DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-072, May 18, 2001 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com {Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. For restrixions and searchable 2001, 2000 contents archive see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html [NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn] WORLD OF RADIO on WBCQ2: UT Sunday repeat has already been replaced by UT Thu 0400 on new 9330-CUSB -– a few hours after the first broadcast Wed at 2330 on 7415. This will be much more timely and provide better reception on the west coast of Mexico. WORLD OF RADIO on WWCR: 3215 is being extended to 0600 to avoid clash with REE/Costa Rica on 3210, so UT Mon 0500 henceforth on 3215. WORLD OF RADIO and CONTINENT OF MEDIA on RFPI: 21815-USB has been extended to 0200, then 7445-USB, affecting some of our broadcasts. ** AFGHANISTAN. Kabul radio changes morning broadcast time | Excerpt from report by Afghan Taleban radio on 17 May An announcement by the Radio Voice of Shari'ah: In an attempt to give enough useful information to the esteemed listeners of the Radio Voice of Shari'ah in the morning, our morning programmes will from Saturday [19 May] start at 0500 [local time, 0030 gmt]... Source: Radio Voice of Shariah, Kabul, in Pashto 1500 gmt 17 May 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RA English via Darwin is on 13625, not 13620 at 2215 UT May 19 (Chris Hambly, Victoria) Yes, I have a very weak and noisy signal on 13625, not 13620, which seems to match 21740 tho they are not in sync due to the satellite delay (gh, OK, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. R. Australia via Darwin. The full schedule of RA transmissions from Cox Peninsula (Darwin) commenced on Thursday 17 May. (On Monday to Wednesday no English language program (ELP) transmission was broadcast at 2200-0000 UT. Please note that the initially reported frequency of 11880 has been changed for this period to 13620.) Time (UT) (kHz) RA Program Target Region 2130-2330 9865 Indonesian central & west Indonesia 2200-0000 13620 ELP south-east Asia 0000-0030 21680 Indonesian central & west Indonesia 0000-0130 17775 ELP south-east Asia 0400-0430 21680 Indonesian central & west Indonesia 0500-0530 21680 Indonesian central & west Indonesia [Source: Roger Broadbent, Radio Australia] (via John A. Figliozzi, Volunteer Publicist, Radio Australia, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) How to Listen to Radio Australia---- Via shortwave: Best noted in eastern North America - 2100 - 0100 UTC: 21740 (usually reliable) 0100 - 0200 UTC: 17750 [17580 also noted] (intermittent) 0200 - 0900 UTC: 15515 (usually reliable) [17580 and 17750 also noted (intermittent)] 0900 - 1100 UTC: 13605 [11880 also noted] (both usually reliable) 1100 - fade out: 9580 (reliable) [11650 also noted (usually reliable)] Best in UK as reported in Shortwave Magazine (further reports from readers in the UK/Europe welcomed): 0500 - 0800 UTC: 21725, 15240 0800 - 1100 UTC: 21725, 17750, 15240, 13605 1100 - 1400 UTC: 21820 1330 - 1700 UTC: 11660 Saturday (RA or ABC News every hour on the hour) 0005 Feedback* - Topics: The BBC World Service's plans for shortwave broadcasting to Australia and the Pacific Islands; a number of vitriolic letters about the quality of the 'Grandstand' sporting programme; we visit China with Paul Petran, producer/presenter of 'Music Deli'. [also UT Sun 0305] 0030 Globally Speaking* - Program 4 "Advance Australia Where?". How can Australia respond to the processes of globalisation? In the more than 200 years of white settlement, Australians have struggled to define a sense of national identity while accommodating successive waves of migration. And now Australia is faced with the challenge of how to fulfill its responsibilities as a good global citizen to refugees, as graphically illustrated by recent experience with the Kosovars and East Timorese in Australia. [T;%] (RA previews via John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) A % denotes that the listed program is available as an on-demand audio file via the Internet. T indicates that a printed transcript of the program is available via the RA or via an ABC domestic network Internet site. Consult http://www.abc.net.au/streaming/audiovideo.htm (John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) ** CHINA [non non]. May 18 at 1508 check I was surprised to hear on 17720 RCI in English via China, which is normally masked by CRI English via Cuba. The latter has disappeared, at least this hour on this day; nor found elsewhere on 16m band. Maybe still on at 1400? