Phantom FM secures temporary licence

There's good news for Dublin's rock starved masses with Phantom FM securing a Temporary Radio Licence from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.

Under the terms of the TRL, the former pirate will be allowed to broadcast for 14 successive weekends commencing on October 18. Programming will run from midnight Friday until midnight Sunday, and then continue for the rest of the week on www.phantomfm.com

"We will be championing the local music scene and are proud to do so," says station manager Simon Maher. "There's a wealth of local bands and artists who are recording music, filling venues and have healthy CD sales yet are rarely heard on local or national radio. Radio airplay is crucial to nurturing this talent who are a valuable micro-economy in themselves. We're grateful to the BCI for giving us this opportunity."

Says a prominent radio industry source: "This is the first step towards Phantom being granted a permanent licence. Listener support is obviously important, but the clincher is that record companies have been going to the BCI and saying, 'We need this!'"

Also helping Phantom's cause is that five of their former presenters are now on air with Today FM, 2FM and FM104.