Tribute FM
Encyclopedia
Tribute FM is an English-language radio station targeting a Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

n audience both inside and outside the country. It was launched in May 2011 during the country's civil war
2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...

. It is opposed to the government of Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Tribute FM describes itself as "Libya's first free, independent and urban English radio station". It says it is run by young Libyans who decided that the once banned English language should now have a presence on the airwaves of "the New Free Libya".

Transmission arrangements

Tribute FM is available via a live internet stream; through iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

, Winamp
Winamp
Winamp is a media player for Windows-based PCs and Android devices, written by Nullsoft, now a subsidiary of AOL. It is proprietary freeware/shareware, multi-format, extensible with plug-ins and skins, and is noted for its graphical sound visualization, playlist, and media library features.Winamp...

, VLC media player
VLC media player
VLC media player is a free and open source media player and multimedia framework written by the VideoLAN project.VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to...

 and Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...

; and using iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

 and Android Phone.

A tweet
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

 from @TributeFM on 6 June 2011 said the station was "now live 24/7" on 92.4 FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...

 in and around the rebel
Anti-Gaddafi forces
The anti-Gaddafi forces were Libyan groups that opposed and militarily defeated the government of Muammar Gaddafi, killing him in the process. These opposition forces included organised and armed militia groups, participants in the 2011 Libyan civil war, Libyan diplomats who switched their...

 capital of Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...

.

Launch history

Tribute FM started test transmissions on 8 May 2011. On the morning of 11 May it was still in test mode, announcing: "You’re listening to Tribute FM, broadcasting from Benghazi. We will be back live at 6 p.m. GMT
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United...

 (UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...

) till approximately 1 a.m. GMT. For more information about how you can listen to us, please go to http://www.tributefm.com."

Tribute FM was launched by four people, at least two of whom have dual Libyan and British nationality. Because of fears of reprisals by Gaddafi loyalists, they do not disclose their full names. Similarly, the exact location of the station's studio is a secret, though it is said to be in Benghazi.

In late May 2011, Tribute FM was broadcasting daily at 8 p.m. to about 4 a.m. local time (1800-0200 GMT/UTC).

Also in late May 2011, it was reported that the station's studio had suffered minor damage in a bomb attack. This followed an accusation by pro-Gaddafi television that Tribute FM was a foreign-financed attempt to spread Christianity.

Other opposition radio stations

A number of other opposition radio stations, calling themselves Voice of Free Libya
Voice of Free Libya
Voice of Free Libya is the name used by three radio stations aligned to the Libyan rebels, operating from the cities of Benghazi, Bayda and Misrata...

or Radio Free Libya, including one station in Benghazi, began broadcasting in Arabic earlier in the civil war. It is unclear whether Tribute FM has any connection with them.
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