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Freespeech Radio News, produced by the striking Pacifica stringers, is back for another one-month run, having raised enough funds to resume. Starts May 21, M-F 1730 UT + 6/12/18h repeats on RFPI. RFPI frequency/technical info: 7445 AM put out a powerful [30 kW] signal, but not effective in NAm since it takes at least two hops to get there, weakening it and increasing distortion due to selective fading. So this has been changed to USB, a very efficient tho lower- powered transmitter [3 kW], 0200-1300, same as on 21815-USB the rest of the day; excuse the brief breaks when the switchovers are made. Reports are wanted, also on how well 15050 does through the night [10 kW]. Eventually RFPI plans to move the [currently inactive] 30 kW to 15050, and the 10 kW transmitter will be converted to MW on 1620. It is still unknown when authorization for that will come through, but RFPI wants to be ready to go on the air ASAP, and is ready to start building the AM antenna. Later will purchase a MW transmitter for this, and move the present 10 kW back to SW. Coverage on 1620 is expected to be excellent at night in CAm, and in the daytime in CR`s central valley (James Latham and Joe Bernard, RFPI Mailbag May 18, first airing 2000 UT, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK. Besides the Danish Radio's Mon-Fri 5 minute News in English in the home service and accessable in RealAudio at http://www.dr.dk/dr-nyheder/international/engelsk.shtml BANNS RADIO INTERNATIONAL has now introduced an Internet International newscast in English Mon-Fri, "NEWS AT NOON". It is available at http://www.banns.com in RealAudio and text. Here you also can hear (and read) the weekly Copenhagen Calling, which also is aired on World Radio Network. Kind Regards, (Erik Køie / Radio Denmark, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {noon = 1000 UT} ** EUROPE. Snarfed from the FRN: Hi Everybody, We are trying to run a new pirate broadcast station - the name will be RPI - Radio Pirates International. Now it seems we are are ready with equipment setup! So, we will run a 30 minutes test broadcast in Sunday this week (20.06.01) [sic] 16.00 UT, at 13.995 MHz conventional AM. The power is planned to be about 70 Watts & a omni directional antenna. We hope to be heard almost in Europe, but who knows, if the condition is good, may be we can cover States Side also :-) We will appreciate yours reports at the e-mail: rpi@satline.net So that's all boys, just listen at the right frequency in the right time! Good Luck! (via Free Radio Weekly, DXLD) ** FRANCE. UT-5/16, heard RFI on 15155 at 0400 with news including some African items, very good here... new 9550 in parallel via Gabon was inaudible (Joe Hanlon, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Deutsche Welle head sees need for "bond" with listeners | Excerpt from report by Radio Austria International on 11 May The governing board of Deutsche Welle, in its meeting in Berlin on Thursday 10 May, elected the 57-year-old Social Democratic politician Erik Bettermann as its new director. Wolter von Thiesenhausen [phonetic] reports from Cologne: [Thiesenhausen] Erik Bettermann has been elected as the new director of Deutsche Welle. Bremen's [Land in northern Germany] representative on the federal level will start in his new post on 1 October. He has for many years been associated with the German international broadcaster as a member and deputy chairman of the board... After his election, Bettermann announced that he intended to use his extensive political contacts to increase the understanding of international broadcasting among all political groups in the German Bundestag. He did not believe that parliament should merely be confronted with demands for money, but wanted to ensure that MPs are thoroughly informed about Deutsche Welle's capabilities. He hoped that parliament would in turn, in the context of a fundamental debate, have a good look at the tasks of Deutsche Welle. [Bettermann] I think this is above all of crucial significance for the debate in our society, because although in theory we always, very often - whether in companies or in politics - see ourselves as global players, here at home we often have a more provincial outlook. [Thiesenhausen] Bettermann said he wanted to place his new post under the headings of continuity and a new beginning. Thus he wanted to assess with his colleagues whether the current division according to broadcasting languages was still appropriate. [Bettermann] When you broadcast a particular language in the context of radio broadcasting, then something like a bond between the audience and the broadcaster must be built up, and sometimes it may be necessary - this depends on the country - to consider whether it wouldn't make more sense to think big, rather than two 30-minute slots per day: does this really create a relationship? I would see this differently in crisis regions. There, Deutsche Welle is a freedom broadcaster to some extent, too. [Thiesenhausen] Bettermann stressed that he was in favour of Deutsche Welle's German programming. [Bettermann] If we are the German