Geographical Expansion
The Zambian Government on 8th April, 2010 granted Breeze FM authority to expand its geographical coverage area to the entire Eastern Province of Zambia.
Work on this important expansion programme has begun. It will be carried out in three phases.
Phase 1
Work on Phase 1 of the project carried out with support from the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) was completed on 22nd July, 2011.
Phase 1 of the project involved the relocating of the station’s transmission facilities from Kanjala 1 to Kanjala 2. The relocation has given the station a height gain of about 165km. Breeze FM has also doubled its transmitter output power from 1kw to 2kw and has doubled the antenna dipoles from two (2) to four (4).
The station is now carrying out site surveys to establish its expanded area of coverage.
Phase 2
The second phase is for extending coverage from Lundazi to Chama.
Phase 3
This is the final part of the expansion programme and is intended to take the Breeze signal to Nyimba from Petauke.
Breeze Fm has obtained a loan from the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF) to finance Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the project . Work on establishing receiver/relay stations in Lundazi and Petauke will commence in July and be completed by August, 2011.
I could wish if Breeze FM could also be Broadcast in the Capital City of Malawi (Lilongwe) Since I only listen to the Radio once I have gone to my home village (Mchinji). Breeze is a very good radio and I like it. I hope you will do something about it.
Dear Louis
Thank you very much for your encouraging comments. We really appreciate.
The good news is that the geographical coverage area will not only expand in Zambia but will definitely spill over significantly into Malawi too.
We believe that we are not only a station for people in Eastern Zambia but for our brothers and sisters in Malawi like yourself with whom we share languages and traditions.
So, very soon you will be, indeed, able to catch the Breeze in the Malawian capital, which, as you know, is also the de facto capital city for those of us in EP.
Please keep listening to your station.
i use to enjoy breeze fm the time i was in eastern province. now that am in chongwe, i no longer have that privilage. is there any possibility of expanding breeze fm to this far or if not, can one access/tune to the station online? im missing alot fro3m you people. (SON OF EASTERN CHOLA MWANZA no rights reserved publishing allowed)
Dear Peter
We at Breeze take note of the fact that one of our listeners has now moved to Chongwe in Lusaka Rural.
We hope our expansion project will extend the signal to Luangwa, perhaps even Chongwe.
We are also working hard to start streaming on to the internet.
The problem has been that all the ISPs have not provided us with a clear signal. This might be possible when the Zamtel optic fibre reaches the province.
Stay blessed and remain committed to your province.
Congrats Mike and the team for the continued growth of Breeze. Now with modern technology, please broadcast on the internet – it isn’t hard as other stations in Zambia are already doing so. I am sure that you could begin to upload selected audio-on-demand content to start with …
Phil
Good to hear from you. It’s been a hard slog but we are keeping breezing and extending our outreach.
You are right. We need to streamline onto the intern and have been arranging to do that. The most promising ISP was unable to give us a clear signal but we are looking at other options.
We’ll also soon start putting photos of some of the station’s activities on the site.
I hope all is well too at your end.
Every sends you their best regards.
I have been attending a conference called Africa Gathering in London, looking at how to engage with audiences using digital media, It was a wonderful surprise to have Breeze FM being highlighted about your role with FrontlineSMS, using text messaging to communicate with your audience. Well done!
Dear Phil
Many thanks. Yes,we have been pioneering the use of FrontlineSMS in community-based radio stations in the sub-region.
We were working with an organisation called Developing Radio Partners (DRP)as the lead station in a project on environment and climate change involving six stations in Malawi and Zambia.
Our Newsroom has embraced the technology in strengthening our interaction with our listeners and it has helped to increase the number of people engaging the station on a variety of topics.
Dear Mike.
I would like to thank you for your radio station. It is wonderful. I also like to ask you if it would possible to cover live broadcast some of the football matches taking place in chipata. I know it is very expensive to broadcast out side.
Dear Mr Banda
Our geographical expansion programme will include increase in capacity to carry a variety of live programmes.
Obviously, development oriented programmes will be given priority.
Hopefully, it will be possible to find ways of broadcasting important sporting activities too.
Many thanks for your encouragement.