ABC Radio Australia‘s expansion project in the Pacific has concluded after two years with the launch in the Marshall Islands of a new FM transmitter. The network has doubled its reach to an additional 25 locations across the region.
The project was funded by the Australian Federal Government’s Indo Pacific Broadcasting Strategy. ABC Radio Australia now have FM service in Gizo, Solomon Islands and have partnered with broadcasters and transmission providers to develop and launch services in Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei), residents of Majuro atoll, Palau (Koror), Nauru, Kiribati (Tarawa), Tuvalu (Funafuti), Cook Islands (Rarotonga), Auki in the Solomon Islands and three additional Papua New Guinea locations, in East New Britain (Kokopo), Manus Island (Lorengau) and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (Buka).
Alongside its investment in broadcast and delivery infrastructure, ABC Radio Australia has also tripled its Pacific content offering, launching new news, music, sport and cultural programming to better entertain and inform its growing audiences. More details here.
ABC International Head Claire M. Gorman said:
“The completion of the ABC Radio Australia FM transmission expansion project has been a landmark success – allowing the network to significantly grow its reach and listenership across the Pacific. In the 85 years since ABC Radio Australia first broadcast across the region, the network has undergone significant changes with this latest expansion in transmission sites. This represents the next chapter for ABC Radio Australia, providing new audiences with our slate of trusted news and Pacific-focused radio programming.”
ABC Radio Australia Manager Justine Kelly said:
“Across the past two years, our ABC Radio Australia teams have been working incredibly hard to deliver this remarkable project. We are proud to be available across even more locations throughout the Pacific as our talented team of presenters and comprehensive suite of shows, share the incredible stories and voices from across the region. We deliver the latest in breaking news, sports coverage, new music and conversations about culture, the environment, health, faith and science.”
You can listen to ABC Radio Australia across the Pacific live via internet streaming, through 24-hour FM stations in your area, or by catching up with full episodes on ABC Pacific online.
The ABC has been installing FM transmitters with a coverage radius of in the low km around each site.
Their competition is Radio New Zealand Pacific which covers most of the South Pacific including New Guinea and the ocean.
Last year they replaced the oldest high powered High Frequency (Short Wave) transmitters with a $Au4 million new transmitter. Now both transmitters transmit AM or Digital Radio Mondiale (because the sound is better than the AM of local radio in Australia). Having seen this now the National Broadcasting Service of Papua New Guinea is talking of commencing HF broadcasts to cover the whole country from a single transmitter. DRM/FM/AM receivers covering HF bands are available.