A campaign has been launched to convince the BAI to let Radio NOVA go national.
The online petition, which has almost 900 signatures, was started a week ago by Phil Fagan from Dublin, who is unconnected with the station.
He says: “I believe the time has come to provide a broadcasting licence to Radio Nova to allow them to transmit across Ireland. There is a lack of specialist music and content available in certain areas of Ireland which Radio Nova provide to Dublin and it’s commuter belt which is not available in many parts of Ireland.
“With the shift in our national music stations targeting a younger audience, Radio Nova can provide a specialist service which has been ignored by our national broadcasters on our FM Network. Radio Nova should be available on FM Radio as far and wide as possible to provide a radio service across Ireland to an audience who have been forgotten in the market shift. Sign and share and make it happen!”
Kevin Brangan, CEO of NOVA told RadioToday.ie: “We’re not behind this but we are aware of it. It’s a listener-led petition. We’ve made no secret of our desire to extend our broadcast area in recent years – and it’s great to see that so many people think it’s a good idea! Nova provides a unique rock music offering to Dublin and surrounding counties and, in fairness, the people around the country deserve to have a rock music service too.”
The petition is hosted at change.org and will be delivered to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.