Midlands 103
Midlands 103 (previously known as Midlands Radio 3) is an Irish local independent radio station broadcasting to counties Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath.
| Broadcast area | Counties Laois, Offaly and Westmeath |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 95.7FM (Tullamore) 95.4FM (Athlone) 96.5FM (Mullingar) 96.1FM (Castlepollard) 102.6FM (Stradbally & Borris-in-Ossory) 96.2FM (Portlaoise) 102.4FM (South Laois) 103.5FM (everywhere) |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English, Irish |
| Format | Adult contemporary, talk |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Tindle Radio Group |
| Channel 103 Island FM Soleil Radio | |
| History | |
First air date | 1990 |
Former names | Midlands Radio 3 |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | midlands103 |
The station's offices and main broadcast studios are in Tullamore, County Offaly. It also has studios in Athlone Towncentre Shopping Centre, Athlone and the Bridge Shopping Centre, Tullamore, and a studio and office in Harbour Place Shopping Centre, Mullingar, with programmes being broadcast regularly from all of these. Midlands 103 also has two outside broadcast units.
As of the end of 2021, Midlands 103 had a weekly reach of 122,000 listeners with 73,000 tuning in daily, according to Joint National Listenership Research survey figures.[1]
History
The station was established as "Radio 3" in 1990 having operated as an unlicenced broadcaster "Radio West" between 1982 and 1988.
Station output
The prime-time weekday schedule includes breakfast programming, a daily current affairs magazine show, music-driven programmes in the afternoon and "drive time" programming until 7pm.
The weekend schedule is a mixture of music programmes and sports coverage, which sometimes includes full commentary of local and inter-county Gaelic games. Ireland's longest running love songs show, "Twilight Time", is broadcast on Sunday nights.
News
The newsroom is staffed by two full-time newsreaders and a sports correspondent. Midlands 103 also uses its own reporters and freelancers to cover events across the broadcast area. A sports reporter and commentators provide sports updates. The station produces its own local news bulletins for the region during peak times, with evening and weekend network bulletins produced by Bauer Media Audio Ireland.
Sales and promotion
Midlands 103 has 4 full time sales people covering the station's FM broadcast area, a classified sales person and business development officer. The station is also a part of the group of independent stations affiliated with the IRS+ national media sales and marketing bureau, which provides national and international branded advertising.[2]
Midlands 103 runs two annual awards ceremonies: the "Hospitality Awards"[3] (which gives awards to pubs/bars, hotels, restaurants and the tourism sector), and the "Customer Service Awards" (which focus on customer service in retail and other business in the area).
References
- "Midlands 103 Celebrating Highest Ever Listenership". Midlands 103 News. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- "Midlands 103, the home of local radio for Offaly, Laois and Westmeath". irsplus.ie. IRS+. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
- "Midlands 103 Hospitality Awards honour more locals". radiotoday.ie. Radio Today. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.