Sunshine 106.8
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| Broadcast area | Dublin |
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| Slogan | Dublin's New Place to Relax |
| Frequency | 106.8 MHz, Online, Virgin Media Channel 933 |
| First air date | October 2001 |
| Format | Soft / Easy listening |
| Owner | Star Broadcasting Limited |
| Website | www.sunshineradio.ie/ |
Sunshine 106.8 is an easy listening radio station, based in Dublin, Ireland. It is licensed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), as a commercial FM broadcaster. The station broadcasts on 106.8 MHz from Three Rock Mountain to County Dublin and is also available on the DAB trial broadcasts in Dublin and Cork.
The radio station has studios and offices at Castleforbes House in Dublin 1. The studios at Castleforbes House went live in December 2015. It previously had studios on North Wall Quay in Dublin 1. The station launched in October 2001 from studios in Stillorgan, Co Dublin and was originally identified on-air as 'Dublin's Country 106.8FM' and later (from 2005) as 'Country Mix 106.8'. The station was completely re-branded as Sunshine 106.8 in October 2010.
The company, is headed up by CEO Sean Ashmore, who has been involved with the company since 2004. Sunshine 106.8 broadcasts 24 hours a day and features an easy listening format. The music output is a broad mix of easy listening music drawn from several genres including soul, country, crossover and Irish music. The station primarily appeals to a 35+ audience (see JNLR data below). Sunshine 106.8 is the number 3 rated music station in Dublin for 35+ adults and the number 1 music station in Dublin for 45+ adults (based on Mon-Fri 7am-7pm market share).
The station has won a number of awards including Bronze & Silver World Medals (2010 & 2011) for station format in the New York Festivals radio programming Awards - the first Irish station to receive an award for format in the awards.
The station signed a ten year contract with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) on 12 September 2014 to continue broadcasting until 2024. The new contract for 2014-2024 allowed the station to re-position itself in the Dublin market. The station adopted the positioning statement of 'Dublin's New Place to Relax' from September 2014.
The station recorded increases in listenership (weekly reach) in every JNLR survey published in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (twelve surveys in succession). The JNLR published on July 27, 2016 recorded the best results for Market Share and Average Quarter Hour (AQH) in the station's 15 year history. Sunshine 106.8 recorded a 5.2% market share in the JNLR published in July 2016, this figure was recorded again in the JNLR published in Oct 2016.
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