A special ceremony was recently held in City Hall, New York to honuor a pioneering Greek-American broadcaster which has been on the air for a quarter of a century.
A proclamation recognizing AKTINA’s “25 years of outstanding service and contributions to Greek and Cypriot residents throughout the five boroughs and beyond”, signed by Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Member Costa Constantinides was presented to Elena Maroulleti, founder and president of AKTINA Productions.
AKTINA FM prides itself for being the first true bilingual radio show introduced to New York City by Maroulleti on public station WNYE 91.5FM and online with a very wide and diverse audience.
Since late 2015 AKTINA FM has expanded its presence online with daily 24/7 broadcasts, increasing its army of loyal listeners worldwide.
With over half a million listeners in the Tri-state area of New York and over a million listeners worldwide AKTINA FM has become a leading Greek-American radio voice for both Greek and non-Greek-speaking listeners.
In 2002, AKTINA TV was also introduced on WNYE Channel 25, becoming the only Greek-American TV show broadcasting with an English-language format, reaching and servicing over 800,000 viewers in the Tri-state area.
The important contributions of AKTINA’s acclaimed concert series, Greek Music Journey (GMJ) was also acknowledged.
She was forced out of her hometown following the 1974 Turkish invasion and subsequent occupation. Maroulleti immigrated to the United States in 1975 and began a new life in another coastal town, New York City.
In accepting the council’s accolade, Maroulleti said: “When I came to this country I had a dream to promote Cyprus and Greece and the best place to accomplish this was New York City, this beautiful and diverse city that embraces all cultures and ethnic groups.”
AKTINA’s festivities surrounding its 25th anniversary included an April 20 concert, The Magic of Bouzouki, at the Kaye Playhouse to be followed by a Nov. 2 concert also at the Kaye entitled From Tsitsanis To Theodorakis with legendary singer Babis Tsertos and his band which return to New York for yet another memorable performance from the series, Greek Music Journey.
