The radio station will transmit on the 101.5 FM megahertz frequency
Amman - Arabic music fans can tune in to the latest songs by their favourite artists when the Jordanian affiliate of the Lebanon-based Sawt El Ghad (Voice of the Future) hits the airwaves on April 17.
Sawt El Ghad Managing Director/Jordan Motasim Ababneh said the station signed an exclusive agreement with the largest music producer in the region, Rotana, under which it has first rights to air debuts of new songs released by the label.
The radio station, to transmit on the 101.5 FM megahertz frequency, would also include social programmes, he added. The station began broadcasting in Lebanon in 1997 and extended operations to cover Syria in 1999.
According to Ababneh, in 1999 the station was declared the most listened to Arabic radio station in Lebanon by several Lebanese and Arabic statistics companies, and has proudly held that title ever since. He added that Sawt El Ghad has obtained licences to start broadcasting in Bahrain and the UAE.
Sawt El Ghad will soon be joined on the air by three other FM newcomers: Nagham, AmmanNet and Mazaj.
This week an agreement was signed between the Audiovisual Commission (AVC) and the Al Kawn Company for Radio and TV Transmission, licensing the company's radio station Nagham. Starting later this month, the station will transmit musical varieties and programmes on 999 FM megahertz in the Greater Amman area and Zarqa, and in Irbid on another frequency. In March the owners of Sawt El Ghad, AmmanNet and Mazaj signed agreements with the AVC, obtaining licences to broadcast their programmes in the Kingdom.
AmmanNet, to transmit its programmes in Arabic on 924 megahertz frequency, will focus on community affairs including social, municipal, cultural and sports topics in the capital. Its experimental transmission is set to begin in late April, with actual broadcasting starting in the middle of May. Mazaj, which will broadcast social issues on the 953 megahertz frequency in the Amman area, began experimental transmission last month.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday the Cabinet approved a 10-year licence for the Jordanian Company for Radio and TV to broadcast programmes, not including political and news programmes, on the FM frequency covering Greater Amman and Zarqa Governorate.
By Mohammad Ghazal
© Jordan Times 2005
