On the face of it, and ignoring the massive problems which bedevilled the station’s final months, losing Radio Nova was a huge loss to the Dublin radio landscape. For almost five years it had reigned supreme, undisputedly (except perhaps for the final few months) number one in terms of listeners, on-air professionalism and entertainment. To be hindsightful though, if we hadn’t lost Radio Nova we may never have experienced Energy 103 - and if there’s any silver lining to the loss of Nova, well that’s a pretty major one.
Energy 103 spent a long time shaking off the inevitable comparisons to its deceased bigger brother. In its first few months of broadcasting it seemed to be suffering from an identity crisis, unsure of whether it wanted to shake off the Nova comparisons or to embrace them. It didn’t help that the two main rivals had benefitted from Nova’s bereavement with Q102 seriously hitting its stride at this point and Sunshine about to switch to a Hot Hits format which would prove extremely popular with younger listeners.
Monday, April 28th is the day Energy was born, following a week of tests. The frequencies were 103.0MHz and 738kHz. It started with one hand tied behind its back, Nova’s brightest star had moved on to Q102. Bob Gallico (right) just never sounded at home on any other station but his talent always shone through.
Just as it had been on Zoom 103, Richard Jackson's was the first voice heard on Energy 103, at just after 2pm, announcing a "brand new station for Dublin, Energy 103."
The familiar tones of Tony McKenzie followed at 4pm with Gary Hamill taking the first evening shift from 8pm to midnight. Completing the first day, or - depending on how you see it - starting the second was Mike Duggan on overnight from midnight.
Right from the launch there was confusion over what it was actually called. Although the station’s name was Energy 103, the news service identified as NRG News. This caused a lot of puzzlement amongst listeners, newspapers, and even the station’s personnel.
When the first logo was introduced the word Energy had the letters N, R and G in the name highlighted. Many took this to mean ‘Nova ReGenerated’ or ‘Nova ReGrouped’.
Perhaps surprisingly no other Dublin station had decided to make use of the Radio Nova name since its demise – apart from a half hearted attempt by a Blanchardstown station. Energy introduced (badly chopped up) idents proclaiming itself as the ‘Sound of Nova’ and the official line was that it was to protect the name from others using it. The problem was that it scuppered any hopes that the fledgling new station might shake the already rampant comparisons to Nova.
It didn’t help that the newcomer struggled to attract advertisers in the early weeks. Agencies and big companies who had been stung by Radio Nova’s demise were reluctant to sign up with a station seemingly proclaiming its allegiances with Cary’s station. Eventually, though, listener figures speak volumes and Energy was, with the help of the return of Gareth O’Callaghan (who was once Tony Gareth) starting to carve out an audience and identity of its own.
The undoubted turning point was the acquisition of Pat Courtenay from Sunshine Radio. The self-proclaimed ‘Flying Kiwi’ brought his not inconsiderable production skills to the station and thanks to his expertise the station’s promos and advertisements took on a unique sound and catapulted Energy on to a whole new level.
