Radio Nova evening service ‘Super Nova’

Radio Nova evening service 'Super Nova'
Close-up of Nova flyer from the period on 828 kHz (courtesy DX Archive).

Not long after returning to the air following the raid of May 1983, Radio Nova began splitting its evening service between the main output on 828 kHz AM and specialist programmes on 88.2 FM, under the ‘Super Nova’ banner. The Nova offshoot station KISS FM was a casualty of the raid and didn’t return until later in the year but Super Nova helped absorb additional advertising over the summer and early autumn. This recording from that time begins with Colm Hayes winding up his drivetime show and telling listeners that the service will split after the 1900 news: current affairs show Dublin Today on AM and Denis Murray’s Rock Show on FM. News is read by Sybil Fennell and commercial breaks include the high-level agency adverts associated with Nova. There’s also mention of the station’s £6,000 giveaway that would be won at the end of August. The beginning of the Rock Show is heard after the news.  

The recording was made on 24th August 1983 between 1845 and 1915 from 88.2 FM. It is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

’88 News’ on Radio Nova in 1981

'88 News' on Radio Nova in 1981
Nova sticker from autumn 1981 (courtesy Ian Biggar).

This snippet of Radio Nova from 1981 gives a sense of the super-pirate after its first few months on air. Beginning testing on FM only at the start of June that year, Nova shook up the Dublin market due to its distinctive sound, professional standards and most importantly the significant investment of station founder and owner Chris Cary. The tape includes station idents and jingles, an advert for upmarket newspaper The Sunday Tribune and the ’88 News’ presented by Sybil Fennell. The news branding reflected Nova’s prioritisation of high quality stereo FM at a time when RTÉ’s use of the superior quality band was limited. In fact, the station did not begin broadcasting on AM until just a few days before this tape was made, adding a 10 kW transmitter on 846 kHz.

This airchecked recording was made from 88.5 FM on 13th September 1981 by British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler during one of his many visits to Dublin in the early part of that decade. It is kindly donated by Steve England.

Opening day of Magic 103

Opening day of Magic 103
Bob Gallico in the Magic 103 studio (courtesy Paul Buckle).

Magic 103 (103.5 FM and 1521 kHz although AM was never announced on air) was set up by Radio Nova in 1985 and was one of many examples of Chris Cary’s innovation in splitting AM/FM services to expand programming. Magic was a mostly easy-listening and talk service in contrast to the chart music format of Nova. Its first full day on air was April 29th 1985.

Opening day of Magic 103
Image courtesy of DX Archive

‘ABC Network News’ was broadcast on both Nova and Magic, and the journalists also presented programmes on Magic. These recordings of the opening day begin with the segment above from 0900 with the shared news bulletin, followed by the first hour with Dave Harvey who describes Magic as the ‘new chat and information station for Dublin’. He invites listeners to call in and give their opinions on joyriders but the callers are often off topic and some of the conversations sound staged. There’s a news bulletin on the half-hour and a round-up of British news, strange for a station that was aimed at Dublin.

Opening day of Magic 103
Original label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Part 2 below runs from 0945 and includes news with Bob Gallico (RIP) and then Bob’s own show, ‘Morning Magic’ from 1000. He promises chat, easy listening music, racing news, recipes, features, film scores and news about events around town. The first two segments are from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

Part 2 from 0945.

Part 3 below is of the evening programme with Shane Mac Gabhann from 1823-1909. Listeners from around town send in their good wishes but one caller describes the musical selection as ‘ancient’ and wants more Lionel Ritchie. The main evening ABC Network News is read by Bernie Jameson and Mark Weller. Shane Mac Gabhann is now a newsreader on RTÉ, Mark Weller (Costigan) would become political correspondent on licensed national commercial station Today FM and Bernie Jameson continues to read news today. This recording is from the Skywave Tapes Collection and there is some breakthrough in the background, due either to a problem with recording or deterioration of the cassette.

Part 3 from 1823.

The final snippet is an undated airchecked recording of an evening show in the first few days of the station. Dave Johnson (aka Andrew Hanlon, later head of news at independent station TV3) is both presenter and newscaster. A listener in Co. Down says Magic is coming in ‘crystal clear’, evidence of how far the FM signal travelled on a relatively uncrowded band. Sound quality is variable on this recording (it may have been recorded from AM), which is from the Pirate.ie collection.

Part 4 from around 2000.

Magic 103 was short-lived and closed at the end of September 1985, citing financial difficulties. Its closure led to the worsening of a bitter dispute between the National Union of Journalists and Radio Nova that contributed to the main station’s demise in 1986.

Radio Nova on Good Friday 1985

Radio Nova on Good Friday 1985
Nova flyer from 1984 with claimed coverage area (DX Archive).

This is a recording of the popular breakfast show with John Clarke and Bob Gallico on Radio Nova from Good Friday 1985. There is no paper review given the holiday but the programme features the normal friendly banter between the hosts and Bob reads out a fan letter from a group of listeners. John gives a traffic report for the northwest of England but by contrast the streets of Dublin are quiet. Although Nova was still a leader in the Dublin radio market in early 1985, new Irish-owned station Q102 would soon make its presence felt and Chris Cary’s radio empire began to unravel by the autumn of that year. Nova closed suddenly on March 19th 1986.

Radio Nova on Good Friday 1985
Original cassette label lfrom Anoraks Ireland Collection.

The recording was made from 102.7 FM from 0703-0751 on 5th April 1985 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

Christmas Eve into Christmas Day on Radio Nova

Christmas Eve into Christmas Day on Radio Nova
Nova sticker from the 819 days (courtesy Ian Biggar).

This recording of Radio Nova was made on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1982, by which time the station was well established as one of the leading pirates in Dublin and Ireland. The tape kicks off with Scott Williams who finishes his show with a Christmas tune from a group of singers in studio. ‘Independent radio news from Ireland’ at midnight is read by Siobhán Purcell. ‘Clutterfree Nova’ – continuous music – follows for the next 40 minutes or so before Roland Burke (RIP) signs on until 6am on Christmas morning. Among the requests from listeners is one from Liverpool, reflecting the wide range of Nova’s coverage.

The tape was recorded from 88.2 FM. Since August, Nova was also broadcasting on 819 kHz AM but the cassette label refers to the earlier frequency of 846 kHz.  

Christmas Eve into Christmas Day on Radio Nova
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

Part 1 above runs from 2348 and Part 2 below from 0039.

Part 2 from 0039.

The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.