RNW headquarters in Hilversum, Netherlands (photo coutesty: RNW)
Media Network, which covered international broadcasting developments at Radio Netherlands, recently ended a 30-year run on RNW. In a series of four articles, Andy Sennitt mentions some of the highlights, and then looks ahead to how international broadcasting might develop in the next ten years.
Part 1 is now available on RNW’s website. Part 2 will be published on May 1st 2012. This read is definitely worth your time.
QSL from Radio Strange – Outpost No. 7 (click to enlarge)
Saturday night, after listening to some Voice of Greece Jazz, I happened upon Radio Strange – Outpost No. 7. This pirate deserves some recognition for the station’s homage to retro 8-bit & spacey sounds. I couldn’t tell if I was listening to an NES game soundtrack or an episode of Lost In Space. There’s even a Beatles song thrown in the mix…with a twist. Good fun.
Here’s the recording I made of the full 16 minute broadcast on 6925 kHz at approx. 00:15 UTC on Saturday, April 21:
Audio PlayerThis is a great opportunity to communicate directly with a BBG member who wants your input regarding upcoming changes to US international broadcasting:
(Source: BBG Watch)
Often referred to as a senior Republican member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Ambassador Victor Ashe has invited the public, including BBG employees and contractors, to send comments to his personal email address, Send an e-mail to BBG member Victor Ashe, on the controversial plan to merge BBG-managed Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) into a single administrative unit.
Ashe has become a champion of transparency and raising employee morale at the federal agency which oversees U.S. international broadcasting. He is one of nine members serving on the bipartisan Board. In the absence of Michael Lynton, the BBG’s interim presiding governor, the meeting in Miami was presided over by Governor Dennis Mulhaupt. Governor Dana Perino was also absent. Both Lynton and Perino have a poor attendance record at BBG meetings. Lynton is a Democrat. Mulhaupt and Perino are Republicans.
While the open meeting of the Board on Friday at the headquarters of Radio and TV Marti in Miami, Florida, was chaired by Governor Mulhaupt, Governors Victor Ashe and Michael Meehan clearly dominated the discussion. On-demand video and audio from the meeting is available on the BBG official website.
Ashe called attention to a number of unresolved issues in the proposal to merge the publicly funded surrogate broadcasters who get their grants from Congress through the BBG. He expressed concerns about the lack of information on the selection and the authority of the CEO for the new merged entity. Ashe warned that rushing to implement the plan in its current form may damage U.S. international broadcasting and said that he would oppose the idea of selecting a CEO for the proposed entity as early as next month.
[…]Ashe also announced that Edward R. Murrow’s only son, Charles Casey Murrow, will participate in the the rededication ceremony at the BBG Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station in Greenville, North Carolina, in honor of the renowned broadcaster and director of the USIA (1961-1964) and in recognition of World Press Freedom Day. Ashe and Congressman Walter Jones (R – NC) also plan to attend the event. The BBG and IBB executive staff wanted to close down the facility, but Ashe insisted that the only remaining shortwave transmitting station on U.S. territory remain open.
During the meeting in Miami, BBG governors also stressed the importance of U.S. broadcasting to Latin America, but it is not clear what they plan to do about their FY 2013 budget proposal to eliminate several positions in the Voice of America Spanish Service. There was no mention at the open meeting about the FY 2013 budget proposal to eliminate dozens of VOA newsroom and English broadcasting positions and cuts and reductions in other VOA programs, including VOA Georgian, Turkish, and Greek broadcasts.
Read the full article at the BBG Watch website.
If you need a little jazz music in your life today, you’re in luck. Saturday, I recorded over 2 hours of jazz programming from Voice of Greece (see update below) on 9,420 kHz starting around 20:00 UTC on a Microtelecom Perseus. Propagation was good, and other than an occasional static crash, fidelity excellent for the SW bands.
You can listen via the player below, or simply download the MP3 by clicking here.
UPDATE: Once again, this long stretch of music with VOG was due to a strike. SWLing Post reader, Christos, comments below:
Another strike-day of ERT, so another non-stop recording for you. On Saturday they played jazz and on Sunday they continued with Greek music. Doing an exception this time, because of the coming general elections on 6th of May, they provided short news bulletins every hour, along with the usual announcements “we are on strike for our rights”. I enjoyed the same program from local FM. It was the only program transmitted from all national networks in both FM and medium waves. I visited the ERT Radio House, (Radiomegaron), the day before your recording was made, to attend a concert and I took a photo of a banner of VOG, in Greek.
Christos kindly sent me the following ERT image with the Voice of Greece in Greek:
I remember the first time, many years ago, when I first tuned to the American Forces Network (AFN) on my shortwave radio. I was scanning the bands and happened upon a fairly strong single sideband broadcast. When I tuned in the signal I heard National Public Radio (NPR), a largely domestic public broadcaster here in the US. I thought, perhaps, it was some strange, temporary relay of that news broadcaster. But after hanging around on the frequency for a while, I heard other news sources, and finally the station ID: “This is the American Forces Network.”
