A consortium of investors headed by former Newstalk chief executive Dan Healy and Deborah Fagan, former chief financial officer of Denis O'Brien's Communicorp, was yesterday awarded a 10-year youth radio licence for the midlands/north-east by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI).
The group, called iRadio, won the licence ahead of competition from Mr O'Brien's Spin FM and Cork-based station Red FM, which is backed by Thomas Crosbie Holdings and Dermot Hanrahan.
Mr Healy said he was "extremely grateful" that the BCI had decided to award his consortium the franchise. "We've now won back-to-back licences, which is great for us," he added.
iRadio's parent company, Wilton Radio, has already been granted a licence to operate a youth-based station in the north-west. Based in Galway, the north-west channel is expected to go on air on August 1st.
Mr Healy said that the two stations would operate independently of each other.
The licence for the midlands and north-east covers Louth, Meath, Cavan, Monaghan, Kildare, Offaly and Westmeath.
The new station will be known as i107FM and will broadcast from Athlone. It expects to go on air in the first week of January 2008 and will employ 32 full-time and six part-time staff.
Launch costs for the station have been estimated at €3.9 million and Mr Healy said the consortium was forecasting that it would break even by year five. Revenues are expected to grow from €1.25 million in year one to €2.6 million in year three.
The i107 station is backed by Boundary Radio, an investment vehicle headed by financier Niall McFadden. Boundary is the biggest stakeholder, holding 31.3 per cent of the equity.
Mr Healy and Ms Fagan have a combined 26 per cent shareholding in the new radio station. Cormac McAlinden, who has controlling interests in the Lithographic printing group and in magazine publisher Mac Communications, owns 10 per cent.
Other shareholders include Gaby Smyth, an accountant with U2, who has a 5 per cent stake; and Richard Nesbitt, who has a 3.7 per cent shareholding.
