Durrant Pate/Contributor

Work continues apace for the transfer of KOOL-FM from the auspices of the Transport Ministry to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), under the purview of the Information Ministry.

The government decided last year to scrap its initial plans of transferring KOOL-FM to the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ), instead placing it under the purview of the Information Ministry, which is under the OPM. This represents the culmination of a long-running saga in which the government owned radio station was to have been transferred to PBCJ but this plan became mired in legal, regulatory and financial challenges.

The move to OPM is expected to avoid the complications caused by the legislative framework of PBCJ and provide the government with another component to its public education machinery whilst retaining the ‘mostly-music’ programming format of KOOL-FM. 

A transition team was formed in the latter part of the financial year comprising senior staff of parent company, AERONAUTICAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED, KOOL-FM and its then oversight Ministry of Transport & Mining as well as OPM and PBCJ. 

Efforts have since been ongoing to clarify and deal with the human resource, legal & regulatory, financial, technical and other challenges that are to be overcome for an expeditious transfer of the station in the coming weeks ahead.

Robust financial performance

During the 2022/2023 financial year, the radio station continued its strong revenue growth performance, with another 25 per cent increase to break the $100 million revenue barrier for the first time. 

KOOL 97FM is continuing its prior-year strategy of extending its portfolio and programming with late night, live on-air activity, wide-ranging quality enhancements, diversification of digital content and the Introduction of on-line and on-air games. 

This enabled the station to maintain its trajectory of improved popularity and strength in its defined markets.