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International Community Radio Taipei Wikipedia

International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT) is Taiwan's only English language radio station. Prior to 1979, the station served the U.S. military community in Taiwan as the United States Armed Forces Network Radio Taiwan (AFNRT). When the United States broke foreign relations of Taiwan|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.

The radio station enjoyed immense popularity during its first fifteen years. The station offered two channels: FM100 and AM576. Both channels provided similar content of foreign pop and rock except that FM100 also had three hours of classical music and two one-hour news programs each day.

ICRT's news coverage was renowned during the first fifteen years. Live top of the hour news segments were broadcasted twenty four hours. Members of the news team would often travel to the onsite scene of the news event and make their report there. Reporters also covered sensitive or controversial subjects about Taiwanese politics when Taiwan just came out of martial law.

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 juxebox system to replace the DJ. Eventually AM576 only broadcasted the BBC World Service and CNN Radio and then was permanently off the air in 1999. News coverage in FM100 was gradually downsized.

Despite these setbacks, ICRT's ratings remain within the top ten in Taiwan. It continues to provide important short East-West cultural exchange segments in its programming. ICRT also produces a show every Sunday to cater the growing population of Southeast Asian laborers and domestic workers in Taiwan.

Last Modified:   2005-11-04