Format MOR, Country & Dance | First air date 15 March 1990 Owner Orangold | |
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Slogan Ireland's No. 1 Local Radio Station Frequency 103.3 MHz (Letterkenny), 95.2 MHz (Arranmore Island), 94.7 MHz (Ballybofey), 96.9 MHz (Ardara) and 87.9 MHz (Malin) + relays, Online | ||
Highland Radio is the local radio service for the County Donegal (North) franchise, operating under a licence from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). Headquartered at the Mountain Top in Letterkenny, the station may also be received across the border in the city of Derry and the rest of that county, as well as County Tyrone, County Fermanagh and parts of County Antrim.
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Highland began broadcasting on 15 March 1990, and is currently franchised until 2024. It is currently Ireland's Number One Local Radio Station, a claim backed up by having both the highest reach figures (88% 7-day, 67% weekday) and market share (65.9%) of any local station within the Republic of Ireland. The station also ranks as the most successful local radio station in Europe. Highland Radio employs 21 full-time and 40 part-time employees, and is home to Shaun Doherty, who, according to analysts, is Ireland's most popular radio presenter, and is considered an institution in the north-west.
On 12 August 2012, Highland Radio received an international exclusive interview with Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt live on air from the Olympics in London.
History
On 31 May 2005, it was announced that the station was to be purchased by Scottish Radio Holdings for €7 million. However, SRH itself was acquired by Emap 21 days later. The deal was cleared by both the BCI and the Irish Competition Authority. Emap's sole changes to the station were increasing the bandwidth of their web streams from 20 kbit/s to 128 kbit/s, with no format or presenter changes.
Denis O'Brien's Communicorp was the highest bidder for Emap's Irish operations when that company decided to sell its radio stations, buying FM104, Highland Radio and Today FM on 14 July 2007. In October 2007, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) approved Communicorp's proposed takeover of Today FM and Highland Radio, but not FM104. The deal was completed by January 2008. Due to a Competition Authority decision, Communicorp was required to sell-on FM104, which it did (to UTV Media) immediately upon its acquisition. O'Brien offloaded Highland Radio in mid-2008.
Orangold, a company owned by the Rabbitt family, completed the purchase of Highland Radio from Denis O'Brien's Communicorp Group in July 2008. Gerry Rabbitt is a founder shareholder of Galway Bay FM and was managing director of Galway Bay FM for 10 years.
The station launched Rehab Radio Bingo on 22 January 2009. The bingo sessions were first broadcast on 9 February 2009. Money raised goes towards supporting Rehab which works for social and economic inclusion among people with disabilities.
Daytime Presenters
'Highland Radio News Team: Greg Hughes, Donal Kavannagh, Catherine Gaffney