The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) is a Nigerian state radio broadcasting organization. Its flagship station is the syndicated radio network Radio Nigeria, with FM stations across the 36 states and Zonal station in the 6 geopolitical zones that broadcast in the SW (South West – Ibadan,[1] South Central – Yenagoa, South East – Enugu, North East – Maiduguri, North Central – Makurdi, North West – Kaduna). According to FRCN, it is the largest broadcasting organization in Africa.[2]
History
The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria was founded in 1933 by the British colonial government. Named the Radio Diffusion Service (RDS), it allowed the public to hear the British Broadcasting Corporation's foreign radio service broadcasts in certain public locations over loudspeakers.[3]
In April 1950, the RDS became the Nigerian Broadcasting Service and introduced radio stations in Lagos, Kaduna, Enugu, Ibadan, and Kano. This service was reorganized into the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) on April 1, 1957, by act of parliament. Its mission was to "provide, as a public service, independent and impartial broadcasting services". By 1962 the NBC had expanded its broadcast stations into Sokoto, Maiduguri, Ilorin, Zaria, Jos, and Katsina in the north; Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Onitsha in the East; and Abeokuta, Warri, and Ijebu-Ode in the West. Each of these stations was considered a subsidiary station of a regional station. The subsidiary stations broadcast local interest programs during part of the day, and then relayed programming from their regional station during the rest of the broadcast day. National programs were broadcast from two shortwave transmitters and one medium wave transmitter located in Sogunle, near Lagos.[4]
FRCN today
FRCN's medium wave service, Radio Nigeria, has 25 stations located acrossthe country, and together with Voice of Nigeria, considers itself to have the largest radio network in Africa.[3] In 2007, FRCN began introducing FM transmitters in some locations, and plans to begin upgrading and modernizing its shortwave and medium wave transmitters in the coming years.[5]
Broadcast Academy
The FRCN operates a training arm, the National Broadcast Academy.[7] The academy was established in 1957 at Ikoyi as an in-house training department of Radio Nigeria.[8]
External links
References
- Radio Nigeria Ibadan Zonal Station^
- Home Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, retrieved 2024-07-09^
- About the FRCN Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, retrieved 2008-04-10^