Buzz Asia

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Buzz Asia was a rhythmic contemporary Asian music radio service, broadcasting to London on 963 and 972 medium wave. [1] As of mid-2013 the name used on its Web site was "Buzz Radio". [1] It is the fourth station to occupy that position, following Viva, Liberty Radio and Club Asia. Sunrise Radio is currently broadcasting on this frequency

London Capital of the United Kingdom

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

Medium wave Part of the medium frequency radio band

Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. For Europe the MW band ranges from 526.5 kHz to 1606.5 kHz, using channels spaced every 9 kHz, and in North America an extended MW broadcast band ranges from 525 kHz to 1705 kHz, using 10 kHz spaced channels. The term is a historic one, dating from the early 20th century, when the radio spectrum was divided on the basis of the wavelength of the waves into long wave (LW), medium wave, and short wave (SW) radio bands.

Liberty Radio is a UK radio broadcaster and company based in London, England that, as of 2013, is transmitted free to air from the Astra 2F satellite at 28.2° East to most of Europe, and on the Internet, but not on analog or DAB terrestrial radio. The station is also available to subscribers to BSkyB on the Sky EPG at LCN 186. The company started as Viva 963, broadcasting on terrestrial radio, predominantly for women, and was later renamed. It lost its terrestrial broadcasting licence in 2002 after being acquired by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG); the broadcasting slot was taken over by Buzz Asia, with different content.

History

Prior to 2002, the frequencies had been occupied by a light pop music and female-skewing talk service initially named "Viva 963", which was renamed "Liberty Radio" in 1996 following its takeover by Mohamed Al-Fayed. The station was then sold again, to Brazilian religious group the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG). [2]

Mohamed Al-Fayed Egyptian businessman

Mohamed Al-Fayed is an Egyptian businessman. Fayed's business interests include ownership of Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store. Al-Fayed sold Fulham F.C. to Shahid Khan in 2013.

Brazil Federal republic in South America

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers and with over 208 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the fifth most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populated city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states, the Federal District, and the 5,570 municipalities. It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas; it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world.

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) is an Evangelical, non-denominational church with its headquarters at the Temple of Solomon in São Paulo, Brazil. The church was founded in 1977 in Rio de Janeiro by bishop Edir Macedo, owner of the multi-billion television company RecordTV.

Liberty did not become available on digital radio (due to regulations at the time preventing stations owned by religious groups from launching onto DAB); as a result their licence was not eligible for the automatic renewal which was granted to operators carrying their existing AM/FM stations on DAB. It was re-advertised, and awarded in November 2002 to Club Asia, a service proposing a rhythmic dance and urban music service aimed at London's Asian population. Liberty Radio ceased broadcasting on medium wave (MW) in July 2003, and live transmission of the Club Asia service began in September of that year following three months of automated programming. [3]

Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services.

British Asians are persons of South Asian descent who reside in the United Kingdom. In British English usage, the term Asian usually refers to people who trace their ancestry to South Asia, the Indian subcontinent in particular ; i.e. modern countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Club Asia collapsed into administration in August 2009, and the station stopped live programming and played only back-to-back music, resulting in it being found in breach of its licence obligations by Ofcom. [4] The operators of Club Asia subsequently negotiated a takeover of the frequencies by the parent firm of Sunrise Radio and Kismat Radio, the Litt Corporation, and the new owners relaunched the station as Buzz Asia. [5] Following the takeover and the resumption of presented content, Ofcom ruled the station had returned to compliance with its licence conditions. [6]

Ofcom british government agency

The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the UK government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.

Sunrise Radio is a 24-hour commercial radio station, focusing on entertainment, music and news from the Asian subcontinent. Launched on 5 November 1989, it was the first 24-hour radio station specifically for the Asian demographic. It broadcasts in the Greater London area on 963/972 AM, on DAB and online.

Kismat Radio is a radio station broadcasting from the Crystal Palace Transmitter in south-east London.

As of 2011 Buzz Asia continued to broadcast on medium wave and online; it had not at that time secured a digital radio licence (its siblings Sunrise Radio and Kismat Radio were available on DAB in London, Sunrise on CE London and Kismat on DRG London, with a third Litt service, Punjabi Radio, carried on Switch London having replaced Yarr Radio).

DRG London is a Digital Audio Broadcasting multiplex available in the London area that has been broadcasting since January 2002. It is also referred to as the Greater London 3 multiplex. The station operates from ten transmitters: Croydon, Alexandra Palace, Blue Bell Hill, Reigate, Guildford, Brookmans Park, Zouches Farm, BT Bedmont, High Wycombe and Kemsing.

Switch London is a DAB ensemble operated by Switchdigital; it broadcasts from a variety of sites in and around London. It has been on air since July 2000. It is also referred to as the Greater London 2 multiplex. In their application to the Radio Authority, Switch proposed using Brookmans Park as a transmission site in its SFN, but this has not yet been implemented.

Yarr Radio was a British music radio station aimed at a young Asian audience, which broadcast from 2003 until 2008 on digital radio in various regions of the United Kingdom, and on Sky Channel 187.


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References

  1. 1 2 "Home - Sunrise Radio Online - SunriseRadio.com" . Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "BBC News - UK - Church makes airwaves" . Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  3. ↑ Club Asia response to Ofcom consultation on rival Kismat
  4. ↑ Ofcom broadcast bulletin 153, Mar 2010
  5. ↑ "Ofcom change of control review" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  6. ↑ Ofcom content sampling report

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