'Kool 97 FM' to be launched in November

By McPherse Thompson, Staff Reporter

Rosamond Brown

A new commercial radio station, "Kool 97 FM", will hit the airwaves on November 1, with its main focus being the provision of adult contemporary music and a programme content that will seek to promote the island as a tourist destination.

The station, which is owned and operated by Aeronautical Telecommunications Limited (Aerotel), will see former announcers at Radio Jamaica's FAME FM, Rosamond Brown and Patrick Lafayette, team up to provide a mix of "positive vibes" to a market starved of good melody.

Kool 97 will also be providing a combination of features on various aspects of Jamaica's culture, about outstanding Jamaican personalities, and interesting places where tourists can relax when they visit the island, said Miss Brown, the station's manager.

"We will not be sending any negative images or messages about Jamaica," said Miss Brown, in an interview with the Financial Gleaner yesterday.

The radio station will be housed at premises occupied by Aerotel at 1 Braemar Avenue, off the Trafalgar Road in New Kingston and will begin test transmission next Tuesday, October 16.

Noting that the station has already created its marketing strategies, Miss Brown said that if the advertising business they have garnered in the month since they decided to establish the station was anything to go by, "I feel we are on the right track."

Notwithstanding an increase in commercial radio stations, all of which have been competing for what has been perceived as an increasingly shrinking advertising dollar, Miss Brown said, "we are not going to compete with the existing market." Rather, they would be looking to capture that portion of the radio listenership in the 25 to 49 year-old age group who wants to hear certain types of music and features that are not currently being offered.

About 85 per cent of the programme content will be music, of which abut 40 per cent will be Jamaican melody. "We're going back to playing music that people want to hear, music that is being played internationally that Jamaican radio stations are not currently playing," she said. The other 15 per cent of the station's programme content will incorporate features. "We have to be careful that we are not only entertaining, but informing as well," she said.

Aerotel is a government-owned company incorporated in 1978, and is responsible for the provision of, among other things, aeronautical telecommunications network services in Jamaica. The company provides telecommunications facilities and engineering services to airlines, the Civil Aviation Authority, Meteorological Office, Airports Authority of Jamaica, as well as private companies.

In 1999, the company was granted a licence to broadcast flight information, which Aerotel has been conducting from its Montego Bay office. Later, that permit was upgraded to operating a commercial station. That licence is specific in that it mandates the holder to promote Jamaica as a tourist destination and to present aspects of Jamaica's culture in a positive way, Miss Brown said.

"We are here to support the work of the tourist industry," she said, pointing out that they would therefore be working closely with the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), as well as the airlines. Miss Brown said they were also in the process of hiring staff and changing transmission sites to upgrade the power of the station to accommodate the commercial activities.

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