Breeze FM

The station began test transmissions in October 2002 with a 24-hour music service over 5 days. In 2006, the station extended its broadcasting 18 hours per day, shared equally by English and the local ciNyanja language. (As of January 2009, it broadcasts from 06.00 to 24.00 hours. The hours are in 4 segments: 06.00 to 11.00 English; 11.00 to 15.00 ciNyanja; 15.00 to 19.00 English; and 19.00 to 24.00 ciNyanja). Spot announcements are provided, as are radio magazines and documentaries that last from 5 minutes to 1 hour and cover news, reviews, features, testimonies, interviews, and discussions. Programmes focus on issues meant to be meaningful to community members and range from HIV/AIDS and health to agriculture and the environment.

For example, the programme "Farming Is a Business in Eastern Province of Zambia" provides information which the peasant farmers need at any time of the year. Using sensitisation approaches and didactic participatory methodologies, it is intended to help change the attitude of farmers who have tended to regard farming as a way of life. Through the radio broadcasts, they are reminded of the fact that farming is actually a business activity which needs planning and proper implementation. It also helps the farmers to properly utilise their resources and opportunities.

According to Breeze FM, although the radio station is technically a commercial station, its mandate is more in line with a community station. Programming is local and community-centred, with presenters and reporters going into the countryside to consult with chiefs and villagers about programming needs and interests and to interview them for programmes. The station has special days during which it invites the community to get actively involved with the broadcasts. For example, on International Children's Day, children do all the presenting; on World AIDS Day, people living with HIV are invited to the studio to tell their stories and answer questions; and on International Women's Day, no men are allowed into the station.

The station has also gone into partnership with Radios for Zambia in order to distribute wind-up radios in villages where radio receivers are scarce. According to the organisers, each radio is managed by a committee comprising two women, one man, and one young person, thus helping to ensure that there is shared access to preferred radio programmes.

On January 31 2013, Breeze FM marked its 10th anniversary by launching its internet service, which can be obtained via its website.

Health, Media Development, Gender, Rural Development

As of February 2013, Breeze FM has an average radius of 300km and a listenership of up to 1 million people. The frequency is 89.3 FM for three districts (Chipata, Mambwe, and Chadiza) as well as western Malawi. Listeners in Lundazi, Nyimba, Petauke, and parts of northern Malawi get the signal on 89.7 FM, and those in Katete and Sinda and Mozambique on 98.9 FM.

According to Breeze FM, the station name is meant to evoke the cool wind that blows over Chipata from the surrounding hills during early mornings and evenings. The radio station's motto is "Lifting the Spirit of the People" in the coverage area, an image meant to suggest the goal of providing them with relevant information on critical development issues that affect their lives.

Breeze FM is owned by Chipata Radio Services. Like other community radio stations, Breeze FM is the product of the liberalisation of the airwaves during the 1990s, which for a long time was a monopoly of the government. The station began airing in 2003. Chipata, formerly Fort Jameson, is located at the eastern tip of Zambia, about 560 km from the capital (Lusaka). It borders Malawi to the east, the provinces of Mambwe to the west, Lundazi to the north, Katete to the southwest, and Chadiza to the south.