If you have or are applying for a new radio license to start your own radio station it can be a daunting time. You will need to project manage the whole set-up from the building set up to sound checking the equipment and making sure everyone understands how to work it – lots of skills are required.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR STARTING A RADIO STATION IN KENYA
To start a radio station in Kenya, you will need information
on licences and physical equipment for setting up the actual station.
The first step for any investor would be to get information
about licences from the Communication Authority ofKenya(CAK). There are different categories of Licences based on the type of
radio station you would want to start. The three types of licences include:
- Public
Broadcasting (KBC is the only designated public broadcaster)
- Commercial/Private
broadcasting service
- Community
Broadcasting services
Other Licencing to think about are the following:
- MCSK Licence (cost is determined by
the scope and nature of the use of music)
- Music
rights
Your choice of licence factors in on the cost of licencing as well as the equipment to acquire. The following equipment will give you an idea of what your station may need to start running.
- FM radio Transmitter
- Antenna
- Coaxial cable
- Power supply
- Equipment Racks
- Connectors
- Audio Equipment
- UPS
A breakdown of audio equipment needs would be as follows -:
- Limiter
– compressor
- Tape
decks
- Mixing
tables
- Cd
players or a PC
- Noise
free boom Microphone
- Amplifiers
- Monitor
Speakers
- Speaker
Mounts
If all the details sound too complicated for your liking, companies such as Clyde Broadcast will help you get started. In their own words, they can put together requirements for studios, technical areas, transmission and outside broadcast equipment as well as offer full installation and training before you go live. Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), Capital 98.4 and Radio Maisha are some of the radio stations they have worked with in Kenya.