Phantom FM, the consortium which won the competition to operate a new Dublin radio service last November, is delaying its start date because of legal action.
In a statement yesterday the station said it was "disappointed" it had to make the decision, but its original plan to begin broadcasting on July 1st was no longer possible. Phantom FM is backed by several companies and individuals, including Denis Desmond of MCD and Paul McGuinness, the U2 manager.
It said the delay was the result of the decision by one of the losing consortiums, Scrollside Ltd (operating as Zed FM), to seek a judicial review of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland's (BCI) decision to award the Dublin alternative rock radio licence to Phantom FM.
"We have had to defer our launch date as a result of this legal action" said Ger Roe, chief executive of Phantom FM.
"Naturally we are very disappointed by this action especially since it started so long after the licence decision by the BCI was made".
Phantom FM's launch plans were at an advanced stage when Zed FM sought leave to seek a judicial review, he said.
"We had just started a recruitment drive, to which we received a fantastic response and we were in the final stages of negotiations on other key contracts including transmission, premises and sales representation" stated Mr Roe.
He said Phantom was working to ensure the station would be in a position to launch within about three months of the conclusion of the judicial review process.
Scrollside has previously claimed in the High Court that Phantom FM operated as a pirate service in clear breach of broadcasting legislation between 1998 and 2003.
Legal representatives of the Zed FM group claim that throughout the entire selection process there seems to have been an unfair bias for Phantom FM and the BCI was predisposed to Phantom even before the ad for the contest.
Five consortia originally applied for the licence and from this a shortlist of two applicants - Phantom FM and Zed FM - were invited to an oral hearing held in public on October 11th 2004. In November Phantom FM was awarded in principle a licence to broadcast a new alternative rock service. On March 14th 2005 Zed FM applied to the courts for leave to appeal the licence decision.
