The Columbia Journalism Review investigates a little-known Voice of America television initiative that quietly broadcast into North Korea from South Korea—until it was recently shut down. The article explores how this short-lived program, launched during the Biden administration, came to an abrupt end under new leadership at the U.S. Agency for Global Media. It raises questions about the shifting priorities in U.S. international broadcasting and how those changes may impact efforts to reach audiences in one of the world’s most closed societies.
Carlos’ Illustrated Radio Listening Report and Recording of the Voice of Turkey (June 30, 2025)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares the following illustrated radio listening report of a recent Voice of Turkey broadcast.
Carlos notes:
Khamenei: US attacks against Iran “did not achieve significant results”, Voice of Turkey
Part of Voice of Turkey’s news bulletin (in Spanish), listened in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on a Tecsun R1012 receiver.
“El líder supremo de Irán, Ali Khamenei, acusó al presidente estadounidense Donald Trump de exagerar el éxito de los recientes ataques militares estadounidenses contra instalaciones nucleares iraníes, afirmándose que no lograron resultados significativos. Trump declaró a Fox News que los ataques destruyeron la capacidad nuclear de Irán…“
(Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accused US President Donald Trump of exaggerating the success of recent US military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, claiming they failed to achieve significant results. Trump told Fox News that the strikes destroyed Iran’s nuclear capability…)
Alan Roe’s A-25 Season Guide to Music on Shortwave (version 3.0)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his A-25 (version 3.0) season guide to music on shortwave. Alan provides this amazing resource as a free PDF download:
Click here to download Music on Shortwave A-25 v3.0 (PDF)
As always, thank you for sharing your excellent guide, Alan!
This dedicated page will always have the latest version of Alan’s guide available for download.
Texas Radio Shortwave: Schedule for July – September 2025
Radio Martí Returns to the Airwaves: June 27, 2025
One of my trusted sources at the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has confirmed that Radio Martí resumed broadcasting today via the Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station in Greenville, North Carolina.
Broadcasts officially resumed at 12:00 EDT / 16:00 UTC on June 27, 2025. SWLing Post community members have confirmed reception on 11860 kHz and 13605 kHz.
This marks a significant development following the temporary suspension of transmissions earlier this year. I’ll post updates as more details become available.
— Thomas
FEBA, Then and Now
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who writes:
It seems that fewer shortwave broadcasters utilize an interval signal these days. However, of the ones that do, at least a couple seem to have stood the test of time, going back over 50 years. The bellbird from Radio New Zealand comes to mind, and then FEBA, once broadcasting from the Seychelles Islands, and now airing programs from different transmitter sites, continues to use “What a Friend We have in Jesus”.
Listen to this signature tune here:
FEBA Seychelles recorded February 22, 1973 around 1800 UTC on 11955 kHz, as heard in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada:
Audio PlayerFEBA radio via transmitter at Al-Dhabbiyah, UAE (using SDR at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) recorded June 24, 2025 signing off at 0230 UTC on 9540 kHz:
Audio PlayerCan you think of any others?
73
Dan Greenall,
RTI Live Test Broadcasts in German on Saturday, June 28, 2025
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Paul Jamet, who shares the following note:
After this news:
https://swling.com/blog/2025/06/rti-live-test-broadcasts-in-french-on-sunday-june-29-2025/
[We have this] similar news for the Deutsch service transmissions from Tamsui, Taïwan! See below:
Dear listeners,
Radio Taiwan International is once again planning broadcasts of its German-language program from the Tamsui transmission site this year.
For this purpose, RTI will air 10-minute test transmissions on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at the following times and frequencies:
Test Transmissions: Saturday, June 28, 2025
(Times listed in UTC / CEST = UTC+2)
-
- 15145 kHz (17:00–17:10 UTC)
- 11995 kHz (17:15–17:25 UTC)
- 11995 kHz (17:30–17:40 UTC)
- 9550 kHz (17:45–17:55 UTC)
We kindly ask you to monitor these test transmissions and send your reception reports to RTI:
Email: deutsch@rti.org.tw
From the above frequencies, two will be selected for the live broadcasts.
Official Broadcast Dates:
(Each broadcast will consist of half an hour on one frequency from 17:00–17:30 UTC, and half an hour on a second frequency from 17:30–18:00 UTC.)
-
- July 4 (Friday), July 5 (Saturday), July 6 (Sunday)
- July 11 (Friday), July 12 (Saturday), July 13 (Sunday)
- July 18 (Friday), July 19 (Saturday), July 20 (Sunday)
- July 25 (Friday), July 26 (Saturday), July 27 (Sunday)
More information and announcements:
https://www.rti.org.tw/de/informationlist?uid=15
Our new website:
https://www.rti.org.tw/de
With best regards,
Your RTI Editorial Team
? deutsch@rti.org.tw
Original German version:
Liebe Hörerinnen und Hörer,
Radio Taiwan International plant auch in diesem Jahr wieder Ausstrahlungen des deutschsprachigen Programms von der Sendeanlage in Tamsui.
RTI strahlt dafür am Samstag, 28. Juni, jeweils 10-minütige Testsendungen zu folgenden Zeiten auf folgenden Frequenzen aus:
Testsendungen: am 28. Juni 2025 (Samstag)
Zeitangaben in UTC (MESZ=UTC+2)
-
- 15145 kHz (17:00-17:10 UTC)
- 11995 kHz (17:15-17:25 UTC)
- 11995 kHz (17:30-17:40 UTC)
- 9550 kHz (17:45-17:55 UTC)
Wir bitten Sie, die Testsendungen zu beobachten und RTI Ihre Empfangsbeobachtungen mitzuteilen: E-Mail: deutsch@rti.org.tw
Aus den oben genannten Frequenzen werden 2 Frequenzen für die Direktausstrahlungen ausgewählt.
Offizielle Sendetermine:
(Eine halbe Stunde auf einer Frequenz von 17:00-17:30 Uhr UTC, eine halbe Stunde auf der zweiten Frequenz von 17:30-18:00 Uhr UTC):
-
- 04.07. (Freitag), 05.07. (Samstag), 06.07. (Sonntag)
- 11.07. (Freitag), 12.07. (Samstag), 13.07. (Sonntag)
- 18.07. (Freitag), 19.07. (Samstag), 20.07. (Sonntag)
- 25.07. (Freitag), 26.07. (Samstag), 27.07. (Sonntag)
Weitere Informationen und Ankündigen:
https://www.rti.org.tw/de/informationlist?uid=15
Unsere neue Internetadresse ist:
https://www.rti.org.tw/de
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Ihre RTI-Redaktion
deutsch@rti.org.tw