Radio Nova (Ireland)
Encyclopedia
Radio Nova was a pirate radio
station broadcasting from Dublin, Ireland
. Owned and operated by the UK pirate radio veteran Chris Cary
, the station’s first broadcasts were during the (northern) summer of 1981 on 88.5mhz FM and 819khz AM
.
.
Until May 1983 the stations had been allowed to operate without interference from the Irish government. However, on 18 May 1983 officials from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs together with Irish Gardaí
raided both the studio site and the transmitter sites of Radio Nova and Kiss FM. Both stations went off air until the next day. Following the raids, the Minister for Communications claimed in the Dáil (25th May 1983) that intermodulation products
resulting from co-located transmitters for Radio Nova and its sister station Kiss FM had caused interference to emergency services' frequencies around 74 MHz for a period in the previous month.
On 19 May at 6.00am, Radio Nova returned to the air to announce that they would be closing down at 6.00pm that day. They urged listeners to protest to the government and to show up at the Nova studios in Herbert Street, Dublin 2 for a huge protest. The story was front page of every national newspaper and was headline news on RTÉ. The hysteria continued when a rival pirate Sunshine Radio was raided at 9.00am. By 6.00pm, there were several thousand people outside the studios of Nova as the station played its last record.
The political fallout of the Nova closedown was huge. More protest marches continued and following criticism of the government’s action by the judge in the State’s case against Nova, the station returned in glory some days later.
During the winter months of 1983 Radio Nova started test transmissions on UHF TV. The station was to be “Nova TV” and was to run a similar format to MTV
in the United States. Tests stopped after the government raided the studios and warned they would not tolerate a pirate television station operating.
More trouble was to hit Radio Nova in 1984. The state broadcaster RTÉ which had seen its audience dwindle due to the arrival of Nova and other large pirate stations started a jamming
campaign against Radio Nova. The jamming continued for some weeks and made reception of Nova almost impossible at times. The station eventually went into receivership and shut down its Kiss FM operation. Eventually the Irish government ordered RTÉ to stop the jamming and once again Radio Nova flourished.
, a station founded by a number of former Radio Nova staff. To try to increase revenue, Radio Nova launched a new station called Magic 103. Magic 103 was an easy listening station with a lot of local news and current affairs designed to appeal to the Irish government who were taking part in a national debate about local radio. Magic 103 was not a success, however, and was shut down by Chris Cary at very short notice. This infuriated the National Union of Journalists
who called a strike and placed pickets on Radio Nova. They also urged advertising agencies to boycott
the station. With advertising revenue down dramatically and trouble in the boardroom, Cary pulled the plug on Radio Nova with just three hours’ notice on March 19, 1986.
Subsequently another station began broadcasting using most of Nova’s old equipment and frequencies under the cover name of Zoom 103, later rebranded as ENeRGy 103, NRG 103 stood for "Nova re-generated" . However, despite various name-changes (Energy Power 103 FM, a “merger” with a Radio Nova (The Hot 100 FM) ,then a re-launch station called Nova Power 103 FM, and once again reverting to the “Energy Power 103 FM” name) this station never enjoyed the same success as its predecessor and was eventually bought out and shut down on March 11, 1988 by rival station Q102. Within two weeks Q relaunched themselves as SuperQ102 on NRG's four FM frequencies ranging from 99.9 to 103.1 MHz which effectively "boxed in" Sunhine 101.
Chris Cary subsequently launched a satellite radio station, also called Radio Nova, from a studio in the United Kingdom
.
John Clarke
Colm Hayes
Casey Casem
Rick Dees
Terry Reilly
Chris Cary
aka "Harry"
Bob Gallico (News)
Sybil Fennell
Gary Hamill (News & DeeJay)
John Clarke
Jason Maine
Bryan Dobson (News)
Anna Cassin (News)
Ken Hammond (News)
David Harvey
The Emperor Rosco
Tom Hardy
Declan Meehan
Hugh O'Brien
Tony Allan
Denis Murray
Tony Gareth aka Gareth O'Callaghan
Bernie Jameson
Tony Mackenzie
John O'Hara
Jim Cotter
Greg Gaughran
Laurence John (LJ)
Chris Barry
Scott Williams
Frank Wynne
Roland Burke
- Dublin radio station of the same name which began broadcasting in September 2010.
