Nine months after Radio Ireland went on air the station is to be relaunched this morning as Today FM, a lighter station with more music. Broadcasters are to identify the station on air as "100 to 102 Today FM" and it will be thus marketed to help listeners find it on the waveband.
When the listenership figures were published in August it was evident most people had never listened to Radio Ireland at all and did not know where it was on the dial. Some Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) members suggested that rather than a new schedule and a relaunch, an advertising campaign was needed.
From this morning, Today FM will run the new schedule agreed with the IRTC. It is expected to be lighter, with more music, and formatted to reflect the musical tastes of important market segments.
Some changes have already been introduced. Mark Byrne, formerly of 98 FM's Dawn Patrol breakfast show, has already started on Radio Ireland's morning show, Day Break.
This was a current affairs and news programme presented by Emily O'Reilly and Mark Costigan, as competition to RTE Radio 1's Morning Ireland. Day Break had become a mix of music and light entertainment interviews. But the IRTC maintains it will include current affairs from this morning.
The rest of the morning is expected to be a mixture of music and light entertainment until the 1 p.m. news, now called The Way It Is. This half-hour programme will be a mix of hard news, entertainment news and music.
The schedule is the result of a process of discussion and disputes since August.
As well as getting agreement from the IRTC, Radio Ireland also brought in consultants from Chris Evans's company, Ginger Productions, now the Ginger Media Group.
It is believed some IRTC members were opposed to the changes suggested by Radio Ireland, fearing that its role of regulator was becoming one of simply rubberstamping change.
There were also disagreements within the Radio Ireland board. These divergences are reflected in the new schedule, which is to a large extent a compromise, with some of the original programmes remaining, even though the consultants wanted them to go.
Mr Geoff Holland from Ginger Productions has been working with Radio Ireland on the new schedule and name change. He brought over Mr David Hedges, the entertainment correspondent with Sky News, to design the news programme.
While everyone is agreed that there must be a greater emphasis on "selling" the station, it is believed that some on the board have not seen eye-to-eye with Ginger Productions, and at least one idea for a TV commercial from Ginger was rejected.
While the hand of Ginger Productions can be seen in much of the daytime schedule, some programmes have survived. Among these are The Last Word, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., presented by Eamon Dunphy, The Eclectic Ball- room presented by John Kelly and Donal Dineen and Sunday Supplement, presented by John Ryan.
Sources have been quick to point out the station is not necessarily going to offer more music than was promised in its original submission to the IRTC. It guaranteed at that time at least a 60/40 per cent music-to-talk ratio. But it is claimed that it actually included more than 40 per cent talk content.