''The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show'' is an Irish

breakfast radio In broadcast programming, dayparting is the practice of dividing the broadcast day into several parts, in which a different type of radio programming or television show appropriate for that time period is aired. Television programs are most ofte ...

show broadcast on weekday mornings from 06:00 – 09:00 on

Today FM Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio Ireland Limited. Broadcasting since 17 March 1997, it broadcasts mostly music, with a daily news and current affairs programme. Today FM holds a licen ...

. Presented by

Ian Dempsey Ian Dempsey (born 16 January 1961) is an Irish presenter of television and breakfast radio. He is the long-running presenter of the breakfast show on Today FM, self-titled ''The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show'', which runs from 6-9 am each weekday. ...

, it is noted for its ''

Gift Grub ''Gift Grub'' is a series of short comic pieces broadcast on weekdays on The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show on the Irish commercial radio station Today FM, having been broadcast since May 1999. History A precursor to "Gift Grub" originally aired on ...

'' feature, performed by Mario Rosenstock. It is the tenth most popular radio programme in Ireland and was named best breakfast programme at the 2007

PPI Radio Awards PPI may refer to: Science and technology Biochemistry * PPi, the anion P2O74−, a pyrophosphate * Polyproline I helix * Protein–protein interaction Medicine * Patient and public involvement * Prepulse inhibition, of a later pulse * Proton-pump ...

. Dempsey won a Meteor Award for Best Radio DJ at the

2003 Meteor Awards The 2003 Meteor Music Awards were hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain. It was the third edition of Ireland's national music awards. Actors Colin Farrell, Colm Meaney, and Stephen Rea were among the presenters. Performances There were performances ...

and has been nominated on a regular basis ever since, most recently in 2008. The show has also had a number of producers including Adelle McDonnell and

Alison Curtis Alison Curtis (born 1 November 1977 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada) is a presenter of radio on Irish radio station Today FM She currently presents her own show, "Saturday Breakfast with Alison Curtis" on Today FM which airs every Saturday from ...

, who resigned from the post after being given her own weekday radio show on the station in 2008. Another notable former producer of the show is

Paul McLoone Paul Martin McLoone (born 11 February 1967) is a Northern Irish musician, former radio producer, voice actor, voice-over artist and radio presenter from Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the Uni ...

, a fellow Today FM radio presenter and current frontman of the Northern Irish pop-punk band,

The Undertones The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradle ...

and who also helped co-create the highly popular and successful comedy series,

alongside Rosenstock. In 2023, ''The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Shows listenership figures were 225,000, making it the station's 2nd biggest show after Dermot and Dave, and the 13th most listened to show in the country.

History

''The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show'' has been on air since September 1998 and originally broadcast until 10:00 but an extra hour was given to ''

The Ray D'Arcy Show ''The Ray D'Arcy Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Ray D'Arcy, originally broadcast on Irish commercial radio station Today FM from the late 1990s until 2014 before transferring in February 201 ...

'' in 2004 to allow direct competition with

RTÉ 2fm RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is an Irish radio station operated by RTÉ. The station specialises in current popular music and chart hits and is the second national radio station in Ireland. History The station commenc ...

rival

Gerry Ryan Gerard Ryan (4 June 1956 – 30 April 2010) was an Irish people, Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He presented ''The Gerry Ryan Show'' on radio station RTÉ 2fm each weekday morning from 1 ...

. Each year for that time period, i.e. ten years, Dempsey and the breakfast crew have gone skiing. In 2007, the show replaced

Eamon Dunphy Eamon Martin Dunphy (born 3 August 1945) is an Irish media personality, journalist, broadcaster, author, sports pundit and former professional footballer. He grew up playing football for several youth teams including Stella Maris. Since retirin ...

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

Sunday morning programme as the 10th most listened to programme in Ireland. Lucy Kennedy presented the show when Dempsey was absent on 18 July 2008. In 2011,

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

announced her fourth marriage live on the show.

Features

Gift Grub airs at approximately 07:10 and 08:10 every morning, as well as game "Waffle" after the 07:30 headlines, where a caller attempts to mention (hence, "Waffle") five 'key words' about a chosen topic with no advance notice of the topic in 30 seconds, for a cash prize of €1,000. Showbiz news with Shauna O'Reilly occurs at approximately 07:45, as well as the news headlines, sport, traffic, and weather at the top and bottom of each hour. The 'Kickstart Song' is played after the 07:00 headlines, where a caller suggests and introduces a (usually) energetic or upbeat song to start the day, with the catchphrase "Hit that button Iano" repeated by the caller as the song starts. Callers are rewarded with show merchandise, such as a bowl or bag. Former features included "Talking Heads" where a number of voices played in quick sequence - listeners are allowed to guess the voices to win a cash prize; and "Free For All Friday" occurred each Friday when the listeners may request which songs are played on the show.free for all friday
". Today FM. Retrieved 24 October 2008.

References

External links

Webpage of ''The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show'' on TodayFM.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show, The 1998 radio programme debuts Irish breakfast radio shows Today FM programmes