Where to start? So much to say.
I must first say that prior to my arriving at RAM FM, I had a weekly interview programme in English on the Israeli/Palestinian radio station Radio All for Peace, that broadcasts to this day on 107.2FM to the center of the country and the P.A.
I must thank the then co-directors of the station, Maysa Baransi-Siniora (Maysa is director today) and Shimon Malka for giving me the chance to return to the air after a long break, and also ex AFP producer and RAM FM reporter Shireen Yasin, through her I heard about RAM FM
When I listen to my earlier shows for AFP (and I was there for three years) I shudder - they were terrible, but getting the old confidence back, the more I broadcast the better I got. I am sure that without my three years on AFP, I wouldn't have been accepted at RAM FM.
I joined RAM FM in January 2007, but only went on the air on March 1st because the studos in Jerusalem were not ready. After nearly 9 months of tests RAM went on the air from Ramallah on Feb 21 2007 at 6am. From March 1st, the programme schedule was as follows:
06.00-09.00 John Berks
09.00-12.00 Mike Brand
12.00-15.00 Hayat Alami
15.00-19.00 Barry Hill
19.00-06.00 Continuous music
As you see, I presented the Morning Show. At first it was just all music, starting off with the Classic 9@9 - nine songs at 9am with a theme running through all the songs. Later on the 9@9 turned into a competition. There was also the odd interview now and then, but the emphasis was on the music.
In August there was a change in programming. Raf Gangat took over the Morning Show, and I moved over to the Afternoon Show. I presented the show alone for a few weeks, and then I was joined by the very lovely Hayat Alami. For reasons I won't go into here, our partnership lasted only a month or so, and Hayat was replaced by Arda. Arda and I continued to co-host the programme until the raid on our Jerusalem studios in April 2008 by the Israeli police and Communications Ministry officials. By the way, the raid took place during our programme - but more about that another time.
The move from morning to afternoon was the best thing that happened to me. The afternoon show was a lighter format, more informal, and Hayat, and then Arda, were great co-hosts, and we light heartedly "put each other down" every now and again.
RAM FM started off pretty slowly, but at the end of 2007/beginning of 2008, the station was gaining more and more listeners by the day. A poll taken in March 2008 gave us between 500,000 - 750,000 listeners in Israel and the P.A. I think this was a bit exaggerated, but even so, the3 amount of listerners was growing everyday.
There were many reasons for our popularity I suppose. Maybe the main reason was that we had no commercials (a subject for a future post). We played only English language music - new and old. We were playing new songs weeks before they reached the other Israeli radio stations. But of course, we also broadcast only in English.
We had South African Icon John Berks who presented the Breakfast Show, and then Martin Bee. We had Barry Hill from Australia, Barry, along with Martin were two of the nicest guys I have ever meant - and so modest! We had the most modern of equipment and studios, we had great offices, and our staff were some of the nicest people you could ever meet.
Next time - Middle East Eye Witness News and one of the most professional news men I have ever met
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