Spin South West
Encyclopedia
Spin South West is an Irish radio station broadcasting from Raheen
in Limerick City to the South West. It launched on 23 July 2007, and holds an Independent Regional Radio
contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland to broadcast to County Kerry
, County Limerick
, County Clare
, North Tipperary
and south-west County Laois
. It is operated by Spin South West Limited, a consortium including Denis O'Brien
's Communicorp Group Limited
. SPIN South West was nominated for 3 PPI radio Awards in 2009, for chat show Spin Talk, Station Imaging, and breakfast show Breafast Xpresso. In 2009 The Zoo Crew, then presented by Michelle McMahon & Conor Quaid was nominated for a Meteor Ireland Music Award for best Regional DJ. In 2010 Michelle McMahon was again nominated, this time for her new time-slot on SPIN @ Work.
, the original Spin station started in 2002, also owned by Denis O'Brien
's Communicorp Group Limited
. The first song played was by Seamus Barry and it was Timbaland The Way I Are
The station CEO is Limerick business woman, Aevann Upton, while Programme Director is Nessa McGann
Music Director of the station is Eoghain Fitzgerald.
The stations' format is extremely similar to that of the Dublin Independent Local Radio station Spin 1038
which launched in 2002. Both stations have identical logos, similar on-air presentation, and even share some programme names. However the stations are not a network
and are independently managed and run, with separate presenters and shows. As on Spin 1038, the news is presented at quarter-to-the hour (unlike most other radio stations, which have news on the hour), however in Spin South West's case is known as the Lowdown (as opposed to The Story, a play on the Dublin phrase "what's the story") with the entertainment news the Showdown instead of the Inside Story.
Low-down readers are
Ciara Revins,
Helen
and Catriona
SPIN South West Ltd is owned by a group of shareholders including Clare Community Radio Holdings plc, Communicorp Group Ltd, Jerry Kennelly, John O’Connor, Liam O’Shea and Keith Wood.
SPIN South West is a focused radio service that is articulate, inspired, energetic and contemporary. SPIN South West is a service that steps away from traditional borders, embraces 15-34 year olds and creates a new space. SPIN South West is part of the 15-34 year old community that reflects the lives of the audience.
The station broadcasts to the Munster region on 102-103 and 94.7 MHz FM. It is on air 24/7 playing popular music during most of the day and dance or techno music during the night. Specialist weekend shows hosted by Paul Webb, Peter Curtin and Code cover house, techno, hip-hop and drum'n'bass respectively.
Many of the presenters came from student radio stations in the region, with 3 coming from local staton Live 95FM (Dan Mooney, Muireann O'Connell & John Hayes), Seamus Barry joined SPIN from Cork's 96FM.
The Programme Director, Nessa McGann joined SPIN from a similar role in Wired FM, a student station in Limerick.
1 of the original presenters remain at SPIN, Michelle McMahon, and 3 of the original new crew remain on The Lowdown, aside from Alan who became the presenter of SPIN Talk in 2011, following the departure of both John Hayes & Muireann O'Connell from the station.
Raheen
Raheen is a suburban district of southwestern Limerick City, Ireland. It houses the headquarters of the Mid-Western Region of the Health Service Executive so that a multitude of essential health services catering for the population of the region are dispensed from this suburban...
in Limerick City to the South West. It launched on 23 July 2007, and holds an Independent Regional Radio
Radio in Ireland
Licensed radio in the Republic of Ireland is one element of the wider media in Ireland, with 85% of the population listening to a licenced service on any given day. This article deals with the legal radio stations of Ireland...
contract from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland to broadcast to County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
, North Tipperary
North Tipperary
North Tipperary is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-West Region and is also located in the province of Munster. It is named after the town of Tipperary and consists of 48% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. The county was established in 1898 and has had a county...
and south-west County Laois
County Laois
County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...
