South East Radio in Ireland will build on its commitment to broadcasting unique content tailored to local audiences, our managing director has reiterated as we enter our first full year of ownership.
In an interview published this week Will Faulkner, managing director of both Midlands 103 and South East Radio, said the company’s station in Wexford remained committed to maintaining a local presence.
Last March we announced the purchase of Wexford’s leading local radio station South East Radio to add to our group, which includes Midlands 103, a full service station for counties Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath offering speech and music programming.
Speaking this week, Will said: “We’ve promoted Marion Barry to general manager and have appointed her to the board of South East Radio. Marion has been with the station since 1989 and lives a short distance from Wexford Town.
“We will also be recruiting a new, locally based non-executive director in the new year. A new programme controller will be appointed shortly and one of their early tasks will be to introduce new special interest speech programming, using local presenters and contributors in a model that is similar to what is used at stations like Midlands 103 or Radio Kerry but focused on County Wexford.”
Will’s comments come after South East Radio was part of our biggest-ever success at the All-Ireland IMRO Radio Awards, with Alan Corcoran receiving Silver for Local/Regional Speech Broadcaster of the Year.
Radio licence
In the interview Will added that the preservation of local voices made not just business sense but fitted a regulatory requirement. In the past year, both stations secured new 10-year broadcasting licences from regulator Coimisiún na Meán.
Will said: “What really matters is that Wexford voices are heard and represented more than ever, so we plan to bring the station on the road much more next year, focussing on smaller communities.
“The best radio formats include variety, whether it’s in music, accents, topics, opinions, sports, the list is endless. Some larger radio and newspaper groups share content across platforms whereas we’ve maintained unique output on each.”
When the deal was announced, Mr Faulkner said: “We have long admired South East Radio and are committed to preserving the local ethos that has made it a trusted voice in County Wexford for over 35 years. This investment reflects our confidence in the future of audio, particularly locally sourced, quality content.”
South East Radio’s Managing Director at the time, Eamonn Buttle, said: “On behalf of my brother Norman, the Buttle family, and myself, I would like to express what an honour it has been to serve the media industry for over four decades.
“We have always sought to uphold the privilege of being the voice of County Wexford, and I am proud that the station’s programming and ethos have remained true to this mission for over 35 years. I wish the Tindle Group continued success and know that South East Radio is in safe hands with Midlands 103, as we share the same belief in supporting and promoting local issues.”