Rhema licensed for 10 days

Press, 17 November 1976, Page 1

Rhema licensed for 10 days

Radio Rhema, the Christchurch gospel radio station, has been granted a licence to broadcast for 10 days at Christmas. The Gospel Radio Fellowship says the Minister of Broadcasting (Mr Templeton) has given permission for an experimental programme to be broadcast from December 24 to January 2. Radio Rhema will be on the air from 6 a.m. until midnight each day on the frequency of 1230 KHz, between Radio Avon and 3ZB.

“Radio Rhema will broadcast from upgraded studios at 77 Glenfield Crescent, Mairehau, about three miles north of Cathedral Square,” the fellowship says. It will also use a mobile studio for coverage of holiday activities and

events related to Christ" mas.

The Minister has said he will ask the Broadcasting Council to make an audience survey during the experimental broadcast.

The director of Radio Rhema, Mr Dick Berry, said Radio Rhema would be the guinea pig for the way in which applicants for non-commercial private stations were assessed when the new tribunal held its hearings next year. He said the 10-day licence would allow the station to cover a broader scope in its programming than in two previous oneday broadcasts in 1974 and 1975. “We will not try to compete with other stations, but rather run a complementary programme,” he said.