I just stumbled upon this news item on Arabian Business, and yes it did put a huge smile on my face.

Jordanian music station bags NAB award

Jordanian music station, Play 99.6 will receive this year’s NAB International Broadcasting Excellence Award during the International Reception on Wednesday, April 18 at NAB 2007 in Las Vegas. The awards recognize international broadcasters who have demonstrated leadership and successfully served their audience through innovative broadcasting and outstanding community service.

Play 99.6 led educational workshops to improve the role of radio in solving social and community problems. It included broadcasters from Egypt, Lebanon and Syria in its work. It also led Project Peace, a campaign that drew attention to the horrors of war in the Middle East, and collected US $78,000 to provide food and medical supplies to war victims in the region. Source: [Arabian Business]

I listened to play 99.6 briefly before my exodus from Jordan and they did indeed sound very professional. As someone who grew up listening to Radio Jordan (the one and only), I’m still baffled by the recent radio revolution in Jordan. I really can’t keep track of all the new radio stations launched in the Kingdom in the past few years. According to Ahmad, not all of them are up to par. Well, at least one of them manged to win an international award. Way to go Play 99.