There are several interesting aspects to the decision by Emap to sell three Irish radio stations to Communicorp, the company run by Denis O'Brien. The most important one, by far, is a concern about monopoly.
According to an Irish Times report , Ireland's competition authority will now investigate whether the €200m (£135m) deal to acquire the national station Today FM, Dublin-based FM 104 and Donegal's Highland Radio gives Communicorp too great a slice of the country's broadcasting market. The central problem is that the company already owns a national station, Newstalk. It also has Dublin's 98 FM and Spin FM.
It's no wonder that Communicorp beat off rival bidders because the price, €200m (£135m), represents a multiple of 13.8, the highest ever paid for Irish radio assets, and it will surely take a long time before it gets its money back. Last year's revenue for the three stations was £21m with an operating profit of £7m.
In terms of Irish media, it elevates O'Brien further still into the stratosphere inhabited by his great rival, Tony O'Reilly, chief executive of Independent News & Media, the owner of The Independent titles in Britain. O'Brien, who is thought to be stalking IN&M - having acquired an 8.35% stake plus some New Zealand securities - founded Communicorp in 1989. Outside Ireland, the group runs stations in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary and Ukraine.
On a personal note, Highland Radio happens to be the station that serves the area in which I live, and its main current affairs broadcaster, Shaun Doherty, is a good friend. Since it was launched in 1990 it has secured amazing audience figures, having both the highest reach (69%) and the highest market share (64.3%) of any local station in the country. With a weekly reach of 88%, it is also Ireland's leading station. Any new owner would be foolish to tamper with such a popular station.
It has had a very odd ownership record in the last two years, since it was bought for €7m (£4.7m) from its founders by Scottish Radio Holdings. Some three weeks later SRH was itself taken over by Emap. That company was understanding enough not to change Highland's successful formula. Let's hope Communicorp doesn't interfere either.
