Burma Launches Second FM Radio Station in Mandalay

Text of report in English by Burmese newspaper The Myanmar Times on 24 March

[By Kyaw Zin Htun and Soe Than Linn]

Myanmar’s second FM radio station, Mandalay FM, is set to start broadcasting on 3 April, said U. Latt Myint Thein, the head of the Public relations and Information Department of the Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC).

The station, with will air on 91.9 FM, will be officially launched on 17 April, New Year’s Day.

Mandalay FM, which will be free of advertising for the first six months, will broadcast regional news and cultural programmes to listeners within a 50-mile radius, reaching Pyin Oo Lwin to the east, Myinmu to the west, Amarapura to the south and Madaya to the north.

Initially the station will broadcast for five hours daily.

The radio station will be jointly run by Myanmar Radio and Television under the Ministry of Information, MCDC and Forever Group, said Latt Myint Thein.

“We aim to expand our transmission area to other cities such as Yangon and Lashio. We will transmit from Mandalay and the station at Sagaing will receive and retransmit, “he said.

The radio station has invited artists, literati and entertainers in the Mandalay region to participate in its programmes. A preliminary programme on Mandalay culture will be completed on 24 March.

Listeners are also invited to take part in a contest to design a logo for the new station.

Mandalay FM will be the second FM radio station in the country. City FM, run by the Yangon City development Committee, has aired since January 1, 2002, on 89.90FM from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Originally published by The Myanmar Times, Rangoon, in English 24 Mar 08.

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