Today FM is the new name for Ireland's only independent national radio station.
Nine months after Radio Ireland went on air it re-launched itself as Today FM. Radio Ireland hit the national airwaves on St Patrick's Day 1997 with a glitzy showbiz bash. However, just months after the launch, the star names began to disappear from the schedule and listenership penetrated just one percent of the market.
Michael Foley of The Irish Times describes the new station as far more music driven than Radio Ireland.
Dave Hammond, Head of Sales and Marketing at the station, believes they were too ambitious in terms of trying to do too many different styles of programmes. Hammond believes that the Today FM will have no problem meeting their commitments to the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC).
Radio Ireland is not the first radio station to be rebranded. Dublin's Capital Radio became Rock 104 and then FM104.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 5 January 1998. The reporter is Anthony Murnane.
