Classic Hits owner Bay Broadcasting set to purchase Galway Bay FM
Galway Bay FM has been purchased by Classic Hits owner Bay Broadcasting from the publishers of the Connacht Tribune.
The deal is subject to approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and ministerial approval. Just last week, it emerged that the Connacht Tribune is set to be sold to the publisher of the Iconic group of newspapers, Malcolm Denmark, subject to CCPC approval.
Galway Bay FM launched in 1989 under the name Radio West, rebranding in 1993. The Connacht Tribune Ltd, which owned a 27% stake, became sole owners in 2006. Galway Bay FM broadcasts to Galway city and county, with a market share of 34%, with listeners predominantly in the age 27 to 60 bracket. The station has a staff count of 25 at is based at Sandy Road in the city.
"Galway Bay FM stands out as one of Ireland's most respected local stations, with a loyal audience and a strong local identity," said Bay Broadcasting director Kevin Branigan. "It's one of the most enduring local radio stations in the country and its track record speaks for itself. We look forward to working with the excellent team in Galway Bay FM and to continuing the station's proud position as the leading radio service in Galway."
Bay Broadcasting is privately-owned and co-founded by Mike Ormonde and Mr Branigan. It operates Dublin music radio stations Radio Nova and Sunshine 106.8, along with Ireland's Classic Hits Radio, which broadcasts to Dublin Cork, Limerick, and Galway. With the addition of Galway Bay FM, Bay Broadcasting will become the second largest radio group in Ireland - and the only Irish-owned radio group - now larger than Onic (formerly Wireless), operators of FM104/Q102 in Dublin, 96FM/103FM in Cork, Live 95 in Limerick,and LMFM in Louth/Meath.
The purchase of Galway Bay FM will give Bay 810,000 listeners compared to Onic's 796,000 listeners. The acquisition has already been approved by Coimisiún na Meán.
It stands Bay Broadcasting only behind Bauer, whose stations include Newstalk, Today FM, RedFM 98FM, Spin South West, and Beat 102-103.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
The Menu: A rare award that has the greater good of the Irish food world as its concern
Two weeks ago, at a special lunch in Ashford Castle, Euro-Toques Ireland unveiled the winners of their annual food producer awards for 2025. Sweet suffering kidneys of Christ, says you, not more awards. With each passing year, it seems more crop up, right across the commercial world. Very often it is about self-promotion, to generate buzz and publicity for members of a particular commercial sector, to gain a bit of traction with the public and then dub them the 'Oscars of the Tricycle Importers of West Longford' or whatever product or service you're trying to flog. Increasingly, especially in the food world, awards are being created purely for the financial gain of the organisers, whose knowledge of the sector can prove surprisingly scant. Some years ago, when I used to work with small food producers, a client rang to ask about a new 'Irish food award' run by a foreign commercial entity for which they had been invited to enter. Further investigation revealed that, on top of the entry fee, there were further charges for displaying product at the awards, potentially running into thousands. Then there was the cost of attending the awards themselves. The price of a table for, say, 10 (you and all the staff of your small speciality food production business, perhaps) would again cost several thousand. It is a model used across multiple sectors, an opportunity to cash in with a lavish event, milking it for every last dime. Coincidentally, I had been invited to be a judge for these awards. Sniffing the reek of commercial opportunism, I asked how much I would be paid to compensate for my time. Nada… but it would allow me to promote my own 'brand'. Travel expenses? Nope. I regularly donate my time gratis to voluntary causes or organisations and will do so in future but I baulk at giving free time to a commercial entity primarily focused on profit. I advised said client to say no and I did likewise, subsequently noting the professional calibre of certain judges was such that they'd struggle to judge a crisp-opening competition. The Euro-Toques Ireland awards are markedly different in both structure and ambition. For starters, Euro-Toques Ireland is the Irish chapter of a European-wide, chef-led organisation dedicated to preserving and championing local food culture, traditional food craft and gastronomy, and chef-members not only pay an annual membership fee (€150) but also devote time on a voluntary basis. Food producers can also become members for free. Secondly, nominees don't 'enter' the awards or pay an entry fee; they are selected and passed through the judging process by the chef-members, only learning of their nomination once the dye has been cast. The cost of the awards lunch (members €65; non-members €80) is to cover expenses (the chef-member venue is donated free), no more, even though Euro-Toques Ireland has a skeleton professional staff, one part timer and head of community Manuela Spinella (familiar to Irish football fans as translator to erstwhile Irish football manager Giovanni Trapattoni), the only full-time employee, and membership fees and sponsorship are its sole source of income. Each nominee gets one free ticket for a gorgeous lunch with wine and can buy more at member's rate. Safe to say, Euro-Toques Ireland is an entirely ethos-driven organisation with the greater good of the Irish food world its sole concern. Euro-Toques Ireland came about in 1986 when Myrtle Allen was approached by three-star Michelin chefs Paul Bocuse (France) and Pierre Romeijer (Belgium) to form a European-wide chefs organisation on foot of growing alarm at the loss of traditional food cultures and professional cheffing practices as a result of the increasing industrialisation of agriculture and the food sector. Myrtle best represented the true values and