Communicorp Spins Twist to Slovak in Prague

Radio Twist became the latest Communicorp acquisition (Monday, July 18), enlarging its number of Prague radio stations to five and the Czech Republic to 12. General Manager/Czech Republic Andrew Dower said the additional station “will allow us to maintain and extend our position as the number one local radio operator in Prague.”

Radio Twist in Prague has been a re-broadcast of Slovak station Radio Twist, complete, said Dower, with Bratislava traffic reports. The Czech station is allocated as a Slovak language channel.

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The Slovak minority in the Czech Republic was estimated in the 2001 census at about 3% of the total 10.3 million population. Slovakia and the Czech Republic, once Czechoslovakia, divorced amicably in 1993. Older Czechs and Slovaks, typically those educated before 1980, understand much of each others languages. Younger listeners in both countries, to whom the new Prague station will likely be targeted, are losing the ability to understand both languages.

Radio Twist in Slovakia was re-launched as Radio VIVA in April 2006, a move that likely opened the opportunity for a new owner in the Czech Republic.

Radio Twist in Prague will be re-launched in January 2007 as Radio Spin, all locally produced with local news and information in the Slovak language. Staffing decisions, said Dower, have not been made: “I will be in meetings every day for the next week.”

Studios and offices for three of the four current Communicorp Prague stations are co-located. Dower indicated that future plans include locating all five stations in one complex.

Among Communicorps’ 36 stations in seven countries is the Dublin station Spin 103.8.

Communicorp Spins Twist to Slovak in Prague

Don’t be confused. Communicorp’s Andrew Dower explains…