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A ceremony has been held to mark 80 years since the start of radio service at Japan’s only station broadcasting programs overseas on shortwave bands.
The KDDI Yamata Transmitting Station in Koga City in Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo, is used by NHK World Radio Japan.
About 50 officials from NHK, KDDI and other entities took part in the ceremony on Wednesday.
The chief of the communications ministry’s Kanto Bureau of Telecommunications, Tsubaki Yasufumi, said remotely at the event that he honors the station’s 80 years of stable operations. He also said he hopes for continued efforts so that programs from Japan can be broadcast overseas.
Terada Kenji of the NHK Engineering Administration Department said shortwave broadcasting served as a lifeline on many occasions such as the 2014 coup in Thailand. He said he wants to express gratitude to all the people involved in shortwave broadcasting.
After the ceremony, the head of the station, Saito Toshimitsu, said it plays an important role in providing information from Japan. He added that he will keep working hard so that the station will be passed down to younger generations.
Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Broadcasting
Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Troy Riedel and Michael Bird for the following tips:
In the biggest overhaul of its music services in years, RNZ is planning to cut back its classical music station RNZ Concert and replace it on FM radio with music for a younger audience as part of a new multimedia music brand. Mediawatch asks RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson and music content director Willy Macalister to explain the move.
The broadcaster is proposing to remove RNZ Concert from its FM frequencies and transform it into an automated non-stop music station which will stream online and play on AM radio.
It would be replaced on FM by a service aimed at a younger, more diverse audience as part of a new multimedia “music brand”.
RNZ Concert would be taken off FM radio on May 29 and the youth platform would be phased in ahead of its full launch on August 28.
RNZ’s music staff were informed about the proposed changes this morning in an emotional, occasionally heated meeting with the RNZ music content director Willy Macalister, head of radio and music David Allan, and chief executive Paul Thompson.[…]
Today Senators can vote to recognise and support ABC Emergency Broadcasting Services and start to plan for a National Emergency Communications Plan.
[…]The motion comes after ABC Friends surveyed bushfire affected communities, with 95% of the 750 respondents indicating that they wanted to see a national plan of additional essential communications infrastructure.
More information to come once the motion has been moved.[…]
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government announced Wednesday it is considering a change in the way the BBC is funded that would severely dent the coffers of the nation’s public broadcaster.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government — which is increasingly at odds with the country’s news media — said it would hold a “public consultation” on whether to stop charging people with a criminal offense if they don’t pay the annual levy that funds the BBC.
The broadcaster gets most of its money from a license fee paid by every television-owning household in the country, which currently stands at 154.50 pounds ($201) a year. Failing to pay can result in a fine or, in rare cases, a prison sentence.
In 2018, more than 121,000 people were convicted and fined for license fee evasion. Five people were imprisoned for not paying their fines.
The BBC is Britain’s largest media organization, producing news, sports and entertainment across multiple TV, radio and digital outlets. The BBC’s size and public funding annoy private-sector rivals, who argue the broadcaster has an unfair advantage.[…]
Tokyo, Feb. 5 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi asked Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) on Wednesday to cut television-viewing fees further.
The request was included in a set of proposals compiled by Takaichi. The proposals were approved the same day at a meeting of the Radio Regulatory Council, which advises the minister.
After expected cabinet approval, the proposals will be submitted to the ongoing session of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, together with NHK’s fiscal 2020 draft budget.
The public broadcaster has already decided to cut viewing fees and expand the scope of fee exemptions by the end of fiscal 2020, in order to reduce viewers’ burdens by the equivalent of 6 pct of its fiscal 2018 fee revenue.[…]
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gaétan Teyssonneau, who notes that Channel Africa will end their shortwave service on March 31, 2019. The Meyerton Shortwave Station is closing which will effectively end Channel Africa’s shortwave service but also end Africa relays for a number of other major international broadcasters.
“It is confirmed that Sentech of South Africa is ending SW broadcast from 31 March 2019. So Channel Africa (Old Radio RSA), BBC, NHK, VOA, AWR. Deutche Welle & South Africa Radio League etc.broadcasting via Meyerton transmitting site will be only in memory shortly informs Jeff White in the AWR Wavescan program of 24th Feb 2019. (Via Jose Jacob)
Meyerton Short Wave Broadcasting Relay station is operated by SENTECH in South Africa, the signal distributor for the South African broadcasting sector. The organisation began operations in 1992 as the signal distributor of the SABC. Sentech now operates as a commercial enterprise.”
Channel Africa is asking for your feedback and will even have management live in-studio on the dates below:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lilian Putina, who shares the following message from NHK World-Japan:
Dear Listeners of NHK WORLD-JAPAN Radio services,
Thank you very much for listening to NHK WORLD-JAPAN Radio services.
We are writing to notify you that the NHK WORLD-JAPAN e-mail address ([email protected]) will be unavailable from October 20. Replies to this e-mail address will not be received/reviewed.
Hereafter, please send your reception reports/messages via “Contact us” form on each language website.
For you listening pleasure: thirty minutes of NHK Radio Japan’s English language service.
This broadcast was recorded an hour ago, at 10:00 UTC on 9,625 (April 19, 2013). Though NHK has dropped their English language services into North America, you can still receive their broadcasts targeting other regions quite easily.
(Source: NHK Radio Japan via Rich Cuff)