aspirations of the organisation, once famously scolding her fellow Michelin-starred members for serving up coffee with UHT milk instead of proper milk. Her life's work at Ballymaloe was the essence of the Euro-Toques ethos in action, brilliantly cooked seasonal menus based on traditional produce of the local terroir. Enjoy a well-cooked meal of this year's Euro-Toques award-winning produce and I promise it will be a culinary highlight of your year. If you want it to be more than an annual highlight, check out Euro-Toques online and start engaging more with the cooking and produce of chef- and producer-members. Host kitchens sought Chef Network is seeking Irish restaurants and other hospitality ventures to follow in the footsteps of Glover's Alley, Aniar, Rare at Blue Haven, and many more by registering as a host kitchen for Open Kitchen Week (Nov 10-16). The initiative, in its third year, offers aspiring chefs of all ages and backgrounds hands-on experience in a professional Irish kitchen, from TY students to mature learners as well as career influencers such as parents and teachers. Host kitchens, in turn, get to showcase the culinary sector, attract new blood and help to sustain the sector's future. TODAY'S SPECIAL If new season strawberries, which I wrote about last week, are an annual edible highlight, they are nothing compared to the first new potatoes of the season. A bowl of steaming hot new spuds, chopped parsley, a grind of black pepper and drowning in enough melting butter to fund a cardiologist's yacht, is my favourite dish, death row meal and last supper all rolled into one. I always purchase my first of the year from fine independent grocery/food shop, Menloe Stores, of Blackrock, who source directly from growers but new spuds should be on shelves all over the country by the time you read this.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: Listening is an important precursor to change
There was much proverbial gnashing of teeth and rending of raiment by environmental lobbyists when it was recently suggested that Ireland will miss its climate targets. Ireland, as with many other states, has committed itself legally to transition to net zero by 2050. Financial penalties — to be paid to the EU — are put variously between €8bn and €26bn in an admonitory report from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Climate Change Advisory Council. Future historians and legal students will no doubt debate the wisdom of committing to onerous and binding financial punishment on targets which are 25 years away. The list of missed goals, cost over-runs, and deadline failures, even of the last decade, is far too long to be catalogued here. As we noted the 81st anniversary of D-Day, the largest collaborative operation in human history, on Friday it is worth recalling the words of its commander general (later US president) Dwight D Eisenhower. He was fond of saying: 'Plans are useless but planning is indispensable.' It is in that context that we must recognise a court judgement which applies some constraints to corporate rights over those of individuals irrespective of the size, and urgency, of the environmental challenges we face. A judgement handed down by Mr Justice Oisín Quinn sent something of a chilly breeze through an industry which has lately been basking in the sunshine of progress after Irish windfarms provided 38% of the country's electricity over the first three months of 2025. But in this case operators of a windfarm in Co Wexford have been ordered to shut down three of their turbines and pay €360,000 damages to a couple over their commercial response to noise and nuisance complaints covering a dozen years. ABO Energy Ireland Ltd and ABO Energy O&M Ireland Ltd, operators of the wind farm at Gibbet Hill, near Bunclody, along with its owner, Wexwind Ltd, also face a potential legal costs bill of €2.3m incurred by Raymond Byrne and Lorna Moorhead in their case. In a 100-page judgement, Mr Justice Quinn, who refused to permit a stay to allow three turbines closest to the couple's home to partially operate in fixed hours, said the defendants failed to engage 'in any meaningful way' with the 'genuine and substantive' complaints made by the couple since the turbines became operational in 2013. The judge added that the defendants' 'seriously unimpressive' approach represented a threat to the goal of developing wind farms and wind energy here. Addressing wind turbine noise in a substantial way was seen as 'critical' to the future success of wind as a major source of renewable energy. This was 'one of the worst cases of wind farm noise impact', he added. While the Bunclody case may be, as was suggested, 'an outlier' it is an important reminder of the need for consensus and agreement on changes which may have major and unforeseen impacts on people's lives. To that end, it would be prudent to extend the consultation period over the proposed route for Cork's Luas line from Ballincollig to Mahon Point which is destined to radically reshape the city's transport options for the next 100 years. Following what was described as a 'lively' public meeting, Transport Infrastructure Ireland has been asked to give people affected longer to study the 75-page technical report and feasibility study. A deadline was originally set for Monday for consultation. While flow charts, and pinch points, and traffic management schemes may be the meat and drink of civil engineers, logistical experts, surveyors, and the like, they can take a little longer for the ordinary citizen to digest. The opportunity to ask questions and receive answers is an important part of this process. Spending time on it now is a critical investment in the future. Tracking the sad history of rail death As we recently pointed out, railways can be dangerous places. There has always been a risk around trains, and one which long predated the establishment of Iarnród Éireann 38 years ago. The perils involved in working within the industry is dramatically illustrated in an ambitious data project