Irish pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
station broadcasting from Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Owned and operated by the UK pirate radio veteran Chris Cary
Spangles Muldoon
Spangles Muldoon, real name Chris Cary, was a radio broadcaster best known for his work on British offshore radio station Radio Caroline. Cary was a key figure in the British rock music radio revolution of the 1960s. He was born in Chester, U.K., on 5 October 1946 and died on 29 February 2008, in...
, the station’s first broadcasts were during the (northern) summer of 1981 on 88.5mhz FM and 819khz AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
.
Early history
Prior to Nova's arrival, Irish radio consisted of the government broadcaster RTÉ and a number of local AM pirate stations. Radio Nova was the first station in Ireland to utilise a high powered signal on FM. By 1982 Radio Nova was pulling in over 40% of the available audience around Dublin. In September 1982 Radio Nova (operating on 88.1FM and 819AM at the time) introduced a new service called Kiss FM on 102.7 MHz - inspired by Los Angeles-based 102.7 KIIS-FMKIIS-FM
KIIS-FM is a Los Angeles, California, USA-based radio station with a partial Top 40 musical format. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications. KIIS is also simulcasted on KVVS in Rosamond, at 105.5 MHz...
.
Until May 1983 the stations had been allowed to operate without interference from the Irish government. However, on 18 May 1983 officials from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs together with Irish Gardaí
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
raided both the studio site and the transmitter sites of Radio Nova and Kiss FM. Both stations went off air until the next day. Following the raids, the Minister for Communications claimed in the Dáil (25th May 1983) that intermodulation products
Intermodulation
Intermodulation or intermodulation distortion is the amplitude modulation of signals containing two or more different frequencies in a system with nonlinearities...
resulting from co-located transmitters for Radio Nova and its sister station Kiss FM had caused interference to emergency services' frequencies around 74 MHz for a period in the previous month.
On 19 May at 6.00am, Radio Nova returned to the air to announce that they would be closing down at 6.00pm that day. They urged listeners to protest to the government and to show up at the Nova studios in Herbert Street, Dublin 2 for a huge protest. The story was front page of every national newspaper and was headline news on RTÉ. The hysteria continued when a rival pirate Sunshine Radio was raided at 9.00am. By 6.00pm, there were several thousand people outside the studios of Nova as the station played its last record.
The political fallout of the Nova closedown was huge. More protest marches continued and following criticism of the government’s action by the judge in the State’s case against Nova, the station returned in glory some days later.
During the winter months of 1983 Radio Nova started test transmissions on UHF TV. The station was to be “Nova TV” and was to run a similar format to MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in the United States. Tests stopped after the government raided the studios and warned they would not tolerate a pirate television station operating.
More trouble was to hit Radio Nova in 1984. The state broadcaster RTÉ which had seen its audience dwindle due to the arrival of Nova and other large pirate stations started a jamming
Radio jamming
Radio jamming is the transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. Unintentional jamming occurs when an operator transmits on a busy frequency without first checking whether it is in use, or without being able to hear stations using the frequency...
campaign against Radio Nova. The jamming continued for some weeks and made reception of Nova almost impossible at times. The station eventually went into receivership and shut down its Kiss FM operation. Eventually the Irish government ordered RTÉ to stop the jamming and once again Radio Nova flourished.
NUJ Dispute May 1984
By the middle of 1985 the radio dial in Dublin was getting very crowded. Although the station remained firmly at number one (some survey books during this time show Nova at 62% reach in Dublin) they faced increasing competition from RTÉ and other pirates like Sunshine Radio. There was now also Q102Q102
Q102 is a commercial radio station in Dublin, owned by UTV Radio. It broadcasts on 102.2 MHz FM. The station is licensed to target the 35+ age group, and must provide hourly news, as well as current events programming....
