At 6pm on April 28th 1985 Bob Gallico presented the first show on a new Radio Nova spin-off radio station which launched on 103.5MHz. Magic 103 was the laying down of a marker in a strategic manoeuvre as opposed to adding to the portfolio of entertainment on offer. Cary revealed his hand in double quick time!
The new station operated out of premises on Upper Leeson Street in Dublin’s city centre and was formatted as a chat and easy listening music station, although music genres bordered on the erratic, even within the same programme. It was staffed by the journalists and the more journalistic type presenters on the staff, including those who had been in dispute with Nova for virtually the whole of 1984, and it wasn’t to be too long before the demise of the new station resurrected the bitter dispute.
In July tests appeared on 1530kHz medium wave before the station settled on 1521kHz.Magic 103 was operated by Tegrar Ltd, a company that had been formed in 1984 but which did not name Cary as a director. The staff were employed on short contracts and Magic 103 ‘leased’ a news service back to Radio Nova. By keeping Magic 103 separate from Radio Nova Cary had, in effect, moved the employment of the militant NUJ members amongst the staff away from the main station. It was a ploy by Cary to get the NUJ off his back once and for all.
An early attempt to sell the station lock, stock and barrel – including the contract to supply the News to Radio Nova – was unsuccessful.
In the end Magic 103 lasted five months, closing for the last time on Sunday evening, September 22nd.
Given the programming, Magic 103 were understandably attracting an older audience. The advertisers didn’t fancy it too much, though, and Cary was understood to be part-financing it from his own pocket.
Although the closure was sudden and unannounced, there had been rumours, and one or two of the staff thought closure might be imminent. However, all appeared to be going well just one day previous at a Radio Nova outside broadcast in Arnotts where both Radio Nova and Magic 103 were heavily promoted and staff from both stations were in attendance.
For a few days following the station's closure, a statement was read out on Radio Nova’s news broadcasts attempting to clarify the situation surrounding Radio Nova and Magic 103.
This is a transcript of the item as read by Sybil Fennell on an October 2nd broadcast...
News of former Dublin radio station Magic 103, which was forced to close at the end of last month as a direct result of severe financial difficulties.
Radio Nova would like to make it clear that it was not, and is not, financially responsible for Magic 103, which was an entirely separate radio station which sold a news service to Nova.
Magic had run at a severe loss since its inception some months ago.
Eight freelance staff worked for Magic on a contract basis. This group of eight have been offered a lump sum payment of £10,000 as a golden handshake. Alternative offers of either three months full pay, or six months half pay, have also been made. So far these offers have not been accepted but they are still available.
Since Magic 103 is no longer in a position to sell a news service to Radio Nova, we here at Nova have reestablished a small news department. This department is not in a position to offer work to those previously involved with Magic 103.
Finally, Radio Nova and all of us here would like to make it clear that we are not in dispute with either the NUJ or the personnel of Magic 103.
This was a far cry from Radio Nova’s trail-blazing news broadcasts of previous years. Even other self-serving ones from the time of the 1983 raids or the RTÉ jamming campaigns had an air of revolution and got people mobile. These broadcasts were more likely to immobilise listeners who were in the know with sheer incredulity.
However, the vast, vast majority of listeners had no interest in the behind the scenes wrangling. They just wanted to turn on their radios every day and for their favourite radio station to be there. In these desperate times for Radio Nova that favourite station was just as likely to be Q102 or Sunshine. Gone was the heyday when 60% of Dubliners preferred Nova for their daily entertainment.
From mid-1984 the station seemed, to a fair proportion of Irish listeners, to be more interested in catering for their counterparts in Liverpool, or Wales, or the Isle of Man than those who’d made the station number one in Dublin.
According to those close to Chris Cary at that time his decision making was being increasingly fuelled by paranoia. In hindsight it was quite obvious that Radio Nova was running on less than half of a tank at this point. If his plan had worked and he’d managed to shake off the NUJ when closing (or selling) Magic 103, then history might have been very different.
Unfortunately for Cary, and Nova, the closure of Magic 103 meant that the NUJ were about to rattle cages again with the ferocity of a starved big cat. This time around they made no secret of the fact that they wouldn’t rest until the station was gone for good.
The Magic 103 on air personnel were:
Linda Conway
Sybil Fennell
Bob Gallico
Steve Gordon
Philip Green
Bernie Jameson
Dave Johnson
George Long
Peter Madison
Jenny McIvor
Sally Ann Parker
Dave Walsh
Mark Weller
One of the presenters, George Long - nowadays known as Henry O'Donovan - recalls his time on Magic 103.
I was on Magic from 7pm to 1am with music from the ’40s to the ’70s. At the top of the hour the mic would open up to Rathfarnham so I could read the news on Nova.
It was soooo cool! Everything had to be timed to THE SECOND, or Harry [Chris Cary] would fire me!
Now THAT was professional radio! And I have never forgotten the amazing training I got from Nova.
I don’t recall a lot of advertising on Magic and the word on the street was that it was losing a lot of money.
The afternoon show ran a guess the celebrity type quiz with losers phoning in and going on air with their guesses – the prize pot increased by 10 pounds a day, on the week ending September 20th the prize pot was getting carried over to the next week for the first time!
Tom Colgan
Magic must sound very professional;
no anoraking;
fewer requests;
no lost dogs;
make it sound corporate cash listening.
The Magic music should cater for all easy listening tastes, do not concentrate on one style.
The 'A' list comprises top 40 easy listening records; 'B' up to 18 months old, somewhat slower easy listening records.
Classic Hour 7-8 five days a week.
More specialised and structured programmes.
Everyone must attempt to sell and make money.
144
144 Upper Leeson Street. Its place in Dublin radio folklore is secure, forever. Pilgrimages still go there to this day and partaking in a pint across the road in what was The Leeson Lounge is also compulsory.
144 was where Magic 103 was based. The second coming of Dublin Today during its FM only run came from there. That was the beginning of Nova's association with the building, an association which ran until 1988...there'll obviously be much more on the iconic premises later in the series.
The ground floor became home to a new shop just before Magic 103 was about to launch. The name was Nova Boutique, its purpose - selling Radio Nova merchandise to the public.
The Funny Bubble competition was a huge promotion for Radio Nova. Unusually in this day and age it was postal entry, part necessitated by the difficulties with the phone lines. Full page newspaper ads (like this one from the Sunday World) were accompanied by Billboards which appeared all over Dublin and the north west of England and Wales. The idea was simple, put words into the Breakfast Show presenter's mouths to be in with a chance to win a brand new Opel Corsa. It had been teased for a while on air before details were released in April 1985. On June 6th, the 12 funniest entries were invited to Nova Park and one lucky winner drove away in the brand new car.
