iRadio’s Willie O’Reilly was inducted into the IMRO Radio awards Hall Of Fame in 2018 by IMRO Chairperson Eleanor McEvoyiRadio today announced the appointment of Willie O’ Reilly as Chairman of Wilton Radio Limited, the holding company for the iRadio regional stations covering the North West and North East Regions of the country, covering a service area of fifteen counties.
Commenting on the appointment outgoing Chairman Paul Cummins said that due to other business commitments he was standing down after 10 years and is delighted to be handing over the direction of the company to a person of Willie’s experience and deep commitment to the radio industry in Ireland.
Willie has spent more than 35 years in the industry as a producer, managing director and director. He has worked for Today FM, Emap Plc, Communicorp and latterly as Group Commercial director of RTÉ.
The company is currently preparing submissions for the license renewals in the areas covered by the current iRadio service and this represents the next important stage in the development of the company’s growth over 10 years as a significant radio group in Ireland.
Willie O’ Reilly said he was delighted to join the Wilton Board last year and is now to take on more responsibility for the direction of the company as Chairman. He praised the work of Paul Cummins who has led the company from its first license applications through 10 years of development to its current position delivering strongly on the services it promised in the original license applications.
‘iRadio has a leading position in its franchise area. We have ambitious plans to develop our relationship with listeners and our aim is to grow the listenership’ he said.
The company was first granted the licenses in 2007 for its youth-based services. It has weathered challenges alike the recession and structural changes in the advertising market. Despite those challenges the stations have achieved profitable operations and built a very strong brand and the services reach nearly 400,000 weekly listeners. iRadio is also a leader in audience satisfaction levels across the country.