international broadcaster, even knowing that German is not a world language, I think it is not only one of our foremost tasks but would not be understood at all by foreigners with a view to our self-definition if we were to give up on German as a broadcasting language... Source: Radio Austria International, Vienna, in German 1703 gmt 11 May 01 (via BBCM via DXLD) {different take on this than Kai`s} ** HONDURAS. I just got back from Honduras- Well, it looks as though Radio HRET has gone the way of other low powered short wave outlets in Central America - dark! Their particular problem is lack of operating funds. They just don't have enough support to meet expenses. They can`t pay enough to attract qualified personnel and the monthly operating fee to the government and the cost of diesel fuel exceeds what little income they get from local churches and underwriters. The solar/wind power generating system installed a few years ago just wasn't large enough to operate the 500 watt transmitter and the studio equipment as well. The wind generator has been damaged and the solar array just manages to keep the 24 batteries trickle charged. They have tried just running the 50 watt exciter but it doesn't get out well enough to make it worth the expense of operators. What they want to do is move the station into town and put it on MW AM. There are few shortwave receivers available locally - and almost everyone has an AM/FM radio, either portable or in their car/truck. They reason that with better local coverage they might be able to attract underwriters from the business community to supplement the donations from the churches. Looks like they might be able to get 540 kHz so with a little 20 or 30 watt solid state transmitter the solar array would be able to handle all the power requirements and the coverage should be very good (Larry Baysinger, May 14, Cumbre DX via DXLD) {was 4960v, Puerto Lempira} ** INTERNATINAL VACUUM. The biggest cost to these folks that does not vary is what you pay for your sat time. The indirect for XM is very high, as it's basically free employment for failed program directors. People who got booted during consolidation ended up at XM (Lou Josephs, swprograms via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. The Tropo Index for Matamoros, Mexico at 12Z Saturday will be a +10.1 !! This is the highest Tropo Index ever calculated in North America since I began Tr Maps last May. Although my scale is supposed to run from 0 to 10 ... it is not finite (values have surpassed +13 in the Persian Gulf...and often drop to -3 during mid-afternoon). (BTW, -3 would imply sub-refraction as opposed to super-refraction, i.e. crappier than normal signals). Go for it Fernando! You should be able to get all sorts of Texas LPTVs during this "Tropo Wave" (Bill Hepburn, Ont., May 17, WTFDA via DXLD) See http://www.iprimus.ca/~hepburnw/tropo_wam.html Already on Friday he was having lots of tropo DX in Monterrey as was Danny Oglethorpe in Shreveport. Looks like Enid, as usual, will only be on the edge of all this if at all, tho Sunday should be better (gh, OK, DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, V. of Mongolia Chinese service 1000-1030 UT May 14. News, Mongolia History and Culture programme. SINPO 43333. VOM announced this transmission was sent on SW 12015 and MW 990 kHz, not including 12085. Yet on 12015 nothing was heard. VOM run a listeners' contest now; the deadline would be 5th July (Qiao, China, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. The latest schedule update from the Jülich site shows two temporary arrangements for RNW, evidently as substitutes for Flevo: Between May 28 and June 8 Mon-Fri only 0559-0757 11935 at 195 degrees (otherwhise Flevo 191 deg); on May 28 and 29 only 0457- 1700 5995 (sic, perhaps in fact 5955, or is Jülich unable to operate this frequency for whatever reason?). Another temporary transmission, broadcaster not mentioned (instead only "DTK" call as used for frequency registration purposes by DTAG is given): May 11 and 18 1900-1959 on 15565, azimuth 140 degrees. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {HOA clandestine?} 5995 is a typo. It's 5955 of course. These changes are due to antenna maintenance at Flevo. Most transmissions will be substituted by Skelton, others Juelich. We'll be publishing the details on the RNW site shortly. (Andy Sennitt, RN, May 18, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. http://russia.strana.ru/society/media/2001/05/07/989226721.html Russia`s main radio frequency center in the making 07.05.01. 