Beat celebrated 20 years of radio in the South East with a special birthday party over the weekend.
The station also planted mystery Beat Birthday Boxes all around the region which resulted in numerous keen listeners all bagging exclusive prizes from the regional radio brand.
On Friday night, June 30th, Beat hosted a 20th anniversary celebration at the Coach House in Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford where guests consisting of present and past staffers along with local business people and those with a close connection with Beat’s history were treated to a nostalgic trip down memory lane which highlighted the successes of the radio station over the past two decades.
The celebration saw Waterford band 2Time Charlie take to the main stage with a performance which included a unique cover of ‘Beautiful Day’ – the first song to play on the station in 2003.
Powerful percussionist/DJ duo consisting of Waterford’s Darragh O’Rourke and Chris Ward from Carlow greeted guests on arrival along with a colourful stilt walker.
Gabrielle Cummins, Beat CEO and Programme Director, has been with the station since it launched and says: “The team works extremely hard, day in, day out to ensure Beat remains a groundbreaking, profitable business so it’s important to take stock and celebrate all that we have achieved over the last two decades.
“Today, Beat is a market-leading media brand and we don’t take that coveted position lightly. We couldn’t do any of it without the support of so many loyal listeners and businesses, so this is an opportunity for us to say thanks for the ongoing support. Over the next year, we will be applying for a new licence with Comisiún na Meán so it’s an exciting time. We’re looking forward to engaging with everyone as we strive to further build on the station’s market-leading success to date.”
Celebrations continued on air over the weekend with a special public-vote ‘Top Twenty’ countdown from each decade. Beat presenter Chris Ward kicked off the countdown on The Big Saturday Show which focused on the latter decade 2013-2023 with the ultimate track from that decade being Avicii’s ‘Wake Me Up’.
On Sunday, the anniversary countdown continued as Beat’s newest presenter Luke O’Faoláin focused on the best throwbacks from the station’s launch era and first decade. Once again, listeners got a chance to pick their favourites with ‘Sex On Fire’ by Kings of Leon turning out to be the top track of Beat’s first decade.
Head of Station Sound Niall Power has also been with the station since it launched in 2003 and has been the host of Beat’s flagship breakfast show, Beat Breakfast since 2016.
The Waterford man was in charge of compiling the two, top Twenty countdown charts, he says: “It was really fun to work with our listeners in picking the songs for this special chart. Music always evokes special memories for our fans so we knew they’d be delighted to jump on board and help us compile this fun chart! There has been a lot of great music produced by artists across the South East and beyond over the last two decades and we’re proud to showcase this work and we will continue to champion local artists into the future.”
