind when it comes to Technology. Embarrassing.
Ah Martin king telling us the weather and dirty dancing music on all day… please bid off the license.. I’ll miss Tina turner and Whitney
especially Shallow… played by every presenter in every show!!
Room for another dedicated news and opinion station given the echo chambers RTE and Newstalk have become. Or perhaps a dedicated sports station like TalkSport in UK. Radio dial in Dublin very predictable.
Very small play list . Same tracks in every show , different order . The news caster Owen Murphy sounds like he’s reading death notices. Apart from that not a bad station.
Give them an rte licence. One less station for them to run. They always moan about having no money .
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