13:13 The Russia Ministry for Communications and Informatization [sic], jointly with the Defense Ministry, are creating the Main Radio Frequency Center to convert the national radio frequency spectrum. As of today, a mere 4% of the entire frequency spectrum is used for civilian purposes, 20% is in joint civilian-military use, while the rest is totally under the military control. "Currently our research institutes jointly with the military signals corps are doing work to modernize the radio frequency spectrum for use for civilian purposes. This refers to television and radio broadcasting, and mobile telephony," Communications Minister Leonid Reiman told Vedomosti newspaper. In connection with the current reform at Glavgossvyaznadzor (the state agency in charge of the frequencies spectrum), operators may hope that their applications for the allocation of frequencies will take less time being considered, he thinks. In his words, the Communications Ministry intends to simplify the licensing procedure while toughening control over compliance with performance requirements. © National Information Service Strana.Ru, 2000. RF Press Ministry Registration Certificate: El.#77-4102 of September 7, 2000. Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to http://www.strana.ru (via Sergei Sosedkin, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 4940, R. Mix Master, Yakutsk, May 12 1050-1103 34333-2 Russian, Reactivated after a few months absence. Rus-pop DJ, pips, TC(19:00 in Yakutsk) & weather forecast. ID as "Prognoz pagody na Radio Mix Master". Thanks Mr. KANAI Takeshi-Yokohama, JPN for tips (Oguma Hironao, Tokyo, Japan Premium via DXLD) 7325 R. Adygeya, May 11 1700-1800 34433 Vernacular lang. News, Russia & local mx. According to "Rus-DX" No.94, BC only Mon & Fri from Krasnodar. Shared 100 kw tx with V of Russia. -1700 VOR-Arabic everyday (Oguma Hironao, Tokyo, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** SWAN ISLAND. Glen[n], In 1961 I was a student living in New Orleans. I picked up Radio Americas, during that time, on MW using a Hallicrafters SX-28A receiver and sent a reception report to their on the air address. A few weeks later I received a QSL letter written on "Gibraltar Steamship Corporation" letterhead. The letterhead indicated a New York City Address. 73 (Dave Penney, Mascoutah IL, (near St. Louis, MO), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Re DXLD 1-069, RTI`s ``unknown`` English broadcasts at 1600, 1700 and 1800. Unknown to me, maybe, but May MT Shortwave Guide shows 1600-1700 on 11550 to Asia, 1800-1900 on 3955 [Skelton] to Europe. BDXC BIE agrees, and adds 1700-1800 also 11550 to Asia. At least the 11550 are new, but I don`t recall anyone pointing this out (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K / U S A. Something which no one seems to have realised yet: the frequencies vacated by BBC to North America will go begging for new clients. Merlin has shown us in many other situations that they will sell time to anybody, including gospel huxters. As long as the transmitters are still funxional, we well may start hearing g.h. and far-right hate shows on former BBC frequencies. Thus BBC`s departure will add insult to injury (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I do not think BBC will bail out of Antigua. That frequency is registered by HFCC as having a 160 degree azimuth --- pointing it at South America. Seems like we're getting the back end of the beam, or the antenna is bidirectional. Neither station would "do fine" given the adequate signal strength of 5975 Antigua. I can't imagine having another strong station there. And besides, both transmitters would have to be *perfectly* tuned, otherwise we end up with the mess RCI has on 9755: it is plagued by a buzz/hum/whistle because of an improperly tuned transmitter on the same frequency from Egypt. Regards (Ricky Leong, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: RE the 5975 kHz WWFV dialogue in DXLD 1-071: Depending on how one interprets the BBC frequency schedules, it isn't clear, even if BBC abandons the USA and Canada, that they'll stop the use of 5975 kHz, as the Caribbean is shown as one of the target areas for that frequency. More likely is the abandonment of 6175 kHz as that has only the USA & Canada as targets during local evenings. Regards, (Richard Cuff, Allentown, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I believe we have been an afterthought for the WS via Shortwave for several years now; first, with "Newsdesk" every half hour in local evenings, more recently with the cheerful "Good Morning" you hear in the 2100/2200 editions of "The World Today". I know that I, for one, would enjoy seeing anything regarding the role the BBC believes it has in North America. Mr. Figliozzi commented on that issue on Black Tuesday: "Until we know the BBC's intentions and reasoning, it will be hard to figure out why they have done this..." Only once we know what the BBC *wants to be* for a North American audience can we then understand their irrationale! (Richard Cuff) BBC has essentially written us off as not being important enough to consider keeping North American services intact. Clearly BBC has gone