The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) stated that the number of radio networks in Egypt reached 10, with a total number of broadcasting hours at 185,400 in 2016/2017, compared to 185,300 hours in 2015/2016, an increase of 0.1%.

This came in a press statement on the occasion of World Radio Day, held annually on 13 February.

The CAPMAS revealed that the average daily broadcasting hours for the radio sector was 508 hours during the year 2016-2017, compared to 506 hours during the year 2015-2016, an increase of 0.4%.

The agency noted that the regional radio stations accounted for the largest share of the total number of radio broadcasting hours, reaching 63,586 hours, representing 34.2%, with an average of 174.2 hours per day, followed by foreign radio stations, which reached 22,265 hours, representing 12% of the total, with an average of 61 hours per day.

It also stated that the number of the broadcasting hours for “Al Barnameg Al Am” programme (the public programme) recorded 8,760 hours during the year 2016-2017, compared to 8,784 hours in 2015-2016, a decline of 0.3%.

“The number of broadcasting hours for the Voice of the Arabs network (Radio Sawt al-Arab, Radio Nile Valley, and Palestine Radio) was 14,419 hours in 2016-2017,” according to CAPMAS.

World Radio Day, commemorated each year on 13 February, is about celebrating radio, why it is loved, and it is needed today more than ever.

This year, World Radio Day is held under the theme “Radio and Sports.”