CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) was originally founded in 1933 by the British colonial government named the Radio Diffusion Service (RDS), it allows the public to hear the British Broadcasting Corporations, foreign radio service broadcast placed on strategic public location with loudspeakers.
In April 1950, the Radio Diffusion Services (RDS) became the Nigeria Broadcasting Service and introduced radio station in Lagos, Kadunna, Enugu, Ibadon and Kano. This service was recognized into the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) on April 1st 1957, by the act of parliament. Its mission was to provide as a public service, independent, impartial broadcasting services. By 1962, the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) had expanded its broadcast station into Sokoto, Maiduguri, llorin, Zaria, Jos and Kastina in the north, Portharcourt, Calabar and Onitsha, in the east and Abeokuta , Warri and Ijebu ode in the west. Each of these stations were considered a subsidiary stations of a regional station.
Before this, the federal parliament approved the creation of the voice of Nigeria (VON) external shortwave service in 1961. Its initials operations were limited to two hours a day to west Africa, but by 1963 the voice of Nigeria (VON) had expanded both its coverage and transmission times with the addition of five additional transmitters. In 1978, the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation and the Broadcasting corporation of Northern Nigeria (BCNN) merged together to become the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) medium wave transmitters previously owned by the Nigeria Broadcasting corporation (NBC) were transferred to the individual state government were the transmitters were located. Today, Radio Nigeria has 25 stations located throughout the country and together with the voice of Nigeria, consider itself to have the largest radio network in Africa.
In Nigeria today, FRCN has really enhance culture in Nigeria especially in Anambra state. Culture can be define as the total way of life of the people or the identify through which a particular set of people can be identified. Every society, no matter how civilized or uncivilized has its totality and way of life. This way of life is carried on from one generation to the other, it is naturally impacted on to the young one’s through various channels of communication of which one of the outstanding is the electronic media which is the FRCN. FRCN plays the role of disseminating information or message to its targeted audience. Through this media which is the FRCN, information is been passed to the people.