“Spirit of America” to collect USD 200 thousand for additional transmitters for Army FM radio – Jim Hake

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Army FM radio station broadcasts for servicemen on the frontline and residents of the towns in ATO zone. U.S. charity organization helped establish the radio and is fundraising to expand the signal.

Kyiv, May 27, 2016. Army FM can be listened to all across Europe, even up to Ural. “Soldiers on the frontlines have been bombarded by Russian and separatist propaganda for over 2 years now, and they are glad that finally there is a source of information and entertainment designed especially for them. It was a clear demonstration for them that the Ukrainian people are on their side and are connected to them,” said Jim Hake, CEO of the charity organization “Spirit of America”, main sponsor of the Army FM radio. “Spirit of America” will keep supporting the radio station. “Spirit of America is committed to continue to help Army FM and today I’m very pleased to announce that we are launching a 200,000 dollar fundraising campaign to buy all the additional transmitters that are needed to expand the Army FM signal in the ATO zone and also in the west where soldiers are being trained,” said Hake.

Over the three month on the air military radio Army FM is broadcast in the four frontline cities: Kramatorsk, Bakhmut, Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk. The radio is also being re-broadcast in Mykolayiv, Izyum and Kirovohrad as well as on the frontline positions in Avdiivka and Zaitseve. “We cannot measure the number of listeners in the FM-range but in the Internet through the “Svoe radio” platform we have had over 70 thousand connections since March 1 that made us the most popular Internet-radio in the Ukrainian segment,” said Oleksiy Makukhin, Adviser to the Defense Minister at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. Army FM team numbers nine members six of whom are military and three civilians.

The radio is broadcast 24/7. Shows account for thirty percent of the content, 70 percent is music: rock, folk and pop-rock – the genres most popular with the military. “For the first time in Ukraine we used simultaneous broadcast process that enables the audience to move from one town to another and stay on the same frequency as well as get the signal of maximum quality,” noted Lieutenant-Colonel Sergiy Telyatytsky, Head of radio programming unit at the Army FM.

“Our top on the air product is the ‘Polygraph’ program hosted by Andriy Kulykov. It is an uncensored program that encourages everyone to call and ask a question,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Yana Kholodna, director of the military Central TV and Radio Studio. Each Friday the program “Send hello to the ATO” is on the air from 13.00 to 14.00. “The demand for feedback is very high. Not only the military themselves and their families but also residents of Kramatorsk and Bakhmut are calling us to express their support,” noted Lieutenant-Colonel Kholodna.