Station History

Dublin’s ABC 94 FM’s first began broadcasting on 25th September, 1995 using a low powered transmitter and with pre-recorded programmes on 94.2 and 88 FM. The station operated from an office block in Dublin’s city centre and it wasn’t long before live programmes were introduced and the station’s transmitter power was increased. Eventually we shut down our 88 FM frequency and moved our main transmitter to 94.3 FM.

ABC’s format was mainly to play pop music with a high content of oldies which very few other stations were doing. We also broadcast other specialised music rogrammes in the evenings, including rock, reggae, jazz, traditional and Irish music,dance, indie and classical.

Another departure for the station was the outside broadcasts that it undertook - the first being our st Birthday Party which was broadcast from The Temple Bar on Dorset Street, where we gave away two holidays and many other prizes. We also did many other O.B.s including several months of  “Friday Night Live” from The Fleet Bar in Fleet Street. As well as this we also had roving reporters at St.Patrick’s Day Parades and in various shopping centres at Christmastime - we even got and interview with Santa Claus!!

On Sundays our programmes were relayed on shortwave and we received reception reports from the U.K. France and as far away as Germany.

We also operated a full-time sister station to ABC for a time on 93.8 FM. The station was KISS FM and was on air from midnight until 6 p.m. and played dance and chart music. After 6 p.m. G.L.R. (Gay Lesbian Radio) shared the 93.8 frequency.

In December 1999 ABC station ceased live programmes and after an absence of a few months returned with an automated service and occasional live programmes. We also operated a second automated service on 87.6 FM - Beat FM which played dance and chart music during the week and at the weekends on the same frequency we operated Gold FM which played non-stop 60’s music.
 
Dublin’s ABC 94 FM continued until January 2001 when it finally closed and for several months relayed programmes from Premier 92.6 FM on 94.3 mhz. In August 2001 our 94.3 FM transmitter was shut down for the last time. There are no plans for the station to return in any form in the immediate future - but who knows!!
 
We would like to thank all of the DJs who passed through the station during its lifetime too numerous to name for fear leaving somebody out!

Many friendships were formed by the people involved in the station and we say a big THANK YOU to all those who helped on air and behind the scenes to make Dublin’s ABC 94FM as popular as it was and for giving so many people so many good memories.