. It is operated by Spin South West Limited, a consortium including Denis O'Brien
Denis O'Brien
Denis O'Brien is an Irish businessman with international connections. An Arts graduate of University College Dublin, O'Brien has received a MBA in corporate finance from Boston College in 1982, and was later given an honorary doctorate by University College Dublin.O'Brien has involvement with...
's Communicorp Group Limited
Communicorp
Communicorp is an Irish media holding company, wholly owned by Denis O'Brien.-Background:Communicorp Group Ltd was formed by Denis O'Brien in 1989. The Group’s radio operations launched in Ireland in the same year and followed with stations in the Czech Republic in 1992...
. SPIN South West was nominated for 3 PPI radio Awards in 2009, for chat show Spin Talk, Station Imaging, and breakfast show Breafast Xpresso. In 2009 The Zoo Crew, then presented by Michelle McMahon & Conor Quaid was nominated for a Meteor Ireland Music Award for best Regional DJ. In 2010 Michelle McMahon was again nominated, this time for her new time-slot on SPIN @ Work.
Sister Station
Spin South West's format is taken from Dublin's Spin 1038Spin 1038
Spin 1038 is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland. It is owned by Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. Despite their name, they do not broadcast on the medium wave band , but on 103.8 FM...
, the original Spin station started in 2002, also owned by Denis O'Brien
Denis O'Brien
Denis O'Brien is an Irish businessman with international connections. An Arts graduate of University College Dublin, O'Brien has received a MBA in corporate finance from Boston College in 1982, and was later given an honorary doctorate by University College Dublin.O'Brien has involvement with...
's Communicorp Group Limited
Communicorp
Communicorp is an Irish media holding company, wholly owned by Denis O'Brien.-Background:Communicorp Group Ltd was formed by Denis O'Brien in 1989. The Group’s radio operations launched in Ireland in the same year and followed with stations in the Czech Republic in 1992...
Format
The stations caters to a mainly young provincial audience with a potential listenership of 150 thousand*. It is aimed at 15-34 year olds and plays mainly popular musicPopular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
. The first song played was by Seamus Barry and it was Timbaland The Way I Are
The station CEO is Limerick business woman, Aevann Upton, while Programme Director is Nessa McGann
Music Director of the station is Eoghain Fitzgerald.
The stations' format is extremely similar to that of the Dublin Independent Local Radio station Spin 1038
Spin 1038
Spin 1038 is an Independent Local Radio station in Dublin, Ireland. It is owned by Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. Despite their name, they do not broadcast on the medium wave band , but on 103.8 FM...
which launched in 2002. Both stations have identical logos, similar on-air presentation, and even share some programme names. However the stations are not a network
Radio network
There are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...
and are independently managed and run, with separate presenters and shows. As on Spin 1038, the news is presented at quarter-to-the hour (unlike most other radio stations, which have news on the hour), however in Spin South West's case is known as the Lowdown (as opposed to The Story, a play on the Dublin phrase "what's the story") with the entertainment news the Showdown instead of the Inside Story.
Low-down readers are
Ciara Revins,
Helen
and Catriona
- Latest JNLR Listenership Figures as of 17/02/2011 show SPIN South West have a weekly audience of 143,000, an increase of 4000 since the last figures.
- SPIN South West has received nominations for the National PPI Radio Awards for its Breakfast show, Breakfast Espresso with Seamus Barry, SPIN Talk with John & Muireann, and a nomination for station imaging as well as one for an insert for The Lisbon Treaty which featured Peter Curtin, Jacqui Leahy, John Hayes & Ciara Revins.
Broadcasting
SPIN South West is a Regional radio station for 15- 34 year olds based in Limerick and broadcasting to Clare, Limerick, Kerry. North Tipperary and South West Laois. It is backed by a mixture of local and national expertise in media.SPIN South West Ltd is owned by a group of shareholders including Clare Community Radio Holdings plc, Communicorp Group Ltd, Jerry Kennelly, John O’Connor, Liam O’Shea and Keith Wood.
