Kfm is an Irish radio station based in

Naas Naas ( ; or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare (ahead of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge) and the List of urban ar ...

, serving

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, Ireland. Kfm broadcasts on 97.6fm and 97.3fm to all parts of county Kildare 24 hours a day from the state-of-the-art Kfm Broadcast Centre, Newhall, Naas, County Kildare and around the world on its website and

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

and Android apps. It began broadcasting in 2004, having won a ten-year franchise for the county from the

Broadcasting Commission of Ireland The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI; ) is a former broadcasting authority which regulated both public and commercial broadcasting sector in Ireland. It was established in 2009, effectively replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Irel ...

. Kildare had previously been part of a combined franchise with

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by area, second smallest and t ...

and was served by CKR FM, who did not get their licence renewed. The station, with a contemporary format, caters for an audience from 15+ upwards. In January 2014, Kfm was successful in the renewal of its broadcast licence by the BAI for another 10-year term. Kfm transmitters are based on Slievethoul (Saggart Hill), County Dublin – to serve the north of Kildare on 97.6Fm and in Rossmore,

County Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

to serve the south of the county on 97.3FM. Kfm's broadcast area is the most station saturated in Ireland, primarily due to the close proximity to Dublin City. Despite the intense competition, for the period from April 2013 to March 2014, Kfm was the most listened to radio station across the week in County Kildare. The station has been nominated for a number of PPI awards and in 2011 won the FAI's Communications Award (Radio). The company CEO includes Clem Ryan, Paul Power (

Program director In service industries, such as education, a program manager or program director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services. For example, in education, a program director is responsible for developing ...

), Bertie McDermott (

Sales manager Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales, through the sale of products and ...

), and Ciara Plunkett (

News editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (" copy") to improve quality and readability, as well as ensuring that a text is free of errors in grammar, style, and accuracy. ''The Ch ...

). In November 2019, the ownership changed. Kfm was bought outright by existing director shareholders CEO Clem Ryan and Seán Ashmore. A number of existing shareholders, including David Mongey of Mongey Communications and Liam Ross of the golf buggy supply firm The Buggyman, decided to exit the group. Ashmore is a founding member of Kfm and is the majority shareholder of Wicklow's East Coast FM, as well as a significant shareholder in Dublin's Sunshine 106.8. He is CEO of multi-city radio station Classic Hits and is a director of Spirit Radio.

References

External links

Official website
Mass media in County Kildare Naas Radio stations in the Republic of Ireland Radio stations established in 2004 {{Europe-radio-station-stub