to the bottom of the barrel in this decision and the suits behind the desks probably don't give a crap. It's unfortunate it has come down to this; not everyone has a money tree growing out in the back yard that can afford a satellite system and other accoutrements that BBC says in the future we will need to have to listen to them. NOT in my house (in Michigan), NOT in my apartment here in Atlanta, and NOT in my recently-purchased flat in Moscow (if they mess with the North American services now, who is to say that they won't try to pull this stuff in continental Europe?!?!). (Maryanne Kehoe, swprograms, DXLD) We've had a few days to let this all sink in, so I think at this point it's probably time to stop all the emotional stuff and get down to the work of the matter. While we all would like more direct contact with the BBC as well as some more information from them on this decision, let's all remember this: 1.) Clearly, our respect for the BBCWS was not misplaced all these years; nor has the entire operation "gone south" in just the wink of an eye. I doubt this was an easy decision to make and was prompted by the same circumstances confronting a lot of people these days -- too few resources chasing too many tasks. So, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and at least entertain the notion that a lot of debate, thought and sweat went into the deliberations about this. Let's also recognize that there are arguments (some of them quite powerful) *for* making this decision to drop shortwave. 2.) The lack of specific response thus far could be caused by a number of things, not the least of which *could* be that the level of protest is higher than they anticipated. If the decision was debated prior to taking it, there probably is a constituency within the BBC that opposed it. This creates for us an opportunity. Statements to the effect that "they just don't care" are speculative at best, and to my thinking quite unlikely. If we want to encourage the BBC to have a dialogue with us, name-calling and smarmy remarks aren't going to help toward that end. Nor are they going to strengthen any constituency within the BBC that would be inclined to help us. 3.) Rather, the very sound suggestions of some here that we take the effort to direct postal mail (not e-mail) to higher officials in the BBC, the British Foreign Office, the British Embassy and 10 Downing Street should be implemented. As further suggested, those letters should be respectful, concise and speak only to the point that shortwave still affords committed listeners to the WS in North America the only means of listening to the *whole* service under several specific circumstances. Any arguments made should be based on facts, not emotion. The urge to turn a clever phrase and score rhetorical points should be avoided at all costs. It is true that once organizations this size get moving in a particular direction, it is very difficult to get them to turn around. However, if we think our objectives and our thinking on this matter are correct, we owe it both to ourselves and to the BBC to make an honest and determined effort in this regard. Difficult, yes; impossible, no. What is also true in this era is that organizations need to be quick to correct mistakes early before they hurt the organizations. It's our job to point out not only that we think a mistake was made; but why such a mistake is bad for the BBC. So, let's calm down and get to work. (John Figliozzi, ibid.) GLENN, I wonder is the BBC 'dropping' SHORTWAVE broadcasts to North America, Australia and New Zealand, because there is NO RISK, POLITICALLY of their Local Relays being cut off by Governments? Even parts of Europe, as well as many parts of Asia, Middle East etc are more at risk of this happening. Just a thought (Ken Fletcher, Kings Mount, PRENTON, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Admittedly; see below Kim, Spoke to a Michelle Rowland at the BBC's Sydney office. She claims that the BBC WILL NOT be shutting down ALL SW broadcasts to this region. Verbally she advised that 9580 at 0600-0805 UT will close as will 5975 at 20-22 UT. I have had no chance to check these frequencies or times and won't be able to due to work commitments but according to their website these frequencies and times do exist. Hope this helps. The BBC's communication on this whole cutting of SW debacle has not been great. It might be clearer for North America but people down here are confused. Best regards (David Norrie, NZ, cc to DXLD) Hmmm...found this on rec.radio.shortwave. Sometimes finding something useful there is like looking for a needle in a haystack...but I found a needle! John A. Figliozzi Yesterday I sent a brief message about BBC World Service shortwave to the (UK's) Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), via their website. http://www.fco.gov.uk/ FCO funds the BBC World Service. The