Huna Al - Kuwait or Here’s Kuwait. These
words were heard for the first time when at 7:00
am on May 12, 1951, Radio Kuwait started its first
transmission, ushering in a new era in the history
of Kuwait.
Radio Kuwait started its first transmission using
a 0.5 KW transmitter in one of the rooms in Naif
palace. It later started broadcasting on short and
medium wave lengths from the current Ministry of
Information building. In 1960, a year before independence,
four more transmitters were added.
The first feminine voice was also heard for the
first time this year. Efforts continued to boost
the station’s transmission and in 1990, before
the Iraqi invasion, the station’s transmission
capacity was 500 kilowatt and its reach included
most of Europe and North America.
During the Iraqi occupation, Radio Kuwait continued
to broadcast from Saudi Arabia. After liberation,
Kuwait was determined to rebuild what it had lost.
Radio Kuwait restarted transmissions from Kuwait
on March 3, 1991 and two days later the medium wave
channels were operational. By the end of 1991, all
channels had started operating again.
Today, Radio Kuwait, under the auspices of the
Ministry of Information, uses state-of-the-art broadcasting
technology and its programmes reach out to a much
wider audience inside and outside Kuwait. Its programmes
in Arabic and English are broadcast on the FM, MW
and SW frequencies and cover a wide range of subjects
such as Arabic music (folk and modern), news, discussions,
and current and social affairs.
Kuwait’s English language radio stations
broadcast a mix of current hit music and popular
oldest in rock, contemporary and other styles. They
also broadcast regular local and foreign news updates
and financial and sports reports. Operating 24 hours
a day from one of the most sophisticated studios
in the world, local DJs and presenters are very
popular on both live and pre-recorded shows.
Today, with more niche channels serving 24 hours
a day, it has become possible to cater to much larger
audiences. Radio Kuwait today has number of channels
that broadcast various programmes covering all spheres
of life such as media information, politics, society,
literature, sports, the arts, news, songs and Quranic
readings around the clock. Some programmes are also
broadcast in English, Persian, Filipino and Urdu.
While some programmes are broadcast 24 hrs a day,
others are aired on time sharing/time slot basis.
There are three radio
transmission stations:
