International Community Radio Taipei
International Community Radio Taipei is Taiwan's only English-language radio station and first radio station in Taiwan that caters to foreigners. Prior to 1979, the station served the U.S. military personnel in Taiwan as the Armed Forces Network Taiwan. When the United States broke diplomatic ties with the Republic of China in 1979, the American business community, with the help of the ROC government, reorganized the station into ICRT.
History
Origins
From 1957 to 1979, the station served the US military community in Taiwan as the Armed Forces Network Taiwan. After the United States broke diplomatic ties with the Republic of China on Taiwan in 1979, Rear Admiral James B. Linder, last commander of the United States Taiwan Defense Command, informed a letter to the Taiwanese Government Information Office pointing out that equipments of the AFNT be transferred to the ROC Government by the US Federal Government without compensation. The new radio station, under the name of ICRT, was reorganized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei and the ROC government.Early period
ICRT enjoyed immense popularity during its first fifteen years. The station offered two channels: AM 200 and FM 989. Both channels provided similar content of foreign pop and rock, with the difference that FM100 also had daily five-minute news at the top of every hour, one-hour morning and evening news programs, and three hours of classical music on Sunday nights.ICRT's news coverage was renowned. Live top-of-the-hour news segments were broadcast 24 hours-a-day. Members of the news team were often dispatched to report live from the scene of an event. ICRT's news coverage was also noted for covering controversial or sensitive political topics at a time when Taiwan was just coming out of martial law. In a period heavily dominated by a KMT-leaning media, ICRT gave a voice to the opposition party, facilitating a fair exchange of ideas.
1990s
The station started to suffer from operating challenges in the 1990s. The ROC government liberalized the radio market, forcing ICRT to face competition from other radio stations. AM576's programming lineup became weaker and lacked DJs to cover the entire twenty-four hours of air time, resulting in an automated jukebox system to replace the DJ. Eventually AM576 only broadcast the BBC World Service and CNN Radio and then went permanently off the air in 1999. News coverage in FM100 was gradually downsized. In 2000, ICRT moved from its original location on Yangmingshan to Taipei City.ICRT today
News and current affairs
ICRT provides news throughout the day, beginning with content from the BBC, then moving into an hour-long morning news special, in which the morning crew cover local, international, sport and business news.''Taiwan Talk''
In 2012, ICRT launched a new feature called Taiwan Talk, a twice-weekly program designed to enhance ICRT's local news coverage. Hosted by reporter Eryk Smith up until the end of 2013, the news segment features interviews with members of the local community. Notable past interviewees include Taiwan 2012 presidential candidate Tsai Ying-wen, Indian novelist Pankaj Mishra, National Immigration Agency Director, Hsieh Li-kung, and William Stanton (diplomat), the director of the American Institute in Taiwan. Currently the program is hosted by Alex Lewis.''EZ News''
As part of ICRT's role as a bridge between the foreign and domestic community, two news broadcasts per day are designated EZ News. The vocabulary is deliberately simplified, the reading speed is lowered, and a transcript is provided to aid English learners. In 2012, an extra podcast was added featuring the EZ News broadcast read at an even slower speed.''Game On!''
Game On! is a segment focused on developments in the world of videogames. It ran from 2009 to 2014.Cultural exchange
''A-Fu's Taxi''
A-Fu's Taxi is a short feature designed to teach simple Chinese. The format is always the same: a foreigner gets into A-Fu's taxi cab and strikes up a conversation centered on the intended destination. Over the course of this dialogue, A-Fu teaches the foreigner a few Mandarin Chinese words or phrases.''Language Links''
Language Links is a short program designed to teach English vocabulary. It features a dialogue, often humorous in nature, centered on a theme. Key words are then explained in English and Mandarin Chinese. Language Links is also published as an English-learning textbook, in which the dialogues are presented in cartoon form, and extended explanations and information on the same theme is given.''We Love Hakka''
We Love Hakka is a special program, presented in Mandarin Chinese and English, which aims to introduce Hakka language and culture. Hakka sights, proverbs and cultural events are described in the program, along with a few words in the Hakka language.Notable programming
''Jazz Flavors''
Jazz Flavors is a 2-hour, Sunday night show. It is the longest-running program on ICRT.The show features the very latest music by the top jazz artists of the day. While mostly consisting of modern jazz, the blues, R&B, and Latin are also programmed.