Play 99.5 (99.5 FM) previously known as Play 99.6 is an

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

music

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. Founded in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

the station is part of the Modern Media Company. The station plays English songs from around the world using the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

model as well as broadcasting celebrity interviews. According to

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. () (an acronym of ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publicly traded on the Pa ...

, Play 99.5 has the widest reach of English radio in Jordan. Its listeners are between 15–30 years old. Play 99.5 is headquartered in

Amman, Jordan Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...

History

Play 99.5, previously known as Play 99.6, was founded by

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

s Ramzi Halabi and Zafer Younis in October 2004. The station initially had 5 team members, Lee McGrath (the morning show's on-air presenter) joined the team from the UK soon after they started. In 2007, the station received international recognition by the

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a trade association and lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States. The NAB represents more than ...

, winning the "NAB International Broadcasting Excellence Award". In 2006, it launched "Toys of Hope", an initiative to encourage listeners to donate new and used toys, which were then turned over to an

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

. Mabarrat Um Al Hussein received thousands of toys through this drive. The campaign was repeated in 2007,

Queen Rania Rania Al-Abdullah ( ar, رانيا العبد الله, ; born Rania Al-Yassin, 31 August 1970) is Queen of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II. Rania was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. She received her bachelor's degree in busines ...

called the morning show presenter during the final days of the drive to commend their work and encourage more people to donate toys. In 2007, Play 99.6 brought comedians

Maz Jobrani Maziyar Jobrani ( fa, مازیار جبرانی; born February 26, 1972) is an American comedian and actor who was part of the "Axis of Evil" comedy group. The group appeared on a comedy special on Comedy Central. Jobrani has also appeared in nu ...

Ahmed Ahmed Ahmed Ahmed ( ar, أحمد أحمد), (; born June 27, 1970) is an Egyptian-American actor and comedian. Early life Ahmed Ahmed was born in Helwan, Egypt. His family moved to the United States when he was one month old and he grew up in Riversi ...

, and

Aron Kader Aron Kader (born July 24, 1974) is an American comedian. Background Kader was born to a Palestinian Muslim father and his Mormon mother. He spent his early years in Provo, Utah. His father, Omar Kader, was a professor of Political Science at B ...

(

Axis of Evil The phrase "axis of evil" was first used by U.S. President George W. Bush and originally referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. It was used in Bush's State of the Union address on January 29, 2002, less than five months after the 9/11 attack ...

) to perform four sold out events in Amman. The performance was the first

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

ever to be hosted in Jordan. Following the success of the Axis of Evil performances, the station broadcast shows by Arab-American comedians

Dean Obeidallah Dean Obeidallah (born December 17, 1969) is an American lawyer, comedian, and journalist. He is the host of SiriusXM Progress' ''The Dean Obeidallah Show'' and a frequent contributor to CNN, The Daily Beast, and MSNBC. Obeidallah was born in N ...

and

Maysoon Zayid Maysoon Zayid ( ar, ميسون زايد) is an American actress and comedian. Of Palestinian descent, she is known as one of America's first Muslim women comedians. Early life Zayid was born in New Jersey in 1974. She described herself in a ...

.http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Jordan/232560 In 2008, the station launched a campaign around Amman to promote local musicians, bands, artists and

photographers A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

. In 2018 the station changed its frequency from 99.6 to 99.5 to widen their reach and accommodate American Cars.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Play 99.5 Fm Radio stations in Jordan Contemporary hit radio stations Mass media in Amman