Highland Radio

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 broadcasts throughout a large swathe of Ulster (especially West Ulster), with it being received in the nearby city of Derry and in much of the rest of County Londonderry, as well as in large parts of County Tyrone and County Fermanagh, and in parts of County Antrim.

Highland Radio

Broadcast areaDonegal North
Frequency103.3 MHz (Letterkenny), 95.2 MHz (Arranmore Island), 94.7 MHz (Ballybofey), 96.9 MHz (Ardara) and 87.9 MHz (Malin) + relays, Online
SloganYour No. 1 Local Radio Station
Programming
FormatAdult contemporary
Ownership
OwnerOrangold
History
First air date
15 March 1990
Links
Websitewww.highlandradio.com

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 market share of any local station within the Republic of Ireland. Highland Radio employs 21 full-time and 40 part-time employees.

Its flagship current affairs programme is The Nine 'til Noon Show, which is presented by Greg Hughes.

On 12 August 2012, Highland Radio received an international exclusive interview with Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt live on air from the Summer Olympics in Stratford in London.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3][4][5] In October 2007, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) approved Communicorp's proposed takeover of Today FM and Highland Radio, but not FM104.[6][7] The deal was completed by January 2008.[8] 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.[9][10]

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.[11]

Highland Radio News and Sport

The Highland Radio News team is headed by Greg Hughes and includes Catherine Gaffney, Michaela Clarke, Donal Kavanagh and Rory Williams.

Highland Radio News airs their own bulletins Mondays to Fridays on the hour from 7.00am until 7.00pm. The news service gives extensive coverage of local news and events from across the City of Derry and Counties Donegal, Londonderry, and Tyrone. There are currently three main extended news bulletins Mondays to Fridays at 8.30am, 1.00pm and 5.00pm. From 8.00pm until 12-midnight, Highland Radio airs hourly live news bulletins provided by Newstalk in Dublin.

Highland Radio News has a limited provision of local news over the weekend. Saturdays have local bulletins on the hour from 10.00am until 2.00pm. Newstalk provides news bulletins at 8.00am, 9.00am and then on the hour from 3.00pm until 12-midnight. On Sundays, Highland Radio only provides one bulletin of local news at 6.00pm. Newstalk provides the rest of Sundays news output on the station on the hour from 8.00am until 12-midnight.

Highland Radio gives extensive coverage to all the main sporting events held in County Donegal, County Londonderry, and County Tyrone, as well as in the city of Derry. The station broadcasts the results of all major Irish League fixtures played in Northern Ireland, in addition to broadcasting the results of all major League of Ireland fixtures played in the Republic of Ireland.

During Christmas, Easter and Bank Holidays, Newstalk provide the only news bulletins on the hour.[12]

Presenter and schedules

Daytime presenters
  • Lee Gooch
  • Greg Hughes
  • John Breslin
  • David James
  • Ivan Boreland

Highland Radio News Team: Greg Hughes, Donal Kavanagh, Catherine Gaffney, Michaela Clarke

Evening presenters
  • Tommy Rosney
  • Marty Friel
  • Pio McCann (died in October 2020)
  • Aidan Murphy
  • Bernard Harper
  • Rory Farrell
  • Joe Deckz
  • Paul McDevitt
  • Caroline McDermott
  • Rosemary Herraghty
  • Colm Ferriter
  • Jean Curran

Daytime schedule
Time Monday-Friday
06:30 The Naughty Alarm Clock with Lee Gooch
08:00
09:00 The Nine 'til Noon Show with Greg Hughes
10:00
11:00
12:00 Around the North West with John Breslin
13:00 Highland Radio Lunchtime News until 13.30
14:00 Around the North West with John Breslin
15:30 JiveTime with David James
16.00
17.00 Highland Radio Evening News
17:30 The Power Hour Plus with Ivan Boreland

Evening schedule
Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
19:05 "Monday Night with Marty Friel "The Rosemary Herraghty Country Show" "Centre Stage" with Jimmy Stafford" "Sounds Traditional as Gaelige" with Rosemary Herraghty "Power Hour Double Play" with Ivan Boreland
20.30 "Travelling with God" "Ruaille Buaille le Colm Ferritear" "The GAA Programme" with Tom Comack "The Mashup"
21:00 "Monday Night Sessions" with Paul McDevitt "Music of the Night" with Bernard Harper "The Pio McCann Country Show" "Solid Gold" with Aidan Murphy
22:00
23:00 "The Country Show" with Tommy Rosney "Rewind" with Rory Farrell "Through Midnight" with Tommy Rosney "Country Show" with Bernard Harper "Country Show" with Tommy Rosney
00:00
01:00 The Nine til Noon Show (Repeat) The Nine til Noon Show (Repeat) The Nine til Noon Show (Repeat) The Nine til Noon Show (Repeat) The Nine til Noon Show (Repeat)
03:00

References
  1. "Usain Bolt speaks to Myles Gallagher on Sunday Sport". Highland Radio. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012. Today, on Highland Radio's "Sunday Sports" show, Myles Gallagher was speaking to Ricky Simms about his athletes performances in the London Olympics, when he asked about the chances of the star sprinter visiting the county. Myles wasn't expecting what happened next…………
  2. "Scottish to buy Highland Radio for €7m". RTÉ.ie. 31 May 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  3. "Denis O'Brien's Communicorp to acquire Irish radio stations -Today FM, FM104 and Highland Radio - in €200m deal". Finfacts. 16 July 2007. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
  4. "Emap sells radio stations to O'Brien". RTÉ News. 16 July 2007. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015.
  5. "O'Brien buys Emap radio stations in €200m deal". The Irish Emigrant. 18 July 2007. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
  6. "Blow for O'Brien's €200m radio bid". Irish Examiner. 9 October 2007. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
  7. Beesley, Arthur (9 October 2007). "Denis O'Brien cannot buy FM104 as part of €200m deal". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
  8. Hancock, Ciarán (12 January 2008). "O'Brien seals €200m deal for Emap's three Irish radio outlets". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
  9. "Denis O'Brien sells Highland Radio". The Irish Emigrant. 11 May 2008. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
  10. Hancock, Ciarán (12 January 2008). "O'Brien sells Highland Radio". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
  11. "Rabbitt family completes Highland buy". RTÉ. 25 July 2008.
  12. "Schedule & Contact Details - Highland Radio - Latest Donegal News and Sport". Highlandradio.com. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

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