Jason Collins has become the presenter of a second weekend show at East Coast FM. 

Jason will now present More Music Weekend from 2 – 6pm on Sunday afternoons. He has taken over the slot from Ryan O’Neill, who has moved to Saturday afternoons.
In 2018, Jason joined the Wicklow-based station as a cover presenter. He was appointed his first permanent programme at East Coast FM in February last year but soon began broadcasting from home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Speaking about the new programme, Jason told RadioToday: “I was delighted to be offered the second show. I felt it was a vote of confidence in my abilities, especially considering how challenging things have been over the last twelve months.
“It’s been a tough year, but local radio has shone through it all and being a part of that has been gratifying. If people have ever wondered what part radio plays in life nowadays, I think it’s become wholly evident in these restricted times.”
While discussing the last year, Jason explained that he’s been broadcasting from home while juggling life as a stay-at-home father. He plans to “keep being upbeat and positive” on his new show and credits his colleagues for the uplifting station ethos. 
“I think [the positive environment] stems from the top. Dave Harrington is a great programme director to work for. He’s always encouraging and has a wealth of experience to learn from.”
Jason began his radio career at Communicorp’s digital training station, FRQ.fm. From there, he progressed to 8Radio, LMFM and KFM.  […]

The Christmas FM team is back on-air today broadcasting a special day of programmes to mark Saint Partick’s Day.
“This is Ireland” is streaming on all the Christmas FM channels online, smart speakers and apps.
With live presenters from 6am to 6am, the pop-up is exploring the songs and stories of Ireland and the influence of Irish culture across the globe, from the past to the present day.
Organisers say it’s an experiment for this year and they might make it a regular or longer event in the future.
Here’s the schedule for today:
12 am – 6 am Continuous Irish Classics6 am – 8 am Lar Flynn8 am – 11 am Walter Hegarty11 am – 1 pm Ann Marie Walsh1 pm – 3 pm Gareth O’Connor3 pm – 6 pm Karl Tsigdinos6 pm – 8 pm Emily Brew8 pm – 10 pm Garvan Rigby10 pm – 12 am Alan Young […]

A new daily podcast with 7 minutes of news every morning at 7 has been launched in Ireland.
The Smart 7, which launched in the UK with Liam Thompson and Jamie East last year, now has an Irish edition voiced by broadcast journalist Paul Connolly.
The Smart 7 UK already has Irish fans as it regularly features in the Irish News podcast charts and so the idea for the Ireland Edition was born.
Liam Thompson told RadioToday: “With The Smart 7, we wanted to find out if radio listeners were fed up with linear listening… Why wait until the top of the hour for a news bulletin in the morning?
“Everything else has been atomised and distributed – from Netflix with TV and movies, to Spotify with music – and we felt there was real potential for a concise, consistent and entertaining news package served up daily at 7am, and, with 4 Million downloads in our first 10 months, it shows there is a demand for that service.
“Does it mean the death of radio? Probably not, I think the Video Star was supposed to kill Radio… Radio is resilient and engaging, but there are parts of it, that doesn’t necessarily have to stay in a linear broadcast stream anymore.”
Jamie East adds: “For me, it is that news has to get to the point. This isn’t the podcast to pull apart a story and ponder the ramifications – it’s a news espresso for people to feel as though they can start their day with a real sense of where the world is.” […]