Many thanks to Jonathan Marks, who shares this short video about the history of the Skelton HF Transmitting Station:
Video: The Skelton HF Transmitting Station
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Category Archives: International Broadcasting
History of Gerald Marcuse G2NM, founder of Empire Broadcasting
Eugen Gerald Marcuse (1886 – 1961) Source: The Reading and District Amateur Radio Club
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Barraclough, who writes:
The Reading and District Amateur Radio Club has released as a free pdf the history of Gerald Marcuse G2NM the founder of Empire Broadcasting who was granted a licence in June 1927 for a regular shortwave service of speech and music to the British Empire. These continued until August 1928. A statement from the BBC shortly after the licence had been granted “deplored them as an unfortunate publicity stunt.”
Click here to visit the Reading and District Amateur Radio Club page.
November 28, 2015: Tune to “Rockin’ with Raoul”
Radio producer and SWLing Post friend, Raoul van Hall, writes:
Hello fellow shortwave and music fans. I am very excited to be broadcasting via PCJ International, a one-hour music special on November 28th. It’s called “Rockin’ with Raoul,” and it will feature some very rare rock tracks that you have probably never heard before. If you ever listened to The Rockpile on Global 24, and liked it, you will love this special program.
Plus we have special QSL cards for all these PCJ specials.
Thanks to Keith Perron and to everyone committed to keeping shortwave fun.
Many thanks for the heads-up, Raoul!
Rockin’ with Raoul will broadcast on 11580 khz on November 28, 2015 at 09:00 UTC.
More changes to this PCJ broadcast series
Please note that, Keith Perron posted the following on PCJ’s Facebook page:
I will be canceling the remainder of the PCJ Special Broadcasts after next weeks program. There is just not a sufficient audience to continue with the rest.
Last week and this week it was the same people. So it’s not justified to keep it going for fewer than 20 people.
Apologies to those who did tune in.
In other worlds, Rockin’ with Raoul, will be the last show in this broadcast series, so make sure you tune in! Contact PCJ with your reception reports.
BBC World Service receives funding increase
(Source: BBC Media Centre via Jonathan Marks)
Statement on newly announced Government funding of the World Service
Tony Hall, the Director-General of the BBC, said:
“I warmly welcome today’s announcement. It’s fantastic news.“This new funding is the single biggest increase in the World Service budget ever committed by any government.
“The millions announced today will help the BBC deliver on our commitment to uphold global democracy through accurate, impartial and independent news reporting.
“The World Service is one of the UK’s most important cultural exports and one of our best sources of global influence. We can now further build on that. The funding will also help speed us on to our target of reaching half a billion people globally.”
- Enhanced TV services for Africa
- New radio services for audiences in North Korea; radio and digital services for Ethiopia and Eritrea
- Additional language offers via digital and TV in India and Nigeria
- More regionalised content to better serve audiences to the BBC Arabic Service
- Dedicated TV output for Somalia and a fully digital service for Thailand
- Enhanced digital and TV services for Russian speakers, both in Russia and surrounding communities
- A video-led digital transformation of Languages services
- To expand the impact and future-proof World Service English
Reuters: FCC and Justice Department investigate Chinese radio network
Wow–seems the FCC and Justice Department took notice of Reuters’ CRI investigation reported earlier:
(Source: Reuters via Mike Terry)
The Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department are investigating a California firm whose U.S. radio broadcasts are backed by a subsidiary of the Chinese government, officials said.
Both investigations come in response to a Reuters report published on Monday that revealed the existence of the covert radio network, which broadcasts in more than a dozen American cities, including Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston and San Francisco. (reut.rs/1Wrflt4)
“Based on reports, the FCC will initiate an inquiry into the facts surrounding the foreign ownership issues raised in the stories, including whether the Commission’s statutory foreign ownership rules have been violated,” FCC spokesman Neil Grace said.
The California firm is owned by James Su, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Shanghai. Reuters reported Monday that Su’s company, G&E Studio Inc, is 60 percent owned by a subsidiary of Chinese state-run radio broadcaster China Radio International (CRI).
The FCC doesn’t restrict content on U.S. radio stations, except for rules covering indecency, political advertising and children’s programming.
But under U.S. law, the FCC prohibits foreign governments or their representatives from holding a radio license for a U.S. broadcast station. Foreign individuals, governments and corporations are permitted to hold up to 20 percent ownership directly in a station and up to 25 percent in the U.S. parent corporation of a station.
G&E does not own any U.S. stations, but it leases two 50,000-watt stations: WCRW in Washington for more than $720,000 a year, and WNWR in Philadelphia for more than $600,000 a year.
Through a different set of limited liability companies, Su owns, co-owns or leases virtually all the air time on at least a dozen other U.S. stations. Those stations carry G&E content, which is produced largely by his West Covina, California studios or by state-run CRI in Beijing….
Reuters: How China exerts soft power through a global radio network
Many thanks to several SWLing Post readers for sharing a link to the following investigative story from Reuters. I’ve included an excerpt below–you can read the full article, and watch a video at Reuters online.
(Source: Reuters)
In August, foreign ministers from 10 nations blasted China for building artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. As media around the world covered the diplomatic clash, a radio station that serves the most powerful city in America had a distinctive take on the news.
Located outside Washington, D.C., WCRW radio made no mention of China’s provocative island project. Instead, an analyst explained that tensions in the region were due to unnamed “external forces” trying “to insert themselves into this part of the world using false claims.”
Behind WCRW’s coverage is a fact that’s never broadcast: The Chinese government controls much of what airs on the station, which can be heard on Capitol Hill and at the White House.
[…]A typical hour on most stations begins with a short newscast that can toggle between China news and stories about violent crimes in the United States. Besides the overtly political coverage, topics range from global currency fluctuations and Chinese trade missions to celebrity wardrobe analysis and modern parenting challenges.
[G&E president and CEO James Su] declined to describe how he makes money when most of the U.S. stations air virtually no commercials. He also declined to say how he got the money to finance his radio leases and acquisitions.
His stations, Su said, offer the American public an alternative viewpoint on Chinese culture and politics. He has “no way to control” what CRI broadcasts on the stations, he said, nor is he part of any plan to spread Chinese propaganda.
“We are only telling the unfiltered real news to our audience,” he said.
On Oct. 29, WCRW carried a program called “The Hourly News.” Among the top stories: Senior Chinese and U.S. naval commanders planned to speak by video after a U.S. Navy ship passed close by China’s new artificial islands in the South China Sea.
Washington and its allies see the island-building program as a ploy to grab control of strategic sea lanes, and the Navy sail-by was meant to counter China’s territorial claims.
WCRW omitted that side of the story.
The admirals are holding the talks, the announcer said, “amid the tension the U.S. created this week.”
RTI test broadcasts to Central/South America
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who notes that Radio Taiwan International will be testing a new broadcast schedule to Latin America October 27-29.
Frequencies and times are as follows:
- To Central America: 03:00 – 04:00 UTC in 5985 Khz
- To South America : 00:00 – 01:00 UTC in 11920 Khz
Send your reception reports to: [email protected].