Broadcast area | Wicklow and Environs |
---|---|
Frequency | 94.9 MHz, 96.2 MHz, 99.9 MHz, 102.9 MHz and 104.4 MHz (Arklow) |
Programming | |
Format | Contemporary |
Ownership | |
Owner | East Coast Radio Limited |
History | |
First air date | 25 October 1989 |
Links | |
Website | www.eastcoast.fm |
East Coast FM (formerly known as BLB, Horizon FM, then East Coast Radio) is an Irish local radio station broadcasting from Bray, County Wicklow under a sound broadcasting contract from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
The station operates in County Wicklow and into the adjoining counties of Dublin, Kildare, Carlow and Wexford, broadcasting on the following frequencies: 94.9 FM, 96.2 FM, 99.9 FM, 102.9 FM and 104.4 FM in Arklow. To achieve coverage of all of its franchise area, it requires six transmitters including stations at Bray Head, Wicklow Head, Avoca, Arklow, Baltinglass and a transmitter located at Slieve Thoul in Saggart County Dublin where the Wicklow, Kildare and Dublin borders meet.[ citation needed ]
East Coast FM began as BLB (Bray Local Broadcasting) in 1984. [1] Originally an unlicensed operator, it was launched as "Horizon Radio" when it received a licence from The Independent Radio & Television Commission (now known as The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) and later merged with South Wicklow's Ezy103 to become East Coast Radio.[ citation needed ]
In 2002, the station was renamed from "East Coast Radio" to "East Coast FM" and moved from its Victorian premises at Prince of Wales Terrace on Quinsboro Road, Bray (where it had been located since 1985) to a state-of-the-art radio centre complex in Ballywaltrim, Bray.[ citation needed ] The station is located on Killarney Road in Bray. [2] BLB had operated out of a rooftop office on top of what is now Katie Gallagher's pub on Strand Road in the early 1980s.
East Coast FM is owned by East Coast Radio Limited. Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group was a shareholder in the station from 1998 to 2008.[ citation needed ] As of December 2007, Communicorp reportedly held a 30% share in the station. [3]
Year | Association | Award | Recipient | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | PPI Radio Awards | Music Programme - General | East Coast Lunch | Gold [4] |
2013 | Love Radio Awards | Entertainment & Leisure | Bray Wanderers "Fight For Survival" advert | Gold [5] |
2019 | IMRO Radio Awards | News Story/News Event | The Grand Hotel news coverage | Bronze [6] |
2020 | Current Affairs Programme - Local/Regional | The Morning Show with Declan Meehan | Silver [7] | |
2022 | Welcome to Wicklow | Bronze [8] | ||
The Gay Byrne Award - Newcomer of the Year | Max Kane | Silver [8] | ||
2023 | Current Affairs Programme - Local/Regional | The Morning Show with Declan Meehan | Bronze |
County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the east and the counties of Wexford to the south, Carlow to the southwest, Kildare to the west, and South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown to the north.
Bray is a coastal town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated about 20 km (12 mi) south of Dublin city centre on the east coast. It has a population of 33,512 making it the tenth largest urban area within Ireland. Bray is home to Ardmore Studios, and some light industry is located in the town, with some business and retail parks on its southern periphery. Commuter links between Bray and Dublin are provided by rail, Dublin Bus and the M11 and M50 motorways. Parts of the town's northern outskirts are in County Dublin.
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.
Arklow is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the 1798 rebellion. Its proximity to Dublin led to it becoming a commuter town with a population of 13,163 as of the 2016 census. The 2022 census recorded a population of 13,399.
Wicklow is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census, it had a population of 12,957 people. The town is to the east of the M11 route between Dublin and Wexford. It also has railway links to Dublin, Wexford, Arklow, and Rosslare Europort. There is also a commercial port for timber and textile imports. The River Vartry is the main river flowing through the town.
Kilmacanogue, officially Kilmacanoge, is a village in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is southwest of Bray and is overlooked by Great Sugar Loaf mountain.
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Kippure at 757 metres (2,484 ft), is the 56th-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 72nd-highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale. Kippure is situated in the far northern sector of the Wicklow Mountains, where it lies on the border of the counties of Dublin and Wicklow in Ireland. Kippure is the County Top for Dublin, and its height and positioning over Dublin city have made its summit an important site for transmission masts, which are highly visible from a distance. Kippure's slopes feed into the Liffey Head Bog which forms the source of the River Liffey. The summit can be easily accessed from the east via a path that lies off the R115 road along the route to the Sally Gap.
Greystones railway station is a railway station in Greystones, County Wicklow, Ireland. It is the southern terminus of the DART electrified rail network.
Newtownmountkennedy is a small town in County Wicklow, Ireland. It developed within the historic townland of Ballygarny, although all that remains is a motte where a church, graveyard and a castle or tower house once stood just 0.85 km (0.53 mi) north of the town. It acquired its present name in the mid-seventeenth-century, when Sir Robert Kennedy, M.P. for Kildare, made it his principal residence. It is just off the N11 road to Wexford, just south of Kilpedder and south-west of Greystones. It is about 15 km (9.3 mi) north of Wicklow town, 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Bray and approximately 35 km (22 mi) from Dublin. The R772 regional road passes through the village. This was the main Dublin-Wexford route, the N11, but the village was bypassed by the new N11 dual carriageway in 1990. This town has one of the longest place names in Ireland.
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the station first went on the air as Bray Local Broadcasting in 1984