BBC Monitoring

Doha Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel Television in Arabic at 0617 gmt on 19 January carries the following announcer-read report:

"As an interesting phenomenon, the number of private radio stations in Jordan has increased and mounted to 27. Observers see that private radio stations have gained the trust of the audience. Therefore, official stations had to change their methods in order to keep pace with the private ones."

This is followed by a three-minute video report by Al-Jazeera's Salah Hasan, in Amman.

Hasan says there are scores of radio stations in Amman and work to "gain the trust of the largest possible audience".

Al-Jazeera later shows a number of Jordanian citizens speaking. An unidentified Jordanian driver is shown saying: "The first thing I do is start my car and turn on the radio. I listen to the radio for the whole day. I feel it is a friend or brother of mine."

Another driver is shown saying that he mainly listens to Koranic! recitations on radio and does not listen to songs

Hasan says: "Licenses were issued to a large number of private stations that have creative and new methods of broadcasting. These stations, in turn, started to win the hearts and minds of the audience at the expense of official radio stations."

Hasan cites Hayat FM, an independent radio station, as an example of these private stations, which he says "views Islam as a way of life and works to present it in a manner that suits all classes of society."

Al-Jazeera later shows Adnan Humaydan, presenter of a radio programme at the Hayat FM radio station, speaking. He says: "I feel very happy because God chose this place for me to serve the people through it. The best of people are those who serve the people."

Al-Jazeera also shows Muhammad al-Sarayirah, director of the Hayat FM radio station, speaking. He says the station has plans to widen its areas of coverage in Jordan.

Hasan notes that the "offic! ial media [in Jordan] is generally described as connected to the gover nment's policy, which makes the independent media more open and lively."

Musa al-Sakit, owner of a private radio station, is shown speaking of official radio stations. He says: "As you said, their role is traditional and official and they convey the messages of official media to the audience, so to speak. This is not the case with private radio stations, because they aim to win the largest possible audience. Therefore, they compete with one another and provide accurate and up-to-date news reports."

Source: Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 0617 gmt 19 Jan 08