, a station founded by a number of former Radio Nova staff. To try to increase revenue, Radio Nova launched a new station called Magic 103. Magic 103 was an easy listening station with a lot of local news and current affairs designed to appeal to the Irish government who were taking part in a national debate about local radio. Magic 103 was not a success, however, and was shut down by Chris Cary at very short notice. This infuriated the National Union of Journalists
National Union of Journalists
The National Union of Journalists is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists .-Structure:...
who called a strike and placed pickets on Radio Nova. They also urged advertising agencies to boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
the station. With advertising revenue down dramatically and trouble in the boardroom, Cary pulled the plug on Radio Nova with just three hours’ notice on March 19, 1986.
Subsequently another station began broadcasting using most of Nova’s old equipment and frequencies under the cover name of Zoom 103, later rebranded as ENeRGy 103, NRG 103 stood for "Nova re-generated" . However, despite various name-changes (Energy Power 103 FM, a “merger” with a Radio Nova (The Hot 100 FM) ,then a re-launch station called Nova Power 103 FM, and once again reverting to the “Energy Power 103 FM” name) this station never enjoyed the same success as its predecessor and was eventually bought out and shut down on March 11, 1988 by rival station Q102. Within two weeks Q relaunched themselves as SuperQ102 on NRG's four FM frequencies ranging from 99.9 to 103.1 MHz which effectively "boxed in" Sunhine 101.
Chris Cary subsequently launched a satellite radio station, also called Radio Nova, from a studio in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Nova Presenters and Airstaff
Mike EdgarJohn Clarke
Colm Hayes
Colm Hayes
Colm Caffrey , known professionally as Colm Hayes, is an Irish radio broadcaster and sometime television presenter. He currently presents The Colm Hayes Show between 11:00 and 13:00 on RTÉ 2fm....
Casey Casem
Rick Dees
Rick Dees
Rigdon Osmond "Rick" Dees III is an American comedic performer, entertainer, and radio personality, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Countdown and for the novelty song "Disco Duck." He is a People's Choice Award recipient, a Grammy-nominated...
Terry Reilly
Chris Cary
Spangles Muldoon
Spangles Muldoon, real name Chris Cary, was a radio broadcaster best known for his work on British offshore radio station Radio Caroline. Cary was a key figure in the British rock music radio revolution of the 1960s. He was born in Chester, U.K., on 5 October 1946 and died on 29 February 2008, in...
aka "Harry"
Bob Gallico (News)
Sybil Fennell
Gary Hamill (News & DeeJay)
John Clarke
Jason Maine
Bryan Dobson (News)
Anna Cassin (News)
Ken Hammond (News)
David Harvey
The Emperor Rosco
Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy
Edward Thomas "Tom" Hardy is an English actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the 2008 British film Bronson, the character of Eames in Inception, and the villain Praetor Shinzon in Star Trek Nemesis...
Declan Meehan
Hugh O'Brien
Tony Allan
Denis Murray
Tony Gareth aka Gareth O'Callaghan
Gareth O'Callaghan
Gareth O'Callaghan is an Irish author, radio presenter and former television presenter. He can currently be heard on 4fm, having presented shows on RTÉ 2fm for much of his career until 2005 and then a show on Galway Bay FM....
Bernie Jameson
Tony Mackenzie
John O'Hara
Jim Cotter
Greg Gaughran
Laurence John (LJ)
Chris Barry
Scott Williams
Frank Wynne
Frank Wynne
Frank Wynne is an Irish literary translator and writer.Born in Co. Sligo, Ireland, he worked as a comics editor at Fleetway and later at Deadline magazine . He worked for a time at AOL before becoming a literary translator...
Roland Burke
See also
Radio Nova 100FM (Ireland)Radio Nova 100FM (Ireland)
Radio Nova 100FM is a classic rock and roll radio station licensed for 100.3 FM in Dublin, Ireland....
- Dublin radio station of the same name which began broadcasting in September 2010.
Irish pirate radio
Irish pirate radio
Pirate radio in Ireland has had a long history, with hundreds of radio stations having operated from within the country. Due to past lax enforcement of the rules, the lack of commercial radio until 1989, and the small physical size of the country, pirate radio has proliferated up to recent years...