On Local Matters this week, I take you behind the scenes of the Ara universe. Yesterday, we dived into the community shows on Ara City Radio. And today, we are going to check out the oldest channel on our frequencies, Radio Ara. You probably all know Celine and her Bistro show in the early evenings, but besides that Radio Ara is a cosmos of dozens of volunteers who host their regular shows on the weekends and in the evenings.

Radio Ara started out as a pirate radio station, they did not have a frequency here and broadcasted from Arlon to Luxembourg. In 1992, their yearlong lobbying for a liberalization of the frequencies had success and Ara finally received a frequency in Luxembourg and officially started broadcasting, we’ll soon celebrate the thirtieth birthday.

For today’s Local Matters, I have two souls of Ara on the microphone. One just joined Radio Ara a few weeks ago, with the newest show on air. And the other one hosts one of the oldest shows. In the past 30 years, a lot has evolved in the studios and around the concept. But some people just sticked to Radio Ara since the beginning, you still find some of the founders wandering around in the studios, concerned with assuring the functioning of the broadcast and designing the future of Ara. Others have been here at least for more than 20 years. Claude Hastert is one of these “Oldies”. For 22 years, he has constantly been involved in Radio Ara, hosting music shows. Before launching his recordings, he covers the studio desk with CDs. The music he plays is not from the internet, but right out of the CD player.

And we had a second guest on the microphone today, Peter Balla is brand new in our studios. He hosts the music show Audiosyncrasies, on air every second Saturday at 2 pm.