Rotana, the Arabic Music Gateway, bagged the third FM radio license in the Kingdom Saturday at the King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh, marking the launch of a new generation of FM radio stations in the Saudi market. Rotana's bid for the new radio channel amounted to SR76,350 million, shooting down the competition for the third license from nine media companies. The license was awarded in the presence of Abdul Aziz Khoja, the Minister of Culture and Information. Two more FM radio licenses are expected to be awarded next month after the offers are submitted, said Riyadh Najem, assistant deputy minister for engineering affairs and supervisor of audiovisual media. The first-ever FM radio license worth SR75 million went to the media alliance of Alf Alf, which would allow it to broadcast from 30 locations in the Kingdom. The second license worth SR66 million went to Ghayat Al-Ibdah company. The Ministry of Culture and Information had earlier announced that 11 qualified media alliances and companies would submit their financial bids for the five new FM radio licenses in the Kingdom. Over 73 percent of people in Saudi Arabia listen to radio programs, with over half of them tuning into radio on a daily basis, mostly while driving, according to a new study by the Arab Advisers Group.
