Century Radio, marketed as 100–102 Century Radio, was the shortlived first national commercial radio station in Ireland, it was licenced by the Independent Radio and Television Commission. Initially its highest frequency transmitter was at 100.3 Mhz, with all others sitting in the 98 MHz band. E.g. Limerick was 98.4 MHz at 50 Watts and Cork 98.8 MHz at 500 Watts (ERP). Within the first year the frequencies were eventually changed, ranging from 100.0 to 101.8 MHz, matching what Today FM is now broadcasting on. The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) is the regulator of the commercial broadcasting sector in Ireland. ... Sine waves of various frequencies; the lower waves have higher frequencies than those above. ... A megahertz (MHz) is one million (106) hertz, a measure of frequency. ...

Founded on September 4, 1989, Century were intended to be the first licensed alternative to RTE Radio 1. The licence was issued in an attempt to kill the pirate radio tradition in Ireland. Century never managed to reach full coverage in Ireland, covering little outside of Dublin, Cork and Limerick. The station closed in November 1991, having lost £7 million (Punt), a huge amount for an Irish business at the time. September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... RTÉ Radio 1 dates back to January 1st 1926, when the Dublin radio station 2RN began broadcasting on a regular basis. ... The term pirate radio lacks a specific universal interpretation. ... 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. ... Cork (Corcaigh in Irish) is the second city of the Republic of Ireland. ... Limerick (Irish: Luimneach) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the province of Munster, in the midwest of the Republic of Ireland. ... For other uses, see November (disambiguation). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The harp has long been associated with the Irish pound, here on a 1990 Irish pound coin. ...

Dogged by problems from the start, it has recently been revealed that Century's licence was issued illegally, as the then Minister for Communications, Ray Burke received a bribe in the region of IR£100,000 to issue the licence. Its investors, who included Terry Wogan and Chris de Burgh were anxious to secure a quick return on their money, and were unwilling to wait to see would the stations fortunes turn around. Oddly, its major competitor, RTE broadcast Century over their trasmitter masts without claiming their fee, which they repeatedly reduced in the hope of actually receiving the cash. The failure of Century to insist on a performance clause in the transmission contract meant RTE didnt have to transmit Century at full power -hence the coverage problems The Minister for Communications was the minister in the Irish Government created by the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1983 to replace the Minister for Posts & Telegraphs. ... Raphael P. Burke (born September 30, 1943) is a former Fianna Fáil politician. ... Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE (born 3 August 1938), generally known as Terry Wogan, is a popular radio and television broadcaster on the BBC in the United Kingdom. ... Chris de Burgh (born October 15th, 1948) is a British musician and songwriter. ... Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ; English: Radio and Television of Ireland) is the national state broadcaster of Ireland. ...

A £400,000 advertising campaign for the station was doomed to failure, due to the confusion over its frequencies – those living outside of Dublin would not find the station even close to 100–102, if they could even find it at all, thanks to the poor coverage.

The station may be remembered for its variety of main stream hits from the 70s and 80s along with slick production and its punchy jingles from JAM Creative in Dallas. A daily 10 minute show Captain Kremmen from Kenny Everett is still fondly remembered. Unsuccessful attempts to acquire "big names" also made problems for the station. After their IR£1 million offer for Gay Byrne to move to them was turned down they tried unsuccesfully to poach several other RTE personalities. Their eventual recruitment of Marty Whelan was seen by many as an act of desperation. Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary Byrne, known as Gay Byrne and nicknamed Gaybo (born August 5, 1934) is an Irish broadcaster. ... Marty Whelan (born June 7, 1956) is an Irish radio and television personality. ...

The State did a number of things to assist Century, including Ray Burke's imposition of a cap on the maximum amount of advertising RTE could carry. However, this just made it harder for Century to exist, as it reduced the rates RTE charged to carry advertising, which had the knock-on affect of reducing how much Century could charge. The Cap was not abolished until the Labour/Fine Gael Government came to power in the mid-1990's Labour (Commonwealth English) or labor (American English) may refer to one of the following. ... Fine Gael (IPA , though often mispronounced (approximate English translation: Family of the Irish) is the second largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ...

When Century finally closed, its franchise was left idle for 6 years, and then re-issued to Radio Ireland, who actually received bandwidth in the 100–102 MHz band. (105.5 in the North East of Ireland) 100-102 Today FM formerly called Radio Ireland is Irelands only independent national commercial radio station, there are many other independent local commercial stations. ...

Century Radio is not to be confused with the still operating 100-102 Century FM station of North East England. 100-102 Century FM is the name of a radio station now controlled by GCap Media as part of its Century Network. ... North East England is one of the regions of England. ...

See also

Century Radio was also the original name for Century FM, a group of three regional radio stations in England. Century FM is the name of a number of UK regional radio stations mostly owned by GCap Media. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ...