Damascus Radio returned to Syria’s media scene during a ceremony held at the Damascus Opera House on Wednesday, February 4, attended by media officials, artists, and representatives of local outlets.
The event marked a new launch for the long established station, built around a plan to develop its programming and roll out a new audio and visual identity aimed at widening its audience and making content more interactive.
The new identity is part of a broader plan to transform the radio from a traditional broadcaster into a multimedia platform, combining conventional audio transmission with filmed programs and interactive digital coverage across social media and online platforms.
Organizers of the ceremony, attended by Enab Baladi, described the step as an attempt to restore Damascus Radio to its historical standing among national media institutions while preserving the spirit of authenticity in its content.
The new programming plan includes a range of cultural, social, political, and sports segments, in addition to religious and heritage programs.
Comprehensive and diverse
Damascus Radio Director Mohammad al-Sheikh told Enab Baladi the station’s relaunch would be comprehensive and diverse.
It will include all types of programming, from sports, politics, and culture to podcasts and service oriented shows, which he said are among listeners’ top interests.
Al-Sheikh added that the station will also be available for online broadcasting through social media platforms and other digital outlets, alongside satellite transmission via Nilesat, to deliver new content to followers.
He said the choice of a formal launch ceremony was meant to match the radio’s long history, as it coincided with the 79th anniversary of the station’s founding. The event included segments tied to Syrians’ collective memory, including the station’s sonic identity and signature audio cue.
Bilal Hammoud, the director of correspondents, told Enab Baladi that the relaunch came after nearly a year of work, during which a new visual identity was adopted.
Hammoud said the new launch will be both audible and visual at the same time, alongside an expansion of the correspondents’ network to cover all Syrian geography.
He added that digital media has been introduced, along with upgrades to the technical side of transmitting audio and video in high quality.
During the ceremony, Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said the relaunch of Damascus Radio with a renewed audio and visual identity aims to make it a platform for all Syrians, stressing the importance of combining authenticity with technical modernization.
Al-Mustafa said the step reflects the ministry’s vision of developing and strengthening national media in line with modern trends, while ensuring diverse content that touches people’s daily lives and keeps pace with their interests.
A radio history
The relaunch ceremony coincided with the 79th anniversary of Damascus Radio, which began its official broadcasting in 1947, giving the event symbolic weight that reflects the station’s continuity and its place in the national media memory.
Damascus Radio is considered one of the oldest radio stations in the Arab region. It was formally established in 1947, becoming an official and trusted voice for disseminating news and information in Syria.
Over decades, it served as an important pillar in the cultural and political landscape, helping transmit major Syrian and Arab events to local and international listeners. It later expanded from medium and shortwave transmissions to satellite broadcasting in subsequent periods.
Damascus Radio began in a modest rented building lacking full equipment on Baghdad Street in the Syrian capital.
Its early equipment was simple. Broadcaster Yahya al-Shehabi opened the station with the phrase: “This is Syrian Radio from Damascus, the radio of all Arabs,” announcing the start of its transmission.
Despite its limited initial airtime, just two hours daily before expanding to six hours, Damascus Radio kept pace with pivotal global and local developments in Syria and the Arab world, earning a significant place among Arab media outlets at the time.
The station also played a prominent role in the arts scene. From its early years, it sought out young singers who were not yet known, later becoming a platform for major figures in Arab music, including Faiza Ahmad and Fairuz. The station hosted Fairuz early on with the song “Gheera,” helping pave her path to wider recognition and stardom.
Reordering the media landscape
The relaunch of Damascus Radio comes within a broader context of restructuring Syria’s official media institutions after the fall of the Assad regime.
In April 2025, al-Ikhbariya TV was launched, becoming the first government media outlet to broadcast officially after the fall of the Syrian regime.
The director of the General Organization of Radio and Television, Alaa Barselo, described it as “the first official Syrian channel, and the first satellite channel to broadcast its content from inside Syria in the post liberation period.”
On Dec. 1 last year, the Syrian newspaper Al-Thawra was relaunched under the slogan “A defining mark of truth, rebuilding the nation,” reaffirming the paper as the Syrian government’s official newspaper.
Meanwhile, a number of independent media outlets have become more active since the fall of the regime, most notably Enab Baladi, which returned to Damascus in January 2025 and opened its office in the city of Daraya (southwestern Rif Dimashq), the organization’s hometown, in January 2026.
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