Three students in Pittsburg launch first Saudi Arabian-run radio station in US

[al-Hasani]

The three founders of the radio show. (From left) Yasser Kattoah, Fahad Al-Fifi and Wafi Al-Ghanim​

Last updated: Friday, December 12, 2014 1:17 PM

Nicolla Hewitt
Saudi Gazette

THERE are estimated to be over 15,000 radio stations in the United States, but there’s only one that’s got people in Saudi Arabia listening – Gahwa Al Sareea – also known as “Evening Coffee.”

The radio show is being broadcast by students from the Kingdom who are currently studying at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania. It was the idea of Fahad Al-Fifi, who said, “I came up with this idea for a radio show about two months ago. I saw there were so many Arabic people in the Pittsburg area but nobody really understood how things worked here. So I went to our media department and asked if we could broadcast a show in English and in Arabic, so both communities could benefit. We really wanted to build a friendly bridge for both of us, and the university loved the idea.”

As of this semester there are over 7,000 students enrolled at Robert Morris University, nearly 400 of them are from Saudi Arabia. Located just outside of Pittsburgh, the university is named after Robert Morris, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.

Upon getting the green light from the faculty to launch a radio show, Fahad, who’s pursuing a doctoral degree in Information System Management, quickly reached out to two other Saudi students for help – Yasser Kattoah who’s a communication student, and Wafi Al-Ghanim, a media and art student.

Fahad Al-Fifi and his team quickly got to work on putting together a plan for their three-hour radio show, which they decided to make a mix of East meets West. Wafi Al-Ghanim, who is one of the DJ’s on the show, told the Saudi Gazette: “When we started planning the content for our show, we really wanted to target a change in the way Americans view Saudi Arabia.

That’s why we decided to do the show in both languages. We pushed hard on our social media channels like Facebook and Twitter to tell everyone we knew about our show, and before we knew it we quickly found out we had students from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries listening to us.” They also enlisted ideas from members of the on campus Saudi students club.

Listeners tuning in to the show which airs on Fridays from 5-6 pm East coast time, hear music from Arabic singers such as Rashid Al-Majid and Haifa Whebe, and Westernized music that includes classic jazz and hip hop. The music is infused with featured guests from the United States and Saudi Arabia, so that the audience can dial in and ask them questions. They have included Saudi Arabian director Abdul Khalif Al-Ghanim, Dr. Tariq Al-Habib of King Saud University in Riyadh, and Dr. Mody Al-Khalaf who heads the Saudi Cultural Mission for the over 80,000 Saudi students studying in the United States.

Within 3 weeks of being on the air, Fahad and his team had the number one radio show on campus. Listeners weren’t just calling in from the Pittsburg area, but they were also calling in from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to request songs. Added Wafi Al-Ghanim: “I knew we were doing well when one of the listeners told me, ‘If I miss your show, I feel like I’ve missed a game.’”

While many of the listeners call in to the show directly to chat with DJ’s Wafi Al-Ghanim and Yasser Kattoah, others connect with them via WhatsApp and Twitter. The social media side and interaction has had many Saudi students using these shows as a way to ask questions they may not normally ask in other forums.

With a radio station hit on their hands, and more and more people listening, the faculty at Robert Morris University asked Fahad if he had time to add another show a week to their airwaves. Jumping at the opportunity his team quickly came up with a three hour show called “Comments,” which now airs on Sundays from 3-6 pm East coast time. “We have really been so lucky to find a niche and get so many listeners. We are really, really happy to be the first Saudis doing this, and of course we expect to get more and more listeners. Most of all we are really happy with the impact this is having on both societies.” And as they say in the entertainment business, “May the hits keep coming.” From Pittsburgh to Jeddah, people are listening.

For more information log on to www.RUMRadio.com or follow them on Twitter at @t3leef_rmu.

Three students in Pittsburg launch first Saudi-run radio station in US | Front Page | Saudi Gazette

Interesting albeit a bit late as the number of Saudi Arabian students in the US is only exceeded by that of the Chinese, Indian and South Korean counterparts. All 3 countries with a significantly bigger population. Especially the first two. In terms of per capita students at US universities and colleges then Saudi Arabian students top the list. Expect to see the fruits of that in the upcoming years.

 

[atatwolf]

Students? How old are these guys? Youngest looks 28, the oldest 34

 

[al-Hasani]

Students? How old are these guys? Youngest looks 28, the oldest 34

Yes, they definitely do not look like juniors.

Anyway it is never too late to educate yourself further. I believe that they have degrees already but just wanted to pursue US degrees as many people of that age from across the world do.

When I studied in the US for 1 year some of my fellow students were also quite old.

The vast majority of Saudi Arabian students in the US and elsewhere are young guns though.