website is quite interesting and has a link to a BBC World Service budget, http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sr2000/report/chap13.html which shows: (amounts are millions, Pound Sterling) Year Amt 2000-01 174 2001-02 180 2002-03 199 2003-04 210 They note that this is an increase of 3.9 percent per year. I see BBC World Service appears to consume about 15 percent of the FCO budget. These links are interesting because they show how BBC World Service figures in the objectives of the FCO: http://www.fco.gov.uk/directory/dynpage.asp?Page=485 http://www.fco.gov.uk/directory/dynpage.asp?Page=486 ...Page 485 includes these objectives for BBC WS: (viii) BBC World Service: Global weekly radio audience target of 157 million by 2004 (measured annually by independent survey) (Milestones: 155 million by 2002; 156 million by 2003). Public Diplomacy Department/BBCWS (ix) BBC World Service: Fifteen million online users monthly by 2004. Public Diplomacy Department/BBCWS (x) BBC World Service: 'Best known and most respected voice in international broadcasting' monitored through measuring awareness, reach and trust through annual surveys of target audiences in nine countries. Public Diplomacy Department/BBCWS (xi) BBC World Service: Eighty one per cent audibility in all World Service regions throughout the period. Audibility defined by averaging the figures for strength, interference and overall audibility for each language. Public Diplomacy Department/BBCWS (xii) BBC World Service: 135 capitals reached on FM by 2004. Milestones: 119 by Mar 2002; 128 by Mar 2003. Information Department/BBCWS --- The FCO web site allows a 1000 char. max message, via this link: http://www.fco.gov.uk/feedback.asp Here's what I sent, followed by their reply. I'm shocked to hear BBC World Service announced (May 8) that all BBC WS shortwave broadcasts to North America and Australia cease July 1. Apparently, the decision is based on the false premise that people in America, Canada and Australia will listen in over the internet, or satellite transmission, or to local radio rebroadcast. Many here do not have internet connections. Even with the internet, you can't just pick up the computer and carry it with you, as you can with a radio. There is no satellite broadcast of BBC World Service to the Americas. Finally, most cities in the Americas do not have any local rebroadcast of BBC. Atlanta, a city of over 2 million, has none. In the cities that do have BBC rebroadcasts, they typically have only a few minutes of news, and not the large variety of programming currently available via shortwave. A lot of people will miss listening to the BBC World Service. ... and here's their reply: Dear Mr White Thank you for taking the trouble to let us have your views through our website on the BBC World Service's transmissions to North America. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is always interested to hear the views of listeners to the World Service since, as you may know, it is funded by grant-in-aid through the FCO. We take all views expressed seriously. In many cases they help inform our relationship with the World Service. One of the fora at which we feed in views of which we hear is at our regular reviews with the World Service of its regional activities. We understand your concern at the impending cessation of the short wave service to North America, and I am afraid that my reply will not give you full satisfaction. But I hope, notwithstanding the comments in your message, that you will find it possible to switch - as over three quarters of World Service listeners in North America already have done - to the improved quality offered through the World Service's many rebroadcasting partnerships with local FM stations, or to the internet audio-streamed service. The fact is that the take-up of FM and internet use in North America is very high and growing; and this is bound to bear on the World Service's strategic plans. Allied to the plain fact that neither the US nor the Canadian Government is likely to seek to interfere with BBC broadcasts, either on FM or the internet, the World Service has concluded that this readjustment makes sense in the wider interest of adapting delivery of its services to new conditions, so ultimately enabling it to invest in extending its services elsewhere. The prize will be better -- or in some cases first-time -- audibility for many more people around the world. I realise that it is not your central concern; but the World Service's decision to cut back on the short wave service to North America - in addition to those to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific - does not spell a wider retreat from short wave broadcasting, to which the BBC remains committed. The BBC will be doing everything it can to help its audiences in North America and elsewhere find better ways of listening - through trails, online information, helplines and the On Air magazine. Yours sincerely. Charles Winnington-Ingram BBC World Service Section Public Diplomacy Department Foreign & Commonwealth Office King Charles Street LONDON SW1A 2AH Tel: 020 7270 5992 Fax: 020 7270 6013 E-mail: Charles.Winnington-Ingram@mail.fco.gov.uk A few thoughts about the money thing... 