Midlands 103

Midlands 103 (previously known as Midlands Radio 3) is an Irish local radio station broadcasting to counties Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath.

Midlands 103
Broadcast areaCounty Laois
County Offaly
County Westmeath
Frequency95.7FM (Tullamore)
95.4FM (Athlone)
96.5FM (Mullingar)
96.1FM (Castlepollard)
102.6FM (Stradbally & Borris-in-Ossory)
96.2FM (Portlaoise)
102.4FM (South Laois)
103.5FM (Everywhere)
Programming
Language(s)English, Irish
FormatAdult contemporary, Talk radio
Ownership
OwnerTindle Radio Group
Channel 103
Island FM
Soleil Radio
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitemidlands103.com

The station's headquarters is in Tullamore, and it also has studios in Athlone and Mullingar.

As of the end of 2021, Midlands 103 had a weekly reach of 122,000 listeners with 73,000 tuning in daily, according to Joint National Listenership Research survey figures.

History

The station was established as "Radio 3" in 1990 having operated as an unlicenced broadcaster "Radio West" between 1982 and 1988.

Station Output

The prime-time weekday schedule [1] consists of a breakfast show (6.30am to 9am), daily current affairs magazine show "Midlands Today" with Will Faulkner (9am to 12pm) and music-driven programmes "The Afternoon Show" with Carl James (12pm to 3pm) & "Drive Time" with Roy Jennings (3pm to 7pm).

Specialist programmes are broadcast weekdays from 7 to 8pm, including business show "Taking Care of Business" with Ronan Berry on Tuesdays and farming & country matters programme "Country Life" with M.J. Clery on Wednesdays. Claire O'Brien presents arts & entertainment show "Encore" on Thursdays and an eclectic mix of music in "Mixtape Nua" (presented through the Irish language) on Fridays in this slot.

Popular Country & Irish music programme "Country Roads" with Joe Cooney is broadcast weeknights from 8 to 10pm. Then, from 10pm to midnight, the weekday schedule is once again split, with the music & popular culture driven "The Late Shift" with Tony Christie from Monday to Wednesday, "The VIP with Adam C" focuses on music by Irish artists on Thursdays and specialist/alternative music programme "The Roadhouse Café" with Ann-Marie Kelly on Fridays.

The weekend schedule is a mixture of music programmes and local & national sports coverage, including "The Saturday Beat" with Brian Moss on Saturdays from 5pm to 9pm, and the popular "The Inside Line", hosted by Will O'Callaghan on Sundays from 2pm to 6pm - both of which regularly carry full commentary of local and inter-county Gaelic games, as well as Ireland's longest running love songs show "Twilight Time" on Sunday nights from 10 to midnight, hosted by Keith Shanley.

Midlands 103 News

The newsroom is staffed by Head of News Sinéad Hubble, two full-time newsreaders and a sports correspondent. Midlands 103 also uses its own reporters & freelancers to cover events across the broadcast area. A full-time sports reporter and a number of commentators provide regular sports updates.

Sister Stations

As part of the Tindle Radio Group, Midlands 103 has three sister stations based in the Channel Islands. These are FM stations Channel 103 in Jersey & Island FM in Guernsey and DAB+ station Soleil Radio across the Channel Islands. The station also used to have an 'opt-out' service, called Midlands Gold which provided specific community-driven programming for County Westmeath only but this was discontinued in favour of a unified FM service.

Other Activities

Midlands 103 also runs a number of non-radio related activities - including two annual awards ceremonies: the Hospitality Awards,[2] which celebrate the best in pubs/bars, hotels, restaurants and the tourism sector, and the Customer Service Awards which focus on customer service in retail and other business across the station's broadcast licensed counties area and surrounding areas. The station also runs "Midlands 103 Tours" which provides guided luxury coach excursions to various destinations both in Ireland and abroad.

References
  1. "Schedule". Midlands 103.
  2. "Midlands 103 Hospitality Awards honour more locals". radiotoday.ie. Radio Today. Retrieved 21 March 2020.

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