by Karl D. Forth

I can remember very early in my shortwave listening wondering how many people were tuned in to a particular broadcast at the same time I was. I was listening to Radio Portugal on a warm evening in June 1971 when I first had this thought. How many others in North America were listening to Radio Portugal, the Voice of The West, and their evening English service at 9 p.m. CDT in the summer of 1971?

The BBC, Radio Canada International, and Radio Nederland probably had a decent audience. And Radio Moscow and Radio Havana Cuba always drew some curious listeners.

What about a smaller broadcaster with an English transmission to North America? How many were listening to any international shortwave broadcaster?

How many were watching Gunsmoke or Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In compared to a feature on Portuguese oilseed production and chestnut exports?

There was no Arbitron ratings book as there was for AM and FM stations in the United States, but it’s fun to think about having a listening diary for shortwave stations, sent not to ARB’s headquarters in Beltsville, Maryland, but somewhere like Geneva, Switzerland, for tabulation.

The stations themselves didn’t know either, but they made audience estimates based on listener mail. Some stations that you may have listened to only a few times and wrote to get a QSL continued to send schedules for years after, counting you as a regular listener. When seeking funding, the stations pointed out that they sent schedules to 5,000 listeners, for example, every few months. (I’m looking at you, RAI.)

I’ve also read stories of shortwave schedules still coming to the house of parents of the listener many years after the listener moved away and started a separate life. (He or she probably picked up the schedules when they visited Mom and Dad, I figure.) Today, I’m still asking the same questions about how many are listening. The stations remaining on shortwave are, too. I’ve read some of the estimates for a major broadcaster’s over-the-air and digital audience that seem extremely optimistic.

Karl D. Forth has been interested in radio and DXing for more than 50 years. This story was included in the book Radio Nights and Distant Signals.

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by Karl D. Forth

On mediumwave, Cuba was a heavyweight, with many high-powered transmitters all over the dial, exceeding the already generous allocation agreed to by the North American nations in 1941.

In 1971, Radio Havana Cuba broadcast on shortwave with Spanish to the Americas, English, French, Portuguese, and a few other languages.

Later, I saw a magazine ad from the 1960s. The ad was for Hallicrafters, a Chicago maker of shortwave radios and communications equipment. The ad showed a menacing-looking caricature of the Cuban dictator speaking and posed the question:

“Have you ever actually heard this son of a bitch?”

Fidel Castro’s understanding of radio was no accident. He studied its use in other Latin American countries and in previous coup attempts, and used it shrewdly in his own rise to power.

One program seemed to a 15-year-old to cross the line. The Voice of Vietnam was an English language program aimed at the United States that was broadcast from Havana, not Hanoi. This program seemed strident and objectionable, which may have been the goal.

Today, Cuban broadcasting is in a shambles. Hurricane Rafael flattened its largest shortwave transmitter site. Ongoing problems with the power grid and shortages of fuel have led to nationwide power outages. Many AM stations are off the air. Technicians from China who kept things running have reportedly left the country.

Karl D. Forth has been interested in radio and DXing for more than 50 years. This story was included in the book Radio Nights and Distant Signals.

Please note: all Amazon links are affiliate links that support the SWLing Post at no cost to you.