# Radio Tonga

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**Radio Tonga** (also known by the [call sign](/source/Call_sign) **A3Z**) is [Tonga](/source/Tonga)'s main commercial [radio](/source/Radio) station, founded in 1961 by [Queen Salote Tupou III](/source/Salote_Tupou_III), and operating as a service of the [Tonga Broadcasting Commission](/source/Tonga_Broadcasting_Commission) (TBC). Its slogan is *"The Call of the Friendly Islands*". Radio Tonga currently broadcasts services on three separate frequencies.

## Radio Tonga 1

The most far-reaching of all Radio Tonga's services, this station broadcasts daily from 6 a.m. to midnight, on a frequency of 1017 [kHz](/source/KHz). This is the only service of TBC that has been in operation since TBC's inception in 1961; its test broadcasts started on 13 March, while the official opening was on July 4.[1] It features local, Pacific & international news, as well as [Tongan](/source/Tonga) music, and overseas [retro](/source/Retro) music, mostly from the 1970s & 1980s. Several local church organisations and businesses have weekly programs, and, though it is government-owned and funded, a significant source of its profit relies on in-house commercial advertising. In the event of local emergencies, such as [tropical cyclones](/source/Cyclone), Radio Tonga has been known to stay on the air all night with constant cyclone updates from the [Tonga Meteorological Service](/source/Tonga_Meteorological_Service). Radio Tonga 1 can be heard throughout the entire Kingdom of Tonga, including the outer island groups of [Ha'apai](/source/Ha'apai), [Vava'u](/source/Vava'u), [Niuafo'ou](/source/Niuafo'ou) & [Niuatoputapu](/source/Niuatoputapu), although there have been reports of listeners receiving the signal in other countries, such as [Samoa](/source/Samoa) and [Finland](/source/Finland). The station broadcasts with a power output of 10,000 Watts into a omnidirectional antenna.

## Radio Tonga 2 - Kool 90FM

Formerly known as FM97, now broadcasting on a frequency of 90.0 [MHz](/source/MHz), this commercial FM station commenced in the early 1990s, and now runs 24 hours a day, playing mostly [chart-toppers](/source/Chart-topper) from abroad. After the local broadcast ends at midnight, BBC programming is relayed live via satellite until the local broadcast resumes at 6 a.m. This service can only be heard on the main island of [Tongatapu](/source/Tongatapu), and its closely surrounding islands such as ['Eua](/source/'Eua), [Pangaimotu](/source/Pangaimotu_(Tongatapu)) and [Atata](/source/Atata). The station broadcasts with 500 watts.

## 103FM

Launched on 21 November 2005, this FM service—broadcast on 103.0 [MHz](/source/MHz)—relays [Radio Australia](/source/Radio_Australia) 24 hours a day, and is only available to listeners in [Tongatapu](/source/Tongatapu) and ['Eua](/source/'Eua).

## References

1. ["Report on Tonga"](https://books.google.com/books?id=57DtTv5n7_UC&dq=%22tonga+broadcasting%22+1961&pg=RA1-PA52). 1963. Retrieved 17 July 2021.

## External links

- [Official site: Tonga Broadcasting Commission](http://www.tonga-broadcasting.net)
- [DXing.info profile on A3Z Tonga](http://www.dxing.info/profiles/tonga.dx)
- [RadioDX.com article on Radio Tonga](https://web.archive.org/web/20060515170050/http://radiodx.com/spdxr/a3z.htm)
- [TVRadioWorld - Tonga](http://www.tvradioworld.com/region2/ton/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Radio Tonga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Tonga) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Tonga?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.