Competition hits the Suva air waves

Suva air waves

Radio listeners in Suva who have had to contend with the sounds of the country’s only radio station, Radio Fiji, for over 30 years will soon have the choice of tuning into not just another radio station but two.

One will be a completely new set-up run by Communications Fiji, an FM commercial and pop station, and the other an FM arm of Radio Fiji itself, which is run by the Fiji Broadcasting Commission.

The new commercial station FM96, which at time of writing is still to decide on a name and a call sign (it ran a contest for it some time ago), will begin operations in July, while the FBC’s FM station, to be called Capital City Radio (CCR), was due to hit the airwaves a month earlier in June.

Both sides will offer very much the same fare to their listeners, light and bright music with news and commercials at about half the advertising rates charged by Radio Fiji on its national network.

But while FM96 has said its main broadcasting language will be English, with Hindi and Fijian thrown in at random in both music and commercials, CCR will offer programs in the three languages at times when Radio Fiji’s national network will not be carrying the lan guage concerned.

Communications Fiji has been granted a licence to oper ate the new commercial station by the Fiji Government. A former Radio Fiji announcer, 22-year-old William Parkinson, is the driving force behind FM96. He has the backing of former journalist and present public relations consultant, Matt Wilson. One of Fiji’s best known businessmen, who heads the Lautoka-based Punja and Sons Ltd., Hari Punja, has acquired shares in Communica tions Fiji. Also among the part ners are the owners of the Hot Bread Kitchen chain of stores.

According to Mr Parkinson, his station will cater for the tastes of the under-30 age group which he said formed 70 per cent of the Fiji population

and lived mainly in Suva and surrounding suburbs. He said the initial capital investment for his venture would be around $F300,000, all raised locally.

His company has advertised for staff to run the new station, which will operate from the centre of the city.

The rival Radio Fiji station, will be set up at a cost of only about SFIOO,OOO, because it will have the backing of Radio Fiji’s existing staff and facilities.

Only minor adjustments will be required to put the new sound on air.

The FBC board chairman, Dr Isoa Bakani, while confirming the commission’s new venture added that much depended on how much finance would be needed to launch the station. If it cost too much the project would be dropped.

Since the announcement last year of a new station to break the monopoly of Radio Fiji the commission has been at pains to look for alternatives to coun ter the move, and their decision to start an FM station for the capital city was expected.

Radio Fiji will now be in a position to offer a similar or better service to its advertisers who prefer the capital city as their target area rather than the whole nation at added cost.

FBC should thus be able to

retain much of the revenue it would otherwise have lost com pletely.

At present the Fiji Govern ment pays a subsidy of SFI million to FBC annually, and the commission raises a similar amount through advertising.

The race comes in the midst of management changes at Radio Fiji. From June 1 it has had a new general manager 41-year-old Dr Lasarusa Vuso niwailala, an American-trained communications specialist. He is a former Radio Fiji announcer who served with the FBC for 13 years.

He was previously head of the Education Broadcasts Unit of the South Pacific Commis sion’s media training and re source centre in Suva. Dr Vuso niwailala has been appointed

on a three-year contract which will be reviewed at the end of the period. He obtained a doctorate in mass education from the University of Washing ton in Seattle.

The other contender for the chief executive’s position was the present deputy general manager of Radio Fiji, Devakar Prasad, who had held the posi tion for 12 years. Before that he served in various positions with the FBC for 17 years.

Radio Fiji’s former general manager, Hugh Leonard, who took over from an expatriate, John Hunt, seconded from the BBC 12 years ago, has resigned to take up the position of secretary-general of the Asian Broadcasting Union (ABU) in Kuala Lumpur. From our Suva Correspondent.

William Parkinson ... “driving force”. Fiji Times photo.