SPIN South West is a focused radio service that is articulate, inspired, energetic and contemporary. SPIN South West is a service that steps away from traditional borders, embraces 15-34 year olds and creates a new space. SPIN South West is part of the 15-34 year old community that reflects the lives of the audience.
The station broadcasts to the Munster region on 102-103 and 94.7 MHz FM. It is on air 24/7 playing popular music during most of the day and dance or techno music during the night. Specialist weekend shows hosted by Paul Webb, Peter Curtin and Code cover house, techno, hip-hop and drum'n'bass respectively.
Weekdays
- 00.45 SPIN Talk - Best of the Week With Alan Morrissey (Mo)
- 00.45 SPIN Talk Rewind with Alan Morrissey (Tu-Fr)
- 02.45 SPIN Perpetual Motion
- 06.45 Breakfast Xpresso with Conor Quaid & Catriona Mulcahy
- 09.45 SPIN Hits with Michelle McMahon
- 12.45 SPIN Talk with Alan Morrissey
- 14.45 SPIN Hits with Eoghain Fitzgerald
- 18.45 Zoo Crew Hot 30 with Antoinette and Brian
- 20.45 The Late Shift with Neassa Harney (Mo-Th)
- 23.45 Spin Session (Mo-Th)
- 21.45 Balance with Webb (Fr)
Saturday
- 00.45 The Block with Peter Curtin
- 02.45 SPIN Talk Rewind with Alan Morrissey
- 04.45 SPIN Perpetual Motion
- 06.45 Saturday Breakfast Ronan
- 10.45 Pop Raidió with Ciara Nic An Airchinnigh
- 13.45 SPIN Talk Weekend with Catriona Mulcahy
- 14.45 SPIN Saturday with Michelle Ryan
- 18.45 The Big Handbag with Miriam Walsh
- 21.45 The Block with Peter Curtin
- 23.45 Future Beats with Code
Sunday
- 02.45 SPIN Perpetual Motion
- 06.45 SPIN Talk - Best of the Week with Alan Morrissey
- 08.45 SPIN Cinema with Peter Murphy
- 09.45 SPIN Alt with Ciara Nic An Airchinnigh
- 11.45 SPIN Sunday Brunch
- 14.45 SPIN Sunday with Michelle Ryan
- 18.15 SPIN Sport with Alan Morrissey
- 18.45 Hit 30 na hÉireann with Daithí Ó Dáibhín
- 20.45 The Late Shift with Neassa Harney
Website
The radio station's website features many of the stations unique attractions such as 'The Spinis' who are a group of people who drive around the South-West region in 'bright pink Minis'. They often stop at workplaces. The show is also has features such as the 'Hot 30' which is a list of the current 30 most popular singles released and the 'Bin it or Spin it' which is a song chosen by the station every week and listeners text in their views on it. It also has dj blogs and the interactive pick the hits section where listeners can rate the music whether they like or loath it.Presenters
The station started with a total of 47 staff, including an on air line up of Seamus Barry (now of Cork's Red FM), Dan Mooney, Jacqui Leahy, Muireann O'Connell (now of Phantom), Chloe Liddy Judge, Conor Quaid, John Hayes, Aiden McAuliffe, Caroline Smith (now of Dublin's 98).Many of the presenters came from student radio stations in the region, with 3 coming from local staton Live 95FM (Dan Mooney, Muireann O'Connell & John Hayes), Seamus Barry joined SPIN from Cork's 96FM.
The Programme Director, Nessa McGann joined SPIN from a similar role in Wired FM, a student station in Limerick.
1 of the original presenters remain at SPIN, Michelle McMahon, and 3 of the original new crew remain on The Lowdown, aside from Alan who became the presenter of SPIN Talk in 2011, following the departure of both John Hayes & Muireann O'Connell from the station.
Frequencies
- 94.7 North Tipperary and southwest Laois
- 102.3 Ennistymon (West Clare)
- 102.5 North Kerry
- 102.7 County Clare and parts of Limerick and north Kerry
- 102.9 South Kerry, Killarney
- 103.0 Limerick and southeast Clare