Taking Over the Airwaves

Private FM radio stations are sprouting up all over Burma, offering listeners a variety of entertainment and, of course, government propaganda 

Almost every household in Burma has a radio on nowadays. Many families fight over what program to listen to. Father wants to hear the news and sports; the kids listen to pop music and celebrity interviews; mum tunes in every day to the fortune-teller, while grandmother enjoys the Buddhist monks’ recitals.

Many Burmese own cheap, Chinese-made radios that can pick up both FM and shortwave broadcasts. (Photo: YUZO/The Irrawaddy)

FM radio is booming in more ways than one in Burma. The stale government broadcasts of the 80s and 90s have been replaced by popular independent stations all across the country, from Moulmein to Myitkyina.

The Ministry of Information renewed licenses in 2009 for eight private radio stations which transmit high-fidelity broadcasts on FM bands. Stations are licensed to broadcast daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and are allowed to solicit revenue from advertising. 

The first independent station to go on air was Yangon City FM, which began broadcasting in 2001. Its popularity prompted a handful of investors to apply to set up private stations outside the former capital, with military cronies being first in line—as always—for licenses.

Founded in 2008, Mandalay FM broadcasts on 87.9 MHz and can be received in Rangoon, Mandalay and Taungoo in Pegu Division.

In ethnic regions, listeners can often tune into programs in their native language. In the Shan State capital of Taunggyi, a radio station called Cherry FM broadcasts in Shan and Pa-o languages on 89.8 MHz to villages within a radius of 110 km [70 miles], reaching parts of Karenni State.

In Karen and Mon states and in Pegu Division, Shwe FM broadcasts on 89.9 MHz from Pegu over a 65-km radius and from Moulmein over a 70-km radius.

Padamyar FM in Sagaing is aimed at audiences in Sagaing Division and Kachin State, and regularly broadcasts Naga folk songs.

Yangon City FM announcer Nwe Nwe Win (Photo: The Myanmar Times)

“Before, we all used to listen to the BBC’s Burmese service, Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA),” said Myo Maung, an office worker in Rangoon. “But it’s boring just listening to political programs all the time. Our lives are a daily struggle, so some light entertainment can be refreshing.”

Another Rangoon resident, 50-year-old Kyaw Shwe, said he listens to shortwave news from abroad in the mornings, “but in the afternoons, I tune into FM and listen to music and celebrity gossip on City FM.”

Perhaps the most popular programs  in Burma, a country where many avidly follow the advice of fortune-tellers, are the daily astrologers’ predictions.

Most of the FM stations run similar programs mostly featuring local news and weather, sports, traditional folk songs, recitals of Buddhist texts and chants, Burmese and Western pop music, celebrity interviews and gossip, movie reviews and even science and technology programs.

Despite the independent nature of FM radio stations, few DJs or announcers dare to criticize the military government or broach sensitive topics, such as Cyclone Nargis, education or health care. References to detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi are all but unknown.

While most FM radio stations merely seek to engage their listeners with popular programming, several strive to draw attention away from foreign-based radio stations such as BBC, VOA, RFA and the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma.

Padaukmyay, which broadcasts on shortwave from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. and 7 to 10 p.m., attracts young audiences with the latest pop songs, interspersed with turgid propaganda promoting government policies. Not coincidentally, the station broadcasts during the same time slots that the overseas shortwave stations use for news programs.