Opened with a star-studded event at the Al Majaz Amphitheatre, Sharjah’s new Pulse 95 Radio is the Emirate’s first English-language station. Taking to the airwaves in early May, Pulse 95 – which broadcasts across the UAE on 95.0 FM, and also through the Sharjah Media Corporation’s (SMC) web and mobile app – makes extensive use of mixing, routing and control from German broadcast innovator, Lawo.
Billed as “The Heart of Sharjah”, Pulse 95 promises a focus on news of the latest business and commercial developments from within the Emirate, accompanied by exclusive interviews, features, morning talks, evening segments, and a blend of music. The voice of Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Media Council was among the first to be heard on the station when he took questions about the venture on-air.
“The launch of Pulse 95 is an exciting venture into a new market for Sharjah Media Corporation. We have seen a real need to fill the gap in English language output, particularly when so many of the emirate’s residents use English in their day-to-day lives and increasingly conduct business in English,” he said in a press release. “Pulse 95 is also bringing listeners top-of-the-charts music in an acoustic format, in-line with the brand of the station and its talk radio style. We have ensured that every aspect of the content is consistent and the introduction of the acoustic music element follows that perfectly, being complementary rather than intrusive.”
SMC has equipped the station with a pair of Lawo systems comprising ruby control surfaces with accompanying Power Core mixing engines and VisTool user interfaces. The installation is an extension of an existing NOVA17 Mk.II router already operated by SMC.
Supporting from four to 60 faders and being fully AES67-compliant, ruby consoles offer AutoMix smart mixing and a context-sensitive GUI through VisTool. While the physical mixing surface carries faders, source selectors, monitor controls, less frequently accessed features such as routing selections are available via context-sensitive multi-touch displays.
The Power Core engine supports hundreds of AES67 and MADI I/O channels and can be expanded with plug-in cards to accommodate further digital and analog sources. It natively offers 96 DSP channels, multiple AutoMix groups, and a 1920 x 1920 internal routing matrix.
Pulse 95 Radio presents itself as a feel-good station that showcases Sharjah’s rich cultural heritage – without limiting itself to an exclusively English-speaking audience.
Although Pulse 95 is the first English station in Sharjah, it is not aiming purely at listeners who are native English speakers. Pulse 95 is an option for people who understand English and still enjoy the format and content of the shows even though it may not be their first language. The station’s goal is to be “a totally inclusive, fun, trusted, feel-good station, bringing the listeners positive, upbeat stories of real people.”
