RTÉ 2FM, or 2FM as it is commonly referred to, is RTÉ's second national radio station. It broadcasts popular music programming aimed at a young audience. Image File history File links RTÉ 2FM logo. ... Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ; Irish for Radio and Television of Ireland) is the national publicly-funded broadcaster of the Republic of Ireland. ...

RTÉ Radio 2, as it was originally known, began broadcasting in 1979. "Like Clockwork" by the Boomtown Rats was the first song on air, played by Larry Gogan. It was developed as a response by RTÉ to the pirate radio craze sweeping Dublin and the country. Its main inspiration in format was BBC Radio 1. Its original slogan was "Radio 2 Comin'atcha" and as well as broadcasting popular music, it carried a number of other musical strands as well as news and current affairs. Its original broadcast frequencies were 612 kHz MW (until 2004) and later, 90-92 MHz FM. Original DJs included Larry Gogan, who moved over from RTÉ Radio 1, and Dave Fanning. The Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats (1975-1985) were a punk rock/new wave group headed by Bob Geldof, who was later known for organizing charity rock concerts such as Band Aid (intended to help famine victims in Ethiopia), Live Aid, Live 8, and Hands Across America (intended to help... Jump to: navigation, search Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin region. ... BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station, specialising in popular music aimed at a young audience (children, teenagers and young adults). ... A kilohertz (kHz) is a unit of frequency equal to 1,000 hertz (1,000 cycles per second). ... Mediumwave radio transmissions (sometimes called Medium frequency or MF) are those between the frequencies of 300 kHz and 3000 kHz. ... A megahertz (MHz) is one million (106) hertz, a measure of frequency. ... Roberts FM radio FM radio is a broadcast technology invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong that uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. ... RTÉ Radio 1 dates back to January 1st 1926, when the Dublin radio station 2RN began broadcasting on a regular basis. ...

In 1988 "The Gerry Ryan Show", a morning topical radio show, began broadcasts. Not long afterwards, RTÉ began radical changes to Radio 2's format. Most non-pop music programming was dropped. The station was rebranded as "2FM" in 1988. At this stage the basic schedule for the next decade or so was put in place: Ian Dempsey, Gerry Ryan, Larry Gogan, Garreth O'Callaghan,(wow left rte 2fm when he was refused a show on rte radio 1, witch was given to Ryan Tubridy ) Tony Fenton, and Dave Fanning were staples of this period. Ian Dempsey currently presents The Breakfast Show on Today FM from 7 to 9am every weekday morning. ... Gerry Ryan is a veteran Irish radio presenter, for RTÉs 2FM. Gerry Ryan was born in Dublin. ...

2FM in this era was at its most popular. Its mobile broadcasting unit, the Roadcaster, made regular trips nationwide, and 2FM organised live events throughout Ireland, such as the "Beat on the Street" and "Lark in the Park". New bands would often get their "big break" by being featured on the Dave Fanning Show. Gerry Ryan's radio show became a national institution.

However by 2000, this schedule was looking very stale. In addition, 2FM suffered the high profile departure of Ian Dempsey to independent national radio station, 100-102 Today FM. Both Today FM and the emerging Independent Local Radio sector had eroded 2FM's once unassailable listnership base. Today FM continues to sign up disillusioned 2FM staff, with Tony Fenton being the most recent departure, in September 2004. 100-102 Today FM, formerly called Radio Ireland, is Irelands only independent national commercial radio station (there are many other independent local commercial stations, however). ... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: September 2004 in sports Deaths in September • 27 Tsai Wan-lin • 24 Françoise Sagan • 20 Brian Clough • 18 Russ Meyer • 15 Johnny Ramone • 12 Fred Ebb • 11 Peter VII of Alexandria • 8 Richard Girnt...

John Clarke, a new Controller of 2FM, was brought in to sort out the station. He rebranded 2FM with a new blue and red logo and re-arranged the schedule. Ryan Tubridy was poached from RTÉ Radio 1 to present "The Full Irish" breakfast programme. Though in 2005 he returned to Radio 1, being replaced by Ruth Scott and Rick O'Shea who in turn will be relpaced after 5 months by Marty Whelan in September 2005. DJ Mark McCabe arrived to present a dance music show at weekends. Later, more changes saw Larry Gogan being moved from his lunchtime slot to "drive time". A news programme, Newsbeat, was added to the schedules in response to criticisms that 2FM was not fufilling its remit as a public service broadcaster. Newer DJs such as Canadian Jenny Huston and Kerbdog front-man Cormac Battle have also joined the line-up in recent years, as well as daimwian farelly who now presents irelands bigest lunch time music driven show. Jump to: navigation, search 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mark McCabe is an Irish performance DJ and radio presenter. ... Kerbdog are a heavy metal band from Kilkenny in southern Ireland who begain writing in 1991. ...

2FM still faces criticism that for a youth station, many of its DJs have been there for a very long time. Larry Gogan and Dave Fanning have worked with the station since the beginning. Many other DJs have spent the best part of twenty years with the station. Nevertheless, 2FM remains the most popular music-driven station in Ireland.

External link

• Official site