Clare FM is set to continue its domination of the county's airwaves after the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland decided in principle to grant the station a new 10-year licence.
The station, which started broadcasting in 1989 after it beat off three other applications, was the sole applicant for the licence this time around.
This is in contrast to the situation in Co Limerick, where three bids are competing for a new MW licence for the county. The closing date for applications for the renewal of the FM licence for the Co Tipperary area is July 5th.
In Limerick, the three bids involve a country-and-western music station, a talk/news/sport 24- hour station and a religious talk-based station. No decision was made in relation to the three bids at the commission's monthly meeting this week.
However, the awarding of the licence to Clare FM follows the latest Joint National Listenership Research figures for last year, which recorded a drop in Clare FM's listenership of eight points - to 55 per cent - on the previous survey and a drop of three points in its market share to 36 per cent.
In its application for the renewal of its licence, Clare FM anticipates a threefold increase in its annual net operating profits to €176,806 by 2006, while it is seeking to increase its countywide listenership to 57 per cent by 2004.
In an effort to secure more listeners, the station is to create specialist programming for the south-east Clare area and for Kilrush in west Clare through an opt-out service which will run for two hours each afternoon.
The success of Clare FM strengthens the grip which the Ennis-based Galvin family has on media enterprises in Co Clare. The family has a large shareholding in Clare FM and owns the Clare Champion newspaper. Established by the Galvins in 1903, it is the only weekly local newspaper in Clare and has almost saturation coverage, with a circulation of 21,800 copies in a population of 100,000.
Next month, the Champion is to launch a second weekly newspaper, to be published on Tuesdays. The launching of Clare Today is the largest expansion in the Clare Champion's history, with six new journalists being recruited.
Though talked about for the past number of years, the paper finally decided to establish a second paper in response to plans by two Ennis businessmen, Seán Lyne and Donal Slattery, to establish their own newspaper for the county.
Mr Lyne declined to comment on his plans. However, it is understood that a newspaper is not one of his priorities at the present time.
According to John Galvin, the managing director of the Champion, the new paper "is to be tabloid in size, with a strong emphasis on sport, comment and strong news stories".