Radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
broadcasting started in
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
in 1940 by the British as a war-measure.
Regular radio broadcasting, in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
, first started in 1955.
By 1980, the radio service broadcast up to 14 hours a day. The country's first
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 ...
radio station started in 1977, as a result of an increase in English speakers in Bahrain and the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
region.
The radio's programs were primarily religious and educational, with occasional news announcements.
Almost all radio stations in Bahrain are state-owned, by the
Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation
Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation (BRTC) is a public broadcaster in Bahrain with headquarters in Manama. The BRTC is owned by the government of Bahrain, and under the control of the Information Affairs Authority.
History
BRTC was set up i ...
. However, Radio Mirchi 104.2FM is a privately owned radio station broadcasting in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
/
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
, to serve the country's
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
community.
History
The British established the Bahrain Broadcasting Station in November 1940 in response to the initiation of pro-
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
programmes being broadcast in Arabic in the Persian Gulf from 1934 to 1945.
One of the earliest studies done on radio use in Bahrain assert that in 1940, there were 511 radio receivers in operation.
However, radio ownership was not common among the residents, and most people went to cafés to listen to broadcasts. The station was staffed mostly with Bahrainis and its broadcasts included Quranic recitations, the national anthems of Kuwait and Bahrain, and poetry recitations, which may have been in the form of music. The station was closed down in 1945.
Radio Bahrain was established in 1955. The
Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation
Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation (BRTC) is a public broadcaster in Bahrain with headquarters in Manama. The BRTC is owned by the government of Bahrain, and under the control of the Information Affairs Authority.
History
BRTC was set up i ...
(BRTC), a state-owned entity, was set up in 1971,
and runs Radio Bahrain as well as Bahrain TV. BRTC became an independent body in January 1993.
[ Its radio broadcasts are usually in Arabic and also in English. The English-language radio service has been on-air since 1977, broadcasting four hours a day from a studio in ]Isa Town
Isa Town ( ar, مدينة عيسى, ''Madīnat ʿĪsā'') is a middle class town located in Bahrain, in the north central part of the country.
Etymology
The name ''Isa'' refers to Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, the ruler of Bahrain from 1961 to 1999 ...
. In 1982 the station was moved to a building in Adliya
Adliya (Arabic: العدلية) is the bohemian neighborhood in Manama, Bahrain.
Overview
The district is a multicultural, busy area, a home to commerce, culture and entertainment, and it is considered one of the four centres of Manama's nightlife ...
. On-air time was extended to 18 hours a day. A second station, Radio 2, began broadcasting 6 hours a day. In 1989 a new studio was established in the Ministry of Information building, and the following year the station went 24 hours. In 2007, Radio Bahrain switched its frequency from 101.0FM to 99.5FM. The Information Affairs Authority
The Information Affairs Authority (IAA) is Bahrain's ministry of information that was formed in July 2010. The president of IAA is appointed directly by the King of Bahrain and has the rank of a minister in the Bahrain government. From July 20 ...
was formed in 2010 and, besides other functions, controls BRTC.
In addition, 'Your FM' is an Indian language radio station primarily serving listeners from the Indian sub continent.[
]
List of stations
* 91.4FM Energy Radio 1 KSA
* 91.9FM Panorama FM
* 93.3FM Radio Bahrain Khaliji
* 95.0FM Radio Bahrain Traditional
* 96.5FM Radio Bahrain English
* 99.1FM BFBS Bahrain
* 100.0FM Rotana FM
* 100.1FM Radio Sawa
* 101.0FM BBC World Service
* 101.4FM Energy Radio 2 KSA
* 101.9FM MBC FM
* 102.3FM Radio Bahrain Arabic
* 103.5FM Al-Arabiya News
* 106.1FM Radio Bahrain Holy Quran (Religious)
* 106.3FM AFN Bahrain (American Forces Network)
See also
* Media in Bahrain
* Television in Bahrain
* Information Affairs Authority
The Information Affairs Authority (IAA) is Bahrain's ministry of information that was formed in July 2010. The president of IAA is appointed directly by the King of Bahrain and has the rank of a minister in the Bahrain government. From July 20 ...
References
External links
*
{{Asia topic, Radio in
Broadcasting in Bahrain