{"id":620,"date":"2010-01-20T03:17:50","date_gmt":"2010-01-20T03:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=620"},"modified":"2010-01-20T03:21:53","modified_gmt":"2010-01-20T03:21:53","slug":"radio-prague-to-continue-shortwave-broadcasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2010\/01\/radio-prague-to-continue-shortwave-broadcasts\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Prague To Continue Shortwave Broadcasts"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Andy Sennitt at RNW Media Network<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Nov<\/a>

Nov 2009 Radio Parague QSL Card. Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n


\nAn article on Radio Prague\u2019s website deals with the situation following the Czech government\u2019s decision to reduce the station\u2019s budget, especially with regard to shortwave, which the Director of Radio Prague, Miroslav Krupicka, says accounts for about half the station\u2019s audience reach:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRadio Prague\u2019s budget for this year has been reduced by 15.0 percent. It is a little bit more than we expected but we have to come to terms with it. It still makes it possible for us to continue shortwave broadcasts. What we have to do is to close one of the two shortwave transmitters that we have in Litomy\u0161l. We will be able to cover basically more or less the same territory we have been covering so far, which means the whole of Europe, North Africa, let\u2019s say the Middle East and parts of North and South America. We won\u2019t be reducing very much the area that we cover so far.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Those economy measures almost halve the shortwave transmission bill to 7.0 million crowns (US$ 387,000) a year. Dutch-based consultant and former RNW Creative Director Jonathan Marks and the AIB\u2019s Simon Spanswick explain to Radio Prague\u2019s Chris Johnstone why some international broadcasters have dropped shortwave altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n