Sunshine 106.8

Sunshine 106.8
Broadcast area Dublin
Slogan Dublin's New Place to Relax
Frequency 106.8 MHz, Online, Virgin Media Channel 933
First air date October 2001
Format Soft / Easy listening
Owner Star Broadcasting Limited
Website www.sunshineradio.ie/

Sunshine 106.8 is an easy listening radio station, based in Dublin, Ireland. It is licensed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), as a commercial FM broadcaster. The station broadcasts on 106.8 MHz from Three Rock Mountain to County Dublin and is also available on the DAB trial broadcasts in Dublin and Cork.

History

The radio station has studios and offices at Castleforbes House in Dublin 1. The studios at Castleforbes House went live in December 2015. It previously had studios on North Wall Quay in Dublin 1. The station launched in October 2001 from studios in Stillorgan, Co Dublin and was originally identified on-air as 'Dublin's Country 106.8FM' and later (from 2005) as 'Country Mix 106.8'. The station was completely re-branded as Sunshine 106.8 in October 2010.

The company, is headed up by CEO Sean Ashmore, who has been involved with the company since 2004. Sunshine 106.8 broadcasts 24 hours a day and features an easy listening format. The music output is a broad mix of easy listening music drawn from several genres including soul, country, crossover and Irish music. The station primarily appeals to a 35+ audience (see JNLR data below). Sunshine 106.8 is the number 3 rated music station in Dublin for 35+ adults and the number 1 music station in Dublin for 45+ adults (based on Mon-Fri 7am-7pm market share).

The station has won a number of awards including Bronze & Silver World Medals (2010 & 2011) for station format in the New York Festivals radio programming Awards - the first Irish station to receive an award for format in the awards.

The station signed a ten year contract with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) on 12 September 2014 to continue broadcasting until 2024. The new contract for 2014-2024 allowed the station to re-position itself in the Dublin market. The station adopted the positioning statement of 'Dublin's New Place to Relax' from September 2014.

Programming

Names formerly associated with Sunshine 106.8

JNLR

The station recorded increases in listenership (weekly reach) in every JNLR survey published in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (twelve surveys in succession). The JNLR published on July 27, 2016 recorded the best results for Market Share and Average Quarter Hour (AQH) in the station's 15 year history. Sunshine 106.8 recorded a 5.2% market share in the JNLR published in July 2016, this figure was recorded again in the JNLR published in Oct 2016.

The station recorded a 5% daily reach of 'all adults' in the JNLR on Oct 26th, 2016 (for the period Oct 2015 - Sep 2016). The station has 186,000 listeners per month (monthly reach of 18%) according to JNLR figures published in Oct 2016.

The station currently has a weekly reach of 10% or 102,000 listeners and a 5.8% market share for 35+ adults (7am-7pm) (IPSOS MRBI JNLR Oct 2015 to Sep 2016).

Sunshine 106.8 is the number 1 music station for 45+ adults in the Dublin City & County area based on Market Share in the period 7am to 7pm (Monday to Friday). It is also ranked as the number 3 music station for 35+ adults in the Dublin City & County area based on Market Share in the period 7am to 7pm (Monday to Friday). Source: JNLR period of Oct 2015 to Sep 2016 (Ipsos MRBI JNLR 2016-3, published on Oct 26, 2016).

Shareholding

The station is one of the few independent operations in the Dublin market, with most other stations owned by RTÉ, Communicorp or The Wireless Group (News Int). Its shareholders are Bay Broadcasting Ltd, Broadcast Investments Ltd and other minor shareholders. It has loose shareholder affiliations with Radio Nova (Dublin), East Coast FM (Wicklow), Classic Hits 4FM (Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway) and KFM (Kildare).

Sales

The station's national agency sales are handled by IRS+ (Independent Radio Sales).

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.