Here today . . . FM station has moved

TODAY FM switched premises this week. The national broadcaster, which along with Highland Radio cost Denis O'Brien €148 million to buy from Emap recently, moved into shiny new studios at Digges Lane near Grafton Street, which cost about €4 million to kit out.

In a clever take-off of the Beatles' Abbey Road album cover, it produced an image of its "Fab Four" presenters - Ray D'arcy, Matt Cooper, Ian Dempsey and Tom Dunne - on the move from Abbey Street to the new base.

The Digges Lane studios will give the station more elbow room and also fulfils a requirement from the regulator, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), to have disability access.

There is, however, a fly in the ointment. Under the original plan hatched by Emap, Today FM was to share the premises with its then sister station FM104.

Emap's decision to dispose of its Irish radio assets to O'Brien and his subsequent sale of FM104 to UTV scuppered that plan.

FM104 will remain at its Hume House base in Ballsbridge (which is due to be redeveloped) for the foreseeable future while Today FM boss Willie O'Reilly looks for a new tenant.

Newstalk, the national talk station also owned by O'Brien, would seem to be the obvious candidate and it's hard to imagine its staff objecting to a move away from its less-than-salubrious studios near Mount Street.

Whether or not the BCI would allow our two national commercial radio stations to co-habit remains to be seen. The good news for O'Reilly is that the lease on Digges Lane gives Today FM the first 12 months rent-free.

Given that Today FM and FM104 were paying about €500,000 a year in rent between them at their other premises, it's a tidy saving.