THE CHIEF executive of fledgling broadcaster Radio Nova has stepped down from the position. The station has been on air only since the start of September.

A director of the company running Radio Nova, Kevin Branigan, has assumed the functions of the chief executive role in an “acting” capacity, according to a spokeswoman for the company.

She said David Tighe was no longer chief executive of Nova but was still working with the station in a consultancy capacity.

Mr Tighe was appointed to the €120,000-a-year post in October last year, the first employee hired by the station after it won a licence for the over-25 market from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland in September 2008.

He took up the position last January after serving a period of “gardening leave”. Prior to his appointment at Radio Nova, he had been chief executive at Limerick’s Live 95FM for seven years.

The spokeswoman for the company said Mr Tighe had only ever envisaged leading the station through its launch period.

However, speaking last August, Mr Tighe said he hoped to capture 5 per cent share of the Dublin radio market by 2012. He said then that “we have a huge responsibility to make Radio Nova work and we will”.

Last year the company said it planned to invest €1.4 million in the station in its first year, including €500,000 on marketing. At that time, it was targeting sales of €1.35 million in its first year of operation with a loss over that period of €1.54 million.

The station is owned by Classic Rock Broadcasting, whose shareholders include a number of experienced investors in radio. They include former FM104 chief executive Dermot Hanrahan and Maurice Cassidy, as well as Mr Branigan, Ulick McEvaddy and Des Whelan, who between them own 45 per cent of rival station 4FM.

Other investors include cinema operator Tom Anderson, and Barry O’Callaghan and Pat McDonagh, who are better known for their roles with e-learning company Riverdeep.