Taiwan, in English, since 1979.
ICRT is Taiwan's only English-language broadcaster: an independent, non-profit station that serves the international community here and the far larger local audience that chooses to spend part of its day in English.
See what is onICRT went on air on 16 April 1979, in the weeks after Taipei and Washington broke off diplomatic relations. For the twenty-two years before that, the station’s predecessor, the Armed Forces Network Taiwan, had broadcast to American service personnel stationed on the island. As the troops left, AFNT was sold to the Taiwan government for one US dollar, and the Taipei International Community Cultural Foundation was established as a non-profit to run the new station in its place.
The station has been self-supporting ever since. It receives no government funding, is overseen by a volunteer board drawn from the Taiwan business community, and pays for itself through advertising and the support of its listeners. Its mandate has two halves: to serve the expatriate community, which makes up about five percent of the audience, and to act as a cultural bridge for the Taiwanese listeners who make up the other ninety-five.
Programming is music, news and entertainment. The newsroom reports Taiwan in English through the day, the music runs from the breakfast show through to the small hours, and a growing share of what goes out is made for people learning the language: news read more slowly, the mistakes learners actually make, and lessons built from the day’s stories.
How we got here
- 1957
Armed Forces Network Taiwan
A station for the American military then based on the island, broadcasting from Taipei for twenty-two years.
- 1979
Sold for one dollar
With the troops leaving after the break in diplomatic relations, AFNT is sold to the Taiwan government for US$1.
- 16 April 1979
ICRT goes on air
The Taipei International Community Cultural Foundation is founded as a non-profit to run Taiwan's only English-language station.
- Since then
Independent and self-supporting
No government funding, a volunteer board, and a schedule that has grown to cover news, music, learning and the life of the island.
How to listen
Three main transmitters and two boosters cover most of the island. Anywhere else, the live stream on this site and the ICRT channel on TuneIn carry the same signal.
On FM across Taiwan
FM 100.7
Northern and southern Taiwan, including Taipei and Kaohsiung, with a booster in Hsinchu on the same frequency.
FM 100.1
Central Taiwan, including Taichung.
FM 100.8
The Chiayi booster, for the plains between Taichung and Tainan.
Online
The player at the foot of every page, TuneIn, and the studio camera on Cam & Chat while a show is on air.
The station
ICRT broadcasts from studios in Xinzhuang, New Taipei City: two broadcast studios, one for the FM service and one for news, and two production studios where nearly all of the station’s own programming is made. The Taipei International Community Cultural Foundation, which owns and supervises the station, has a board of seven directors who give their time without pay. Its chairman is Ambassador John Feng, who retired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after postings in Washington, the Dominican Republic and Japan, and who earlier worked in broadcasting and at the Central News Agency.
Find us
International Community Radio Taipei, 19-5F, No. 5, Section 3, New Taipei Boulevard, Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City 24250. Listener hotline 02 8522 7177. Email icrtclub@icrt.com.tw, or use the contact form, which reaches a person.