Fund-raising for radio service

Press, 3 April 1980, Page 15

Fund-raising for radio service

The Christchurch-based Christian radio station, Radio Rhema, has gone on the air in Wellington, beginning a two-month trial to assess listener interest in the capital. . The New Zealand Broadcasting Tribunal has given the station permission to broadcast from a base in Wellington on a frequency of 1503kHz. I£ the trial proves successful, the station hopes to establish a permanent facility in Wellington. The station’s national director (Mr R, Berry) said that the trial was an important stepping-stone towards reaching their long-awaited

goal of establishing Christian radio stations throughout the country. The Wellington station will relay programmes from the Christchurch studio and will be on the air for the same hours aS the Christchurch station —6 a.m. to midday on week-days, and 6 a an. to midnight at week-ends and on public holidays. Mr Berry said that Radio Rhema’s Christian broadcasting station in Christchurch was the first of its type in the Commonwealth. A recent survey showed that 51 per cent of Christchurch’s population had at sometime listened to the station since it began broadcasting in November, 1978, he said.