1) World Service budget is 174 million pounds, or around 245 million dollars. 2) Worldwide audience is about 154 million listeners. 3) That works out to about $1.6 million per million audience. 4) BBC numbers seem to indicate around a half million World Service shortwave listeners in US. 5) I don't find any numbers for BBC WS shortwave listeners in Canada and Australia, but let's guess there are only 100,000, based on them having about 1/5 the population of USA. So, that would be 600,000 people listening to BBC WS on short-wave in US, Canada and Australia. 6) At $1.6 million per million listeners, the "WS budget share" of 600,000 shortwave listeners is $960,000. 7) BBC says they will save $700,000 per year by dropping shortwave to US, Canada and Australia. Maybe I went wrong somewhere along the way, but these numbers seem to show BBC World Service decreasing their number of listeners, and increasing their cost per listener. Well, I suppose there's still time to write them another letter... BBC World Service, Bush House, Strand, London WC2B 4PH, United Kingdom worldservice.letters@bbc.co.uk Cheers, (Geoff White, rec.radio.shortwave via John Figliozzi, swprograms via DXLD) I did a bit of browsing around the 1999/2000 annual report published at the BBCWS website. Some interesting items for reflection: 1. Audience size: The Americas average weekly audience was 9 million, versus 70 million for the Asia / Pacific region, and 47 million for Africa and the Middle East. 2. Shortwave audibility was markedly lower in the Americas than elsewhere - with broadcasts "63% audible" in the Americas, and the next lowest number of "79%" for Asia/Pacific. This is the percentage "audibility" of the best frequency available at the time 3. The BBC created a series of demographic classifications to characterize target listeners; North American target listeners would be in a category called "Cosmopolitans". The other two categories, "Aspirants" and "Information poor", would likely not apply here. It appears that 14% of "Cosmopolitans" in New York, Boston, and Washington listen to the BBC a minimum of once per week. Put these together, and if resources were tight, it would be obvious that the first place to scale back would be North America if one had to scale back anywhere. Of course, as we've said here already, it appears the survey approach isn't sound. Why, you ask? 1) we aren't listening, 2) we "can't hear" -- audible quality is clearly considered subpar here. The key section of the report is http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/us/annual_report/bbcar_review_perfor.shtml This is the mindset we'll likely have to combat as we campaign for a reversal of the decision (Richard Cuff, ibid.) This site is for people attempting to persuade the UK government to sympathize / empathize with their pet issue; there are stylistic suggestions and addressing suggestions as well. Worth a read if you're putting pen to paper this weekend regarding the BBCWS. http://www.uwe.ac.uk/union/pp/GROUPS/PERSUADE.HTM (Richard Cuff, ibid.) For now, at least, the UK's Shadow Foreign Secretary is Francis Maude, an MP from the Horsham constituency, on the "channel coast" of England. He is running for re-election. Contact information, courtesy of the Guardian newspaper: House of Commons Fax number: 020 7219 0638 House of Commons Phone number: 020 7219 2494 Constituency Fax number: 01403 210600 Constituency Phone number: 01403 242000 Address, Constituency: Gough House, Madeira Avenue, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1AB See URL http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/contactdetails/0,9309,-3429,00.html (Richard Cuff, ibid.) Well, I think if you write to the broadcasters themselves they'll see that any positive comments get passed on to the appropriate people. Personally I do not recommend writing to senior government officials yourself, for the simple reason that they generally have staff to handle their correspondence, and all but the most important stuff will not actually be seen by the person to whom it's addressed. There are exceptions: I had a personally signed letter from the Prime Minister of New Zealand when I wrote in support of RNZI. But that's a country of only 3 million people! I'm glad that my comments are being taken seriously. Just writing one letter to a station means they know who you are and where you are, and can call on you for support if need be (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) People who belong to DX clubs and participate in