Phantom FM will make its legal debut on the airwaves this July, nine years after it first broadcast from a garden shed in Sandyford. What began as an outlaw amateur rock radio station has been transformed into a fully licensed and professional operation. Now that it must answer to the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) however, the question on everybody’s lips is whether the station will succumb to commercial pressures and sell out to the mainstream market.
Phantom started in a very different time in Irish radio. Through the late 1990s, only two licensed commercial stations — 98FM and FM104 — were on the air in Dublin, and both played mostly pop music. Rock enthusiasts felt abandoned, with only two hours of Fanning in the evening to serve their diverse tastes. Simon Maher and his cohorts at Phantom FM tried to alleviate this situation.
The Phantom gang weren’t the only pirates in town. The airwaves were brimming with unlicensed stations such as Freedom 92FM, Jazz FM, Ministry, Kiss, XFM, Sun FM and many more. Each tried to fill a void left unfilled by licensed radio. Many of these stations were hugely successful in their time too. Pulse FM at one stage claimed that they had a massive 36 per cent of the lucrative under-25s market.
However the communications regulator ComReg cracked down in 2003, and many pirate stations closed down. The web offered a second life for some, but most were never to broadcast again. Yet some pirates survive — right now there are still roughly 15 pirate stations broadcasting in the Dublin area. Phantom FM (known as Spectrum in its first year of operation) played it safe and ceased transmission the day of the raids. Continuing its move to the mainstream, Phantom applied for a legal licence and, in November of last year, was finally awarded the alternative rock radio licence. Zed FM, the other contender in the race for the licence, has since started High Court proceedings against the decision made by the BCI.
Does this signal a permanent move to the ‘establishment’? While these proceedings could delay Phantom’s going on air, they are still preparing for their scheduled summer launch.
Simon Maher, manager and co-founder of the station, is very much looking forward to getting back on the air. Operating as a pirate station was fun for a time, he says, but it was always their intention to make Phantom a legitimate, full-time entity. “We have campaigned long and hard for this since 1998,” he says. Maher also realises that the station must fulfil its goals if it is to succeed in the competitive Dublin market. Other than the obvious aim of survival, Maher is determined to make sure that the station doesn’t lose its connection with the listeners. “If it ever becomes aloof or disconnected from its audience, it’s in big trouble.”
Phantom must not lose its credibility if it is to succeed. This will be the biggest challenge facing the station in its first year on the airwaves.