initiated by Britain's National Archive — which has analysed, and made freely available online, records of railway worker accidents from 1900 to 1915 and from 1921 to 1939. It's a Microsoft Excel-based treasure trove for the amateur genealogist and one which will be expanded over the years as part of the Railway Work, Life & Death project, run by the University of Portsmouth, the National Railway Museum, and the Modern Records Centre. Irish connections can be filtered. In a time before health and safety legislation, there are many sad tales. The goods porter who was struck on the head by the hook of a steam crane; the Dublin shunter crushed when coupling some wagons; and to give the dangers a contemporary feel, the guard killed while crossing the line with parcels at Birdhill Station in Tipperary. It's an impressive piece of voluntary work and the researchers would like to hear from anyone who has a story to tell or some artefacts to contribute. To be or not to be. What is the question? The secondary school principal who has pointed out that an increasing number of students no longer see college as a guaranteed route to a job, house, and financial stability may be something of a voice in the wilderness. However, we are often wise to listen to such opinions. Áine Moran, of Sancta Maria College in Louisburgh, Co Mayo, said the Leaving Cert class of 2025 is no longer focused solely on Central Applications Office points. While education has great merits, it is no longer true that it protects a young person from poverty; and it may never pertain again. 'A lot of the traditional roles education brought people to today mean they still can't afford a house' says Ms Moran. 'The young people this Leaving Cert year are very savvy. Many feel they don't want to risk going to college to do a course and spend years learning a function for a job that can be done by AI in four years.' Second guessing where AI is taking us can be a debilitating experience but it is no surprise that so many believe that the route to riches, if not exactly security, lies through the computer screen. Many young people, says Ms Moran, are interested in building online businesses and being profitable 'influencers' on YouTube and TikTok. 'Some are making a lot of money,' she adds. At this age, it is a bad idea to rain on anyone's parade and there is perhaps a subliminal recognition of the modes of modern communication in some of this year's test papers. Particularly controversial has been the inclusion within Junior Cycle English of a short story question. It asked the examinee to comment on how the use of a setting had a vital influence on a short story they had studied. Although there has been an explosive resurgence in the popularity of short stories in recent years, some academic critics view them largely as a stepping stone to more detailed novels requiring deeper analysis. Other criticisms were applied to a question that asked students to imagine they are a contributor to a podcast. We must deal in the creative lexicon of our times and there is no doubt that podcasts, and audiobooks, have stimulated interest in literature in general. The examiners strived to keep matters topical by including a speech from Margaret Attwood and an extract from the 2024 Booker Prize winner Orbital. It's easy to imagine that the Shakespearean text King Lear — which asked students to construct a discussion between two characters — could easily be set as a Black Mirror encounter between Goneril and Regan. Is there a showrunner in the house? Ms Moran says her main advice to students is to get their Leaving Cert in their back pocket. Many more people are pursuing trade-focused courses such as architecture, construction, and engineering. There has been a 25% increase in nursing applications and a 41% rise in people choosing dentistry. In the future, nearly everyone will have more than one career. We need you all. That's what education should give you ... the ability to choose. Read More Irish Examiner view: Cameras could contribute to road safety
Agriland
5 hours ago
- Agriland
Teagasc launches ‘This is Dairying' photo competition
Teagasc and FBD Insurance has launched the 'This is Dairying' photo competition in the lead-up to the Teagasc Moorepark Dairy Open Day, which takes place in early July, 2025. The competition will run throughout the month of June, and is an opportunity to capture and celebrate 'what makes Irish dairy farming so unique'. According to Teagasc, the aim of the competition is to highlight the pride, purpose and positivity within Irish dairying. It believes every photo helps to 'tell the story of Irish dairying at its best', and the competition provides an opportunity for budding photographers to 'get snapping' while being in with a chance to win exciting prizes. The head of the Teagasc animal and grassland research and innovation programme, Prof. Laurence Shalloo said: 'We're delighted to launch this initiative once again with thanks to support from FBD Insurance. 'Previous competitions have showcased the passion, care, and pride within the Irish dairy industry. We have seen some great creativity in previous competitions, and I'm looking forward to viewing the submissions in 2025,' Shalloo added. Teagasc Teagasc's people in dairy programme manager, Dr. Conor Hogan said: 'This competition is about celebrating all that is positive in Irish dairying. 'Sharing a single photo is a simple but powerful way for farmers, families, and the wider community to support and promote the dairy sector. We'd love to see entries from anyone involved in Irish dairying this June,' Hogan added. The competition is running until Wednesday, June 26, 2025, and the winners will be announced at the Teagasc Moorepark Dairy Open Day, and photos will be displayed online and on the day. The overall winner will receive €500 FBD Hotel voucher, and a professional framing of their winning photograph. The first runner up will receive €300, and two remaining finalists will be chosen to each receive €100 in FBD Hotel vouchers.
