New private radio stations after Ramadan
DOHA: Qatar will begin issuing licences for private radio stations to operate after the new media law is brought into force after Ramadan, a senior official involved with the licensing process said.
The licensing authority will be the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage which will be responsible for implementing the new media law and monitoring the media.
Qatar Media Foundation (QMF) and ictQATAR, the telecom regulatory authority, will together provide the frequency bands required by the radio stations to broadcast their services, QMF’s CEO, Mubarak Al Kuwari, said.
He told Al Sharq on Monday that the job of the QMF will be to coordinate with the culture ministry, ictQATAR and the licensee radio stations.
Contacted for comment, famous Qatari columnist Abdullah Al Atbah said since the present era is dominated by TV channels and the internet, not many people pay attention to radio.
“Already we have enough number of local radio stations that broadcast their services in Arabic,” said Al Atbah, implying that the decision to grant licenses to private radio stations wasn’t a great idea.
Asked if radio stations broadcasting in different languages to cater to expatriate communities would likely have an adverse impact on Qatari culture and traditions, Al Atbah said he didn’t think so.
“We are living in an open global society…and I don’t know what exactly the plans of the government are,” he said.
Asked if he thought it was a belated move on Qatar’s part to allow private radio stations to operate since Dubai has such broadcasters for a long time, Al Atbah said: “Our situation is different. The media in Qatar are still evolving.”
And to a question whether private radio stations should be allowed to broadcast both news and entertainment programmes or restrict only to entertainment, the columnist said since people have access to social media and a plethora of news sources there is no harm in permitting them to broadcast both news and entertainment programmes.
Observers of the media scene in Qatar say that the country should have sufficient infrastructure in place if private radio stations are to be given licences to operate.
According to these observers, signals of some of the existingradio stations are so weak that listeners often find it hard to access them in remote areas within the country.
So if private radio stations are to operate, it should be made sure that their signals are strong enough. For being private they need to be commercially viable, do business and compete with radio stations in neighbouring countries.
THE PENINSULA
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/199059-new-private-radio-stations...
http://dohanews.co/post/25992798131/report-new-private-radio-station-lic...
english radio station....
Bernie on the breakfast show is okey.
However, the news is horrible...all they have to do is read and yet they stutter or mispronounce the words.
One lady announcer tried speaking with the twang she sounds like nails scratching a chalkboard...uuugh.
Actually Joe, QBS is the Gulf's No. 1 station. They say so themselves.
So they finally realized that QBS was the worst station around the Gulf and now they want to come up with something that will get the listeners interested again in listening to stations from Qatar
I believe there are 18+ licenses being given out, so I have no doubt there will be other language stations...
But will the new station compete directly with QBS and play oldies from Tom Jone, Bert bootrack , Tony christie and the like :O)
About Time!
I was assuming that given most people in this country are Indian, that the new radio station might be in Hindi?
It was always strange to me that QBS would broadcast in French (what with the MASSIVE French speaking population) but never in Tagalog or Hindi.
You mean no religious lessons and prayer breaks?
It will have to be a knock out radio station to drag me away from Bernie in the morning .......... he sets me up for the day in the most positive fashion.
We need a Radio 2 type station from UAE - yes please.
LOL at Moza btw ....
no one cares to what u listen neither is anyone interested in ur crap
The gap in the market is DAB..... why listen to the crap here when with an internet connection you can listen to any station from around the world without censorship.
Currently I am listening to Tehran Stoning Radio, counting back the Ayatollahs 20 greatest hits. No.1 this week is, 'as you looked me in the eye, I caught you with a stone you slut'
Apparently they are only giving out ONE English speaking entertainment license and this has already been awarded a few months back. I think we all know what a great opportunity this offers to someone, and beating QBS is literally child's play.
However...this being Qatar, it would be too simple to just go with a formula that has worked for thousands of radio stations around the world....The person/company who has the license is looking to create a station that has a 80/20 split with Western/Arabic music....
PLEASE DON'T DO IT! The opportunity is for a great english speaking station with modern western music, something that doesn't exist here! THAT IS THE GAP IN THE MARKET.
I may be proved wrong when they launch, but I see another FAIL on the horizon and a waste of doing something great.
“Already we have enough number of local radio stations that broadcast their services in Arabic,” said Al Atbah, implying that the decision to grant licenses to private radio stations wasn’t a great idea.
I think what he's really implying is that he thinks the new stations will also be in Arabic.
A new English station to compete, (not that hard) with QBS would be welcomed.
good news for LP he was fed up with QBS