MYANMAR’S second FM radio station, Mandalay FM, is set to start broadcasting on April 3, said U Latt Myint Thein, the head of the Public Relations and Information Department of the Mandalay City Development Committee (MCDC).

The station, which will air on 91.9FM, will be officially launched on April 17, New Year’s Day.

Mandalay FM, which will be free of advertising for the first six months, will broadcast regional news and cultural programs to listeners within a 50-mile radius, reaching Pyin Oo Lwin to the east, Myinmu to the west, Amarapura to the south and Madaya to the north.

Initially the station will broadcast for five hours daily.

The radio station will be jointly run by Myanma Radio and Television under the Ministry of Information, MCDC and Forever Group, said U Latt Myint Thein.

“We aim to expand our transmission area to other cities such as Yangon and Lashio. We will transmit from Mandalay and the station at Sagaing will receive and retransmit,” he said. The radio station has invited artists, literati and entertainers in the Mandalay region to participate in its programs. A preliminary program on Mandalay culture will be completed on March 24.

Listeners are also invited to take part in a contest to design a logo for the new station.

Mandalay FM will be the second FM radio station in the country. City FM, run by the Yangon City Development Committee, has aired since January 1, 2002, on 89.90FM from 6am to 10pm.