Ocean FM (Ireland)
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| Ocean FM (Ireland) | |
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| Broadcast area | South Donegal, North Leitrim and Sligo |
|---|---|
| Slogan | 'The perfect music mix (for the northwest)' |
| Frequency | 94.7MHz (Ballyshannon), 102.5MHz (Truskmore), 103.0MHz (Glencolumbkille) & 105.0MHz (Barnesmore) |
| First air date | 1 October 2004 |
| Format | |
| Owner | River Media |
| Website | www.oceanfm.ie |
Ocean FM (Ireland) is a local radio station that broadcasts to the northwest of Ireland. The station covers the area of South County Donegal, North County Leitrim and County Sligo and started broadcasting on 1st October 2004, replacing North West Radio (NWR). The station broadcasts from three separate locations, one in each county:
- Donegal Town (South Donegal)
- Manorhamilton (North Leitrim)
- Collooney (Sligo)
The current CEO of the station is Tim Collins and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) lists their target audience as 'being all age, socio-economic and ethnic groups across the community'. The station currently employs 22 full-time and 30 part-time staff and has a licence to broadcast until 30th September 2014.[1]
Ocean FM took over from NWR (who had been the most listened to local radio station in Ireland) to public outcry and 5,000 people marched on government buildings in Dublin demanding a reprieve for the station.[2] In 2007, official figures showed that the daily listenership had gone down from the 64% that had been gained by NWR at the end of its licence, to 47%, a drop of 17%. Critics have claimed that the station has tried to appeal to too large of an audience and does not give enough focus to local news.[3]
Ocean FM is owned by the River Media group which also publishes several papers in the region including Donegal Post, Sligo Post and Leitrim Post.
