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Century Radio, also known as Century 100 and later Century FM, was a short-lived national commercial radio station in the Republic of Ireland, broadcasting from 4 September 1989 to 19 November 1991.
The national licence was issued in an effort to kill off pirate radio in the Republic of Ireland, but full coverage was only achieved in early 1990. It later emerged that Century's licence was issued illegally, as the then Minister for Communications, Ray Burke, received a bribe in the region of IR£100,000 to issue the licence. Burke was later jailed for making false tax returns after the allegations surrounding the licence were investigated by the Flood Tribunal.
The station's investors, including Terry Wogan (the first voice heard on the station) and Chris de Burgh, were anxious to secure a quick return on their money, and unwilling to wait and see if the station's fortunes would turn around. Its major competitor, RTÉ, broadcast Century over their transmitter network without claiming their fee, which was repeatedly reduced in the hope of actually receiving payment.
A £400,000 publicity campaign at launch was deemed to have failed because of confusion over the station's frequencies. Those living outside of Dublin would not find the station even close to 100-102 FM, if they could even find it at all, because of the poor coverage.
Century's sports service proved popular, with Capital Gold's live football commentaries relayed on Ireland's Scoreboard on Saturday afternoons. Capital's two main commentators at the time, Jonathan Pearce and Steve Wilson, would later feature on Match of the Day. Other notable sports coverage included live commentaries of Dundalk F.C.'s 1991-92 European Cup campaign, and, in a major coup, Century were first to announce the starting line-ups for the 1990 All-Ireland Hurling and Gaelic football Finals.
In November 1991, with Century's losses reaching £7 million, its major shareholder Oliver Barry sold off his 28% stake in the company, leaving Capital Radio as the main investor. When an effort to find new backing failed, Capital pulled out and Century was placed into liquidation on Tuesday 19 November 1991. The station ceased broadcasting at 6pm that evening, immediately following a short news report by journalist Dairena Ní Chinnéide announcing its demise. RTE Archives - Century Radio Goes Off The Airwaves
Later that month, a last-minute attempt by Oliver Barry to save Century Radio was accepted by the Independent Radio and Television Commission, but collapsed when it was rejected by one of the existing major shareholders. RTE Archives - No Future For Century Radio
Century's franchise was left idle for six years before it was re-issued to Today FM (Today FM), who were allocated frequencies in the 100-102 MHz band from the start (except 105.5 in the North East of Ireland).
Within weeks of launch, Century also began broadcasting on 1143 AM in Dublin and Cork.
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