The war of the airwaves in Jamaica continues to increase with the recent launch of the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) Media Group and in particular its Island-wide radio station.

The University received the licence to operate island-wide in March 2009, and has since then not looked back with the $ 45-million-project. So far approximately $75 million dollars have been spent on the total media group operations which include NCU TV which broadcast on FLOW Channel 188 on a 24-hour basis.

“It is a great achievement for us not only as a University, but as the Seventh-day Adventist Church”, said Dr Herbert Thompson, President of NCU. “These media will be used for the dissemination of quality programmes that will be informative and uplifting. I believe that between the history of the Adventist Church in Jamaica and NCU we have the possibility chance to do great things, not only to impress, but to impact the nation, and it is to those possibilities that I welcome listeners”, he continued.

Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission, Professor Hopeton Dunn, who was present at the launch said, “This is an institution that we have reposed confidence in, in respect of the licence from the Broadcasting Commission, and we have every belief and knowledge that this movement that you are a part of will extend all across Jamaica.”

Dunn further added that “We believe that there should be values inculcated in the education that is offered right across the country and that the electronic media can be conveyors of both education and values. We are also excited about the increase in choice and diversity which we are seeing through the growth of institutions such as this. It is our expectation that Jamaica will grow in the number of media entities offering educational uplifting value-based output of which NCU forms a part of that.”

“NCU FM is an educational station,” said a beaming Everett Wiles, acting managing director of the NCU Media Group. “As a result, the content on the station is going to be of an educational nature, but the fact that we are owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, all our content — music and commercials — will be guided by that. The goal of the station is to build people, build characters, build moral and spiritual values, and in turn build a better Jamaica. Not everyone will get the opportunity to sit in a classroom, but through some of the contents aired on NCU FM, they will be able to walk away with knowledge that would be beneficial to their existence.”

The station started as WIC Radio 88.3 in 1999, as an on campus radio station serving the University and a small portion of the University community with a 100 watt transmitter. It was set-up mainly to provide hands on training for the Mass Communication students, and to give the University a voice on the airwaves.

In 2001, an application was put in to the Broadcasting Commission for an all-island commercial licence, which the University received in March 2009 with the call signs NCU FM. In November 2010, NCU FM expanded its reach Island-wide by commissioning two 4000 watt transmitters; one in Huntley, Manchester on the 91.1 FM band, and one in Coopers Hill, St Andrew on the 91.3 FM band.