Today FM

Today FM first went on air as “Radio Ireland” on St. Patrick's Day (March 17) in 1997. It holds one of two national commercial radio licences (the other being held by stablemate Newstalk 106). The Today FM schedule is largely constituted by light entertainment talk and music shows although the drivetime slot has long been filled with a news and current affairs programme. 

Radio Ireland prevailed over four other bidders for the national radio licence when applications were invited by the Independent Radio and Television Commission (the IRTC, precursor to the current media regulator Coimisiún na Meán) in late 2005. The Radio Ireland consortium was backed by concert promoter Denis Desmond, Westland Studios, Hothouse Flowers manager Robbie Wootton and Riverdance promoters John McColgan and Moya Doherty.  

On launch, the station’s schedule largely mirrored that of RTE Radio 1 with a breakfast time current show, followed by a mix of music, magazine and arts and entertainment content before returning to current affairs for the drivetime slot. The evening was rounded out with a set of eclectic music shows. Notably absent were the drama and documentaries the consortium had foregrounded in their original application to the IRTC. 

That the licence was available at all was due to the collapse of the original licensee, Century Radio in November 2001. Radio Ireland also struggled: Chief Executive Dan Collins parted ways with the station even before it went on air, apparently owing to tension with some of the station promoters. But the station also struggled to distinguish itself from RTE Radio 1 and six months after going on air had an audience share of just 1%. 

The station opted for a radical overhaul, bringing in UK broadcaster Chris Evans’ Ginger Productions to advise on a new identity: increasing its music content (and dropping talk), altering the nature of that music (towards more mainstream fare) and, more generally, adopting a more populist character. The station also slimmed down its personnel, losing 30 staff. These changes were reflected in the January 1998 relaunch of the station as Today FM. 

The IRTC expressed unease with the changes but took no real action and unsuccessful bidders expressed their discontent at the manner in which the station had apparently been allowed to dilute the programming commitments on the basis of which it had secured its licence. Nonetheless the changes bore fruit: but mid-1998 Today FM had an 8% share of the national audience and was bringing in three or four times the revenues it had 12 months earlier. By late 2001 that national share had doubled to 16%.

At the point of launch, Radio Ireland’s ownership was spread across three corporate investors (ICC (23%), Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH)(16%) and Dermot Desmond’s IIU private equity firm). The remaining 55% was equally across six individuals – John McColgan and Moya Doherty, Robbie Wootton, Denis Desmond, Brian Molloy of Westland Studios and accountant Joe Moreau.  As Today FM began to turn a profit in 2000, SRH increased its stake to 22% and then, in 2001 to 24%. This coincided with a decision by the successor to the IRTC, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) to relax its ownership rules. In  January 2002 then the BCI formally approved SRH’s  November 2001 bids to acquire the 76% of Radio Ireland Limited (Today FM). 

In 2005 SRH itself was acquired for £UK391m by UK print and broadcasting media group EMAP. However, within two years, EMAP was struggling and, having issued a series of profit warnings, looked to offload its assets. These included its three Irish stations – FM104, Highland Radio – and Today FM. There were a number of suiters, including the Irish Times, TV3 and UTV. However, Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp ultimately prevailed with a bid of €200m for the three stations. That Communicorp already owned Newstalk, a station with a “quasi-national” reach (92%-plus of the Irish population) and a leading Dublin station (98FM) raised concentration concerns. In consequence although the Competition Authority approved the purchase, it was made conditional on Communicorp divesting itself of FM104, to prevent the emergence of a dominant position in the Dublin market. In December 2007 then, FM104 was sold to UTV for €52m.

This left Today FM and Newstalk – the only national commercial stations – under the same ownership. The stations would remain with Communicorp until 2021, when Communicorp sold all five of its stations to the German media group Bauer for a sum reported to be in the region of €100m. This marked Communicorp owner Denis O’Brien’s final exit from the Irish media market, having sold his shares in Independent News and Media to Mediahuis two years earlier in 2019. 

As of the last quarter of 2025, Today FM recorded a 9% share of listening in the national market. It remains part of Bauer Media Audio Ireland LP’s growing stable of stations which as of early 2026 includes: Newstalk 106, 98FM, Spin FM, Beat 102-103, Spin South-West, Red FM and iRadio. 

(Last updated in April 2026)