New Radio Irish Rocks Internet 24 Hours/Day

Image for Radio Irish publicity, from IrishEmigrant.com/boston.

The following edited article is from the Irish Emigrant.

The greater World Wide Web "air waves" now has a new Irish sound.

Radio Irish recently launched its 24-hour live "Irish Radio Show."

The show is a venture of two of Ireland's best known broadcasters, Bob Gallico and station owner Sean McCarthy. Both are firmly established radio icons in Ireland and are now broadcasting in the New York Tri-State area.

The digital broadcast originates from their Manhattan studio, and it is presented to a worldwide audience via www.radioirish.com.

The pair [claims] their show is New York's first and only 24-hour-a-day Irish broadcast operation. But their reach extends far beyond the confines of the Big Apple with their Internet Web site.

"We are live, and there's somebody at the other end of our telephone line," said McCarthy. "So our listeners don't have to wait a whole week to listen to radio content of an Irish nature, which has usually been the case."

If you try to tune in to the Radio Ireland broadcast on one of your radios, you'll be out of luck. Radio Ireland is exclusively online.

"Of course, I'd be over the moon if investors saw, as we see, great potential for Radio Ireland on satellite," said McCarthy. "We'd love to bring a one- or two-hour weekly to either XM or Sirius Satellite Radio. FM and AM are on the downturn when it comes to attracting new listeners, and the Internet is fast becoming a main source of live streaming audio visual content.

"Radio Ireland is a brand, and one that is using the Internet exclusively."

Radio stations target their audiences and Radio Ireland is no different, with its efforts to reach out to those in the 15-to-45-year-old age group.

McCarthy and Gallico present the bulk of Radio Ireland's programming but they also have seven reporters based in Ireland, Australia and the United States.

McCarthy compared his operation with Live Ireland and RTE, saying the difference is that Radio Irish is just a click away and is more in touch with the Irish communities in the United States.

"We're based here, after all, not Ireland," he said. "So, we are hoping to cater to the Irish communities here by offering as much local content as possible. That's what makes us very unique."

McCarthy and Gallico are old hats at radio, with more than 50 years of on-air experience.

They both [claim] there is a "massive market" in New York for Radio Irish and the voiceover services they also offer.

The pair has done voiceover work for Guinness, Tourism Ireland, Coca Cola, The Olympic Games 2008, Paul Mason Wines, Continental Airlines as well as local restaurants, pubs, and services in the Irish community in Greater New York.

But McCarthy said the key thing about Radio Ireland is the youthful nature of its programming and listeners.

"Both Boston and New York, of course, enjoy Irish radio, through the shows of a handful of radio personalities who have been here for eons," said McCarthy. "As far as I know, there is no radio station pushing the barriers of Irish radio content as we at Radio Irish are pushing them! We're having fun being informative! And our listeners are responding favorably to our creativity on-air."

Quirky radio

McCarthy said while the effort is essentially a business, both he and Gallico have their fun putting the operation together.

Recently, the two created a series of jingles that now run on the station.

McCarthy said one of them was not easy to make.

"The script asked for a long series of laughter and I wasn't in the mood to laugh at anything right then," he said. "So, the producer held up a photograph of Frank Kelly doing one of his famous comic characters and I couldn't stop laughing! You can hear most of that laughter on Radio Ireland. More than quirky! Weird stuff!"

The pair says their work is exciting but requires much hard work. They have invited their listeners to provide them with their own musical band, act or group videos.

McCarthy and Gallico want to hear from anyone who has an event or celebration that may be looking for media attention.

"That's what it's all about for us, the feedback we receive," said McCarthy. "There are e-mails coming in from all over the place and our telephone line rarely stops ringing! So we're off and running, but we are not rushing anywhere either. We're just settling in, so to speak, and we hope the Irish community is getting something fun from Radio Irish."

For more information, go to www.radioirish.com or call 201-340-2110.

Source: IrishEmigrant.com/boston

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