Christmas FM

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Christmas FM
Christmas FM Ireland logo.png
Broadcast areaIreland
FrequencyVarious
Programming
FormatChristmas Music
History
First air date
November 2008
Links
Websitewww.christmasfm.com

Christmas FM is Ireland's radio station dedicated to Christmas themed music. It is a temporary licensed station, traditionally broadcasting from 28 November until 27 December since 2008. The station streams over the internet and maintains social media presence.

History[]

It began broadcasting in Dublin in 2008. Cork was added in 2009. Limerick, Galway and the South East of Ireland were added in 2010.[1] With the inclusion of an additional transmitter, Kildare was added in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, transmitters were added in the North Midlands, in the North East and in North Wicklow.

In 2018 the station broadcast network was Sligo 95.0, Dublin 105.2, Cork 106.7, Galway 87.7, Naas 88.1, South East 103.8, Nth East 99.4, Nth Midlands 101.6, Kilkenny 104.3, Wicklow 106.6, Nth Wicklow 99.5, Limerick 105.5, Ennis/Clare 105.2, Letterkenny 105.7, Kllarney/Tralee 105.0.

The format is music driven with the addition of Christmas-themed content, all aimed at creating the 'Magic of Christmas'.[2] As a temporary licensed station it does not carry commercial advertising but does have both on-air and online sponsors to cover operational costs each year.

Dunnes Stores and Cadbury were the main sponsors of the station for 2017, in 2018 Coca-Cola joined these two main sponsors.

Charity work[]

The station has chosen charity partners in each of its broadcast years with the objective of raising awareness and funds for the partner. Funds are raised through a mixture of premium text, on-line donation and in-branch donation. 100% of listener donations go directly to the chosen charity. Charity partners for the last decade are listed below:

Christmas FM also operates a song competition in the run up to the broadcast period with the short list being aired for a listener voted winner to be selected.[14]

Online stations[]

Christmas FM also operates four online only Christmas themed music stations - Classic Christmas FM, Classical Christmas FM, Christmas FM North Pole and Christmas FM UK. All stations are available to listen through the station website, mobile apps, Alexa, TuneIn or LiveRadio.

Staff[]

The station is staffed by approximately 100 volunteers and provides a 24-hour service during the license period. The Voice Over used in many of Christmas FM's charity promotional appeals since 2008 belonged to Bob Gallico (1930–2013).

The founders of the station were Paul Shepard, Walter Hegarty, Garvan Rigby and Daragh O'Sullivan. It was the brainchild of Garvan Rigby. All had previous experience in pirate radio and in temporary licensed stations, with the first two having been among the principals of temporary licensed Premier FM. The first station manager was the late Jim Kenny. Chris Maher, an expert in soul music, did a stint as station manager. The current station manager is Dan McDermott, who occasionally presents on Christmas FM, bit is bettet known as a presenter on alternative-oriented online station 8Radio.com.

Presenters (past and present) include: Keith Shanley, Niall O'Keeffe, Ray Jackson, Walter Hegarty, Garvin Rigby, Daragh O'Sullivan/Steve Davitt, Chris Murray, Hugh O'Brien, Mike Moloney, Lyndsey Dolan, Dave Hynes, Andrea Hayes, the late Jim Kenny, Niall Boylan, Derek Jones, Jacki Ascough, Shane Pearse, the late Simon Young, Chris Barry, Damien Allen, Tommy Greene, Tommy McCabe, Hugh Browne, Chris Maher, Niall Cassidy, Stevie Bolger, Electric Eddie, Mike Eastwood, Gary Matthews, Declan Ralph, Noel Shannon, the late Noel McCaul, Paul Scanlon, Ollie Clarke, Isobel Tobin, Tony Scott, Lucianne White, Wendy Grace, Mathieu Norrie, Enda Caldwell, Bernie Jameson, Ray G, Brendan Flanagan, Amanda Brunker, Mike Williams, Mark Manning, Stephen Keogh, Gareth O'Connor, Gerry Wilson, Shay Harford, Mike Ryan, Karl Tsigdinos, Keane Harley, Marty Miller, Fergal Mitchell, Dan McDermott, Anne Marie Walsh, Jennie Ridyard, Adrian Nolan, Roger Lane, Patricia Lane, Ruth Scott, Lisa Gernon, Esther Moore O'Donoghue, Emily Brew, Alan Young, Aisling Cuffe, Adrienne O'Hora, Aine O'Neill, Alan Young, Ally Courtney, Karl Dawson, Brian Boyle, Celine Weldon, Claire Murrihy, Craig McComish, Zeinab Elguzouli, Stella Bass, Sean Coffey, Sarah-Jane Fortune, Ronan O'Brien, Robbie Irwin, Philip Smith, Mark Byrne, Niamh Ní Chróinín, Mark O’Hare, Mark Fennell, Lorraine Larkin, Lucianne Hughes, Liam Walsh, Laura Campbell, Laura Bury, Lar Flynn, Kieran Carrick, Kelley Bermingham, Katie Harrington, Karen Winston, John Troy, Jessica Spencer, Jenny Branigan, Greg Manahan, Gordon Hislip, Gerry Healy, Fionnuala Moran, Emmet Reilly, Ellen McEvoy, Edel Corrigan, Dee Maguire, Davin O’Callaghan, Bróna Waldron, Arthur Owen, Aoife Whelan, Aoife Carberry, Andrea Wickham Moriarty, Amy Kelly, Allanah Scully, Ryan Phillips and Dermot Breen.

References[]

  1. ^ Christmas FM, the charity seasonal radio station now in its third year Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Christmas FM song contest voting open to the public on Saturday
  3. ^ a b "Our History". Christmas FM.
  4. ^ "Childline: 1,212 calls, texts and messages from children on Christmas Day". Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Christmas FM". Christmas FM. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  6. ^ Russell, Cliodhna (10 January 2017). "Christmas FM raised more than €360,000 for Focus Ireland". The Journal. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  7. ^ "€214,000 raised for Sightsavers in 2017". Christmas FM. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Christmas FM listeners fund thousands of sight-saving operations". Sightsavers. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  9. ^ O'Brien, Cillian (9 January 2018). "Christmas FM raised more than €200,000 for Sightsavers". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  10. ^ "Christmas FM raises over €400,000 in 2018". Christmas FM. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  11. ^ Hanratty, Dave. "Christmas FM raises over €400,000 for Temple Street Children's Hospital". Joe.ie. Joe.ie. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Christmas FM raises over €400k for Temple Street Children's Hospital". Irish Examiner. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Christmas FM announces ALONE as official charity partner for 2020". christmasfm.com. Christmas FM. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  14. ^ Christmas FM to return, song contest announced

External links[]

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