Three new radio stations present on Moldova's market

The audiovisual media market of Moldova is expanding with three new stations: Radio Moldova Comrat, REALITATEA FM and MUZ FM. They are among 23 winners of a competition organized by the Audiovisual Council (CA), which approved the allocation of 23 radio frequencies out of the 48 available at a public meeting today.

Radio Moldova has expanded its broadcast area with nine frequencies in several settlements of Moldova, including Camenca, Iepureni, Carpineni, Hancesti, Otaci, Targul Vertiujeni, Criuleni and Unguri.

At the same time, Radio Moldova Comrat has got two new frequencies and will launch a new audiovisual media service in Vulcanesti, on frequency 104.3 MHz, and in Comrat, on frequency 105.6 MHz.

In the Moldovan capital, Radio Moldova Muzical will broadcast on frequency 97.7 MHz, thus expanding the range of radio stations available in Chisinau.

Another station that has extended its coverage area is Vocea Speranței (The Voice of Hope), which will now broadcast in four new settlements: Rezina, on frequency 93.6 MHz, Sangerei, on 104.0 MHz, Cimislia, on 90.6 MHz, and Comrat, on 95.1 MHz.

Jurnal FM also got additional frequencies and will be received in Cahul, on 91.5 MHz, and in Ungheni, on 105.3 MHz.

Among the new stations that will start broadcasting, there are REALITATEA FM, which will broadcast in Chisinau on frequency 98.6 MHz, and MUZ FM, which will also be heard in the Moldovan capital, on frequency 88.0 MHz.

Other radio stations that have expanded their broadcasting range include Ai Noștri (Ours), which will broadcast in Chisinau on frequency 92.1 MHz, Radio 7/Радио 7, which will be received in Orhei on 97.5 MHz, and Radio Roks, which will broadcast in Causeni on frequency 104.8 MHz.

The required number of votes to appoint a winner was not met for 11 frequencies, while for another 14 frequencies, no applications were submitted. These frequencies will be put up for competition again.

In the process of allocating radio frequencies, the Audiovisual Council prioritized participants who committed to objectively inform the public, contribute to the development of critical thinking and ensure genuine pluralism.

The selection criteria included the share of self-produced programmes, the share of musical works in the Romanian language, the promotion of ideological, political, social, linguistic, and cultural diversity and the number of sanctions received for non-compliance with the Audiovisual Media Services Code.