The American Forces Network (AFN), in case you’re not familiar with it, is the brand name used by the US Armed Forces American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) for its entertainment and its command internal information networks worldwide. The primary mission of the AFN is to serve American service men and women, the Department of Defense, and other US government civilians and families stationed at bases around the world, as well as on U.S. Navy ships at sea. The AFN broadcasts a wide array of American radio and television programs from the major U.S. networks.
Though the AFN doesn’t broadcast at power levels typically associated with international broadcasters, their broadcasts span the globe. How? By broadcasting in single sideband instead of AM.
What’s available over AFN radio?
Wikipedia offers a nice breakdown:
AFN […] offers a variety of radio programming over its various frequencies throughout the world. Not only is there local programming (with military disc jockeys), but there is satellite programming, as well. Music programming spans Classic Rock, Rhythmic R&B, Jack FM, Techno/Trance and country music. Ryan Seacrest‘s AT 40, The Rick Dees’ Weekly Top 40 and the American Country Countdown with Kix Brooks are broadcast weekly over AFN Radio. In addition to music, AFN broadcasts syndicated talk radio programs such as Car Talk, Kidd Kraddick in the Morning, Kim Komando,The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Motley Fool Radio Show, A Prairie Home Companion, Doug Stephan,Titillating Sports with Rick Tittle, Sports Overnight America, and other programs form a variety of sources. Weekly religious programming is offered to AFN stations via closed-circuit.
On December 5, 2005, liberal/progressive Ed Schultz and conservative talk show host Sean Hannity were added to the radio programs provided by the AFN Broadcast Center to its affiliate stations. Liberal Alan Colmes rounds out the political talk lineup on The Voice channel.
On April 24, 2006, AFN Europe launched AFN The Eagle, a virtually 24-hour-a-day radio service format initially modeled after “Jack FM” but most recently a “Hot AC” format. This replaced ZFM, which had more of a CHR flavor. When the Eagle was launched AFN Europe took control of what local DJs could play.
Altogether, AFN produces 12 general-use streams for AFN stations to use. Of these, seven are music-based, two are sports-based, and three general news/talk channels, including The Voice, which features live play-by-play of American sports (it’s also the one heard on shortwave, if the shortwave radio has Single sideband (also known as SSB) installed). How these stations use these formats is up to them. These formats are:
- Hot AC (mainstream hits and yesterday’s favorites)
- The Nerve (new rock)
- TrancePort (trance/techno)
- Today’s Best Country (country/western)
- Gravity (urban rhythmic)
- AFN Legacy – Deep Classic Rock Gems
- MAX FM (80, 90’s)
- The Voice (News, Talk and Information)
- AFN Clutch (sports programming from ESPN and Yahoo Sports Radio)
- AFN Fans (sports programming from FOX Sports Radio and Sports Byline USA)
- Power Talk (liberal and conservative talk programming)
- NPR (public radio programs from NPR and others)
The AFN is available on numerous FM relays around the world (basically, most places where US forces are stationed) and also via satellite. But, of course, you can find them on your shortwave dial as long as you have SSB. Note that reception will be much better if you have an external antenna–Navy ships, who primarily use the AFN on SW, have excellent receiving equipment. To hear the AFN reliably on a portable radio, especially if you don’t live within the footprint of their target broadcast area, you will be at the mercy of propagation.
Shortwave Frequencies (note: all broadcasts are in USB)
It’s worth noting that the AFN previously operated a station in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, but they have it listed as out of service for an indefinite period.
Want to hear a sample of an AFN broadcast? The following clips were recorded between 11:00-13:00 UTC today, via their transmitters in Diego Garcia and Key West:
On RCI’s Listener Letters and the RCI Action committee‘s website, you can read listener reactions to the looming RCI cuts.
To their credit, I’ve noticed that RCI programs (like The Link with Marc Montgomery) are continuing “business as usual.” I’ve noticed no degradation of their content or quality.
(Source: Radio Australia via Keith Perron)
Details of an interruption to our shortwave services to Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia and the south west Pacific for Thursday April 19th.
This is an important announcement for shortwave listeners.
Due to essential transmitter maintenance, some broadcasts to Indonesia, PNG and the Western Pacific will not be available TODAY Thursday April 19th .
This will affect short wave broadcasts to: East Indonesia; French broadcasts to the south-west Pacific and numerous broadcasts to PNG and the central Pacific region.
The work will commence at 5am Jakarta time, 8am in Port Moresby, 9am in Port Vila, 10am in Suva, and is expected to take up to eight hours.
Some Pacific listeners will still be able to hear us 9660, or 12080 kHz.
Radio Australia’s FM, satellite and web streaming services will continue as normal. So you can still hear us on FM and the web.
The following shortwave frequencies will be suspended between 0800-1600 Melbourne time (2200-0600 UT):
