Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Cayman Islands radio station boom

If you’ve ever fancied running your own radio station, legally, the Cayman Islands is the place to be. The population is only 55,000 but already there are thirteen stations on the air, and more are on the way after the lifting of the moratorium on licences by the Information & Communications Technology Authority (ICTA). If all applications are granted, the total number of stations will rise to 19.

Last week, the ICTA decided to grant Hurley’s Entertainment the licence to operate a new FM station, which will be the company’s third and will operate on 103.1 FM. Currently, the company runs Rooster 101.9 FM and Z99 FM.

Two proposed gospel stations have submitted licence applications to the ICTA. There are already two on the air - Heaven 97 and Gospel FM. The ICTA has also confirmed that dms Broadcasting has been successful its bid to take over the licence of Style 96.5 FM, giving that company their fourth station in addition to Hot 104.1 FM, Kiss 106.1 FM and X 107.1 FM.

Earlier this month Hurley’s Entertainment and Paramount Media, the proprietors of Vibe 98.9 and Spin 94.9 FM, objected to the licensing body giving dms Broadcasting the licence. “The authority is fully aware that a significant number of licensees and customers in the Cayman Islands have complained about the blanketing interference caused by the current operation of the dms Broadcasting facilities in George Town,” they wrote to the ICTA.

(Source: Cayman Net News/Radio Netherlands-Media Network Weblog)