The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) plans to introduce major changes in its stations. Radio Nigeria 1 is to be renamed Radio 1 and listeners in Lagos will be able to listen to the station on FM. Radio Nigeria 3 will become Bond FM. Metro FM will be repositioned as a city station for Lagos, and some of its existing programmes will move to either Radio 1 or Bond FM.
FRCN Director General and Chief Executive Dr Eddie Iroh says this means that FRCN will have three radio channels in Lagos with separate characters that can address the varied interests in the city. The stations will complement each other to give listeners a wide range of choice, said Iroh, stressing that programme schedules for the channels would be advertised in newspapers everyday.
Dr Iroh explained that the FRCN had undertaken to embark on these sweeping changes in the station in recognition of its role as a public broadcaster. He said that part of the reform process in Radio Nigeria also include the digitalization of its FM stations. He said that the management of the Corporation recognized that the poor quality audio from its stations over the years had adversely affected its listenership. According to him, this happened because of the narrow NITEL lines which had been used to deliver its programmes. This problem would be taken care of by the corporation’s satellite project which is expected to be completed by early next year.
(Source: Vanguard)
