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| Formerly | Communicorp Group (1989–2021) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Mass media (radio stations) |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
Key people | Chris Doyle (CEO)[ citation needed ] |
Number of employees | 250+ |
| Parent | Bauer Media Group |
| Website | www |
Bauer Media Audio Ireland (formerly Communicorp Group) is a media holding company based in Ireland, owned by Bauer Media Group.
Communicorp Group Ltd was formed by Denis O'Brien in 1989. It launched its radio operations in Ireland that same year and entered the Czech Republic in 1992. Later, it added stations in Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, and Hungary. [1] Based in Dublin, the company now owns radio stations including Ireland's Newstalk, Today FM, 98FM, SPIN 1038 and SPIN South West. By then, O'Brien owned both of Ireland's independent (non-state-operated) national radio stations. [2]
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. [1] [3] [4] In October 2007, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) approved Communicorp's proposed takeover of Today FM and Highland Radio, but not FM104. [5] [6] The deal was completed by January 2008. [7] 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. [8] [9]
On 21 July 2008, a joint bid from Boxer TV Access and Communicorp, supported by BT Ireland, were successful in obtaining three digital terrestrial television multiplex contracts from the BCI. Boxer DTT Limited withdrew from its agreement to provide a DTT platform on 20 April 2009.[ citation needed ]
The group divested its assets in Latvia, Finland and the Czech Republic in 2012; Hungary in 2013. [10]
On 6 February 2014, Communicorp announced it would be acquiring eight UK stations from Global Radio, subject to review by Ireland's Competition Authority. [11] The stations were required to be sold off by the Competition Commission following Global's acquisition of GMG Radio in 2012. The formation of Communicorp UK on 1 April 2014, headquartered in Manchester, allowed Communicorp UK to be operated as an independent operating arm.[ citation needed ]
The Bulgarian stations were sold in 2018. [12] A restructuring of Communicorp Group at the same year later ceded Communicorp UK's control to O'Brien, making it an independent company. [13]
In February 2021, Bauer Media Group announced it was to acquire Communicorp Group subject to regulatory approval. [14] The acquisition was completed on 1 June 2021 and the company was renamed Bauer Media Audio Ireland. [15]
In August 2023, it was announced that Bauer Media Audio Ireland had acquired the Irish music-driven youth radio station, iRadio. [16]
Communicorp have an interest in the digital and PR agency ICAN, [17] and previously (through its subsidiary Demirca) also operated the online marketplace AppliancesDelivered.ie. [18] [19] The latter began as a magazine called 'Buy & Sell', and changed ownership several times, [20] [21] before being acquired in 2015 and rebranded in 2016. [22] AppliancesDelivered.ie ceased operations in 2019. [18]
Licensed radio broadcasting in Ireland is one element of the wider media of Ireland, with 85% of the population listening to a licensed radio broadcasting service on any given day.
Today FM is an Irish national commercial FM radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Audio Ireland Limited. Broadcasting since 17 March 1997, it broadcasts mostly music, with a daily news and current affairs programme. Today FM holds a licence from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland as far as the year 2027. The station recorded pretax profits of €7.4 million on a turnover of €19.4 million in early 2009, more than twice what it was two years previously.
Kiss is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Kiss Network.
Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) was a Scottish media company which owned 22 radio stations, and around 30 local newspapers in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
Denis O'Brien is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for several years. His business interests have also extended to aircraft leasing, utilities support (Actavo), petroleum, football, and healthcare. As former chairman of the Esat Digifone consortium, O'Brien was questioned by the Moriarty Tribunal, which investigated the awarding of a mobile phone licence to Esat, among other things.
Thomas Dunne is an Irish radio broadcaster with Newstalk, and a singer/songwriter with the band Something Happens.
FM104 is an independent local radio station broadcast across Dublin, Ireland, on the frequency 104.4 MHz. It is operated by Capital Radio Productions Limited, and is a subsidiary of the Wireless Group, which itself is a subsidiary of News UK. The station broadcasts under a contract from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. FM104 broadcasts from Macken House in Dublin's Docklands.
Newstalk is a national independent radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio and Greatest Hits Radio Network of local stations.
Highland Radio is the local radio service for the County Donegal (North) franchise, operating under a licence from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).
Bauer Media Audio UK is a UK-based radio division of Bauer Media Group owning brands; Absolute Radio, Greatest Hits Radio, Jazz FM, Scala Radio, Hits Radio, KISS, Planet Rock, Magic, Kerrang! Radio and Heat Radio.
East Coast FM is an Irish local radio station broadcasting from Bray, County Wicklow under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
Smooth East Midlands is an Independent Local Radio station for the East Midlands, 107.4 MHz, 97.2 MHz, 106.8 MHz 106.0 MHz which replaced Saga 106.6 FM at 6 am on Monday 26 March 2007. It is owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network of stations. Connect FM closed and merged with Smooth East Midlands on 1 October 2019. in Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Northampton, Peterborough and Rushden
Heinrich Bauer Publishing, trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations, as well as print shops, postal, distribution and marketing services. Bauer has a workforce of approximately 11,000 in 17 countries.
Smooth North East is a regional radio station owned by Communicorp and operated by Global as part of the Smooth network. It broadcasts to North East England from studios in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Red Rose Radio was an Independent Local Radio station serving Preston, Blackpool and surrounding areas in Lancashire, England. Launched in 1982 from studios in Preston, it evolved into two stations on FM and AM, underwent several rebrandings, and now operates as Rock FM and Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire. Rock FM’s programming now originates from Bauer’s Liverpool studios at the Radio City Tower.
Real Radio XS was a radio station brand operated by Real and Smooth Ltd based in Salford, Greater Manchester, broadcasting a variety of peak-time news, rock music and talk output. The Manchester-based version of the service was broadcast to Greater Manchester on FM, and to a number of areas on DAB: the closure of the MXR regional multiplexes ended most digital carriage of the service, with the last remaining digital transmission, to Yorkshire, ending in 2014. The other Real Radio XS service, covering Paisley and Renfrewshire on FM and central belt Scotland digitally, became Xfm Scotland in 2014 following Global's purchase of the franchise, before closing entirely in 2015. The Manchester frequency now transmits as XS Manchester under the control of Communicorp UK, whilst the Scottish license was re-advertised by Ofcom and now carries Nation Broadcasting-owned Nation Radio Scotland.
Denzil Lacey is an Irish radio producer, currently employed by SiriusXM. Radio stations he has worked at since 2006 include 98FM, East Coast FM, Dublin's Country Mix 106.8, Dublin City FM, RTÉ 2fm and most recently, FM104.
A timeline of notable events relating to Bauer Media Audio UK, a British media company established as a division of German company Bauer Media Group in 2008.
This is a timeline of notable events relating to Greatest Hits Radio, a British commercial radio station operated by Bauer Radio. The timeline also covers the Magic and Big City 2 networks, which were the forerunners to Greatest Hits Radio.
Accounts for Demirca, the immediate Irish parent of AppliancesDelivered, show it had accumulated losses of about €5.5 million by the end of 2017
AppliancesDelivered.ie [..is..] part of Denis O'Brien's Communicorp
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