| Rana FM | |
| Airdate: | -[1] |
| Former Frequencies: | FM (Kandahar) 99.9 MHz FM (Kabul)[2] |
| Owner: | Canadian Forces |
| Website: | ranafm.org (now cybersquatted) |
Rana FM was a Pashto language broadcast radio station operating from studios in an undisclosed location in Kingston, Ontario[3] feeding transmitters in Kandahar and Kabul, Afghanistan.
Launched on January 6, 2007 during the 2001 Afghan war, the military-run station[4] hired Afghan-Canadians as its on-air voice, presenting Bollywood and modern Afghan music, news, sports and public affairs programming with a distinct pro-NATO, anti-Taliban slant.[5] [6] Content was targeted to a 15- to 25-year-old demographic and included no commercial advertising.
The station was available as over the air FM radio in Afghanistan, via satellite (Eutelsat 70B, 70.5°E, 11210 MHz, horizontal, DVB-S, 6509 kilobits/second)[7] and streamed on-line.[8] Its signal was delivered to Afghanistan via satellite and fibre optic links.
As Canada's role in the Afghanistan War had largely ended by 2011,[9] the station is no longer on the air.
Filmmaker Ariel Nasr's full-length documentary describing Rana FM, "Good Morning Kandahar",[10] aired November 11, 2008 on CBC Newsworld[11] [12] and won the National Film Board of Canada Reel Diversity Competition.[13]