lists like this are interested in the medium as well as, or in some cases instead of, the message. The only time I ever saw laid-back George Wood from Radio Sweden get really mad was when someone at an ANARC Convention suggested that the only reason shortwave broadcasters are on the air is to provide QSL cards for DXers. The guy was really serious! And sadly, there are hundreds more like him who bombard international broadcasters with letters revealing just how UNinterested they are in the actual programming. People like you who actually listen to the content probably communicate with the BBC less often than those who just want QSL cards. So they get a distorted impression of who's out there listening on shortwave. Margaret Howard amazed me once at an ANARC Convention when I asked how the letters were chosen for Letterbox (the predecessor to Write On). She said that actually they didn't get many letters that were usable on air, and some weeks all the letters that were worth using were, in fact, on the programme. That was in the days when the BBC was almost exclusively on shortwave & mediumwave. So you see, the SW audience may be out there, but it has not done a very good job of making itself known to the people who make the decisions, or providing feedback. It's no coincidence that international broadcasters nearly always send the host of their DX show to shortwave meetings, because they think that's all the participants will be interested in! I also have to say candidly that, while I don't see all of the listener mail we get to Radio Netherlands, the most interesting and constructive letters I see often come from people who are listening to us via one of our partner networks such as CBC Overnight. I don't believe the shortwave audience is incapable of producing qualitative response to broadcasters (this list proves otherwise), I just think too many SWL's take it for granted that the stations are always going to be there. Well, it isn't so. So if you don't want to lose any more SW transmissions beamed to your area, get writing and tell them you're listening - and react to something you heard! But do it before they decide to stop shortwave, not after :-) (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) Since the BBC made their decision to cease broadcasting to North America, I've been fuming. I've written and faxed the BBC to express my shock and displeasure. About three years ago I was surveyed over the phone about my radio listening habits. One of the questions was "Have you ever listened to the BBC?" and of course I answered yes and added "daily". When the survey was completed (it was primarily about local (Boston) radio stations) I was asked if I had any interest in participating in a panel discussion about radio, of course I said yes. A couple of weeks went before I was contacted by phone to participate in a "focus group" to discuss radio listening habits, programs etc. I accepted the invitation and was told I would be compensated for my parking and receive $25 cash. In a couple of days I received a letter and a map to the Prudential Center in downtown Boston. The letter gave the time, location and date of the panel discussion. I joined a group of about 12 people where we sat in a circle with a coffee table filled with sandwiches, chips & soda. I started talking to a few of the people who had participated in other "focus groups" at this same office, but primarily for product testing. They said that it would be filmed from outside the room through a two-way mirror. I excused myself to go to the bathroom and purposely went out the wrong door to see a camera rolling and another group of people watching my group through this two-way mirror. A British gentleman came in an introduced himself then had all of us introduce ourselves. Then the discussion started, and it was all about listening to the radio and comparing the BBC with the local Boston Stations. I couldn't believe that I was the only one that listened via short-wave. Everybody else listened to the BBC via WBUR- FM and were limited to just a couple of hours a day. The panel moderator kept pointing out that I was a "hobbyist" so my input would be looked at differently!! After the discussion ended, we all had our parking passes validated and were given the $25 cash (No Checks). On the way to the parking garage at least a half dozen of the group walked with me and they asking me lots of questions about short-wave and the BBC. I think 6 people went out and bought portable shortwave radios that weekend. Now that I think of all this ... the BBC must already differentiate between BBC "listeners" and "short-wave hobbyists". I always thought we were one and the same (Jim Strader who listens to the BBC at least 4 hours a day!! swprograms via DXLD) Again, excellent point, Jim. This is probably a significant bias that has crept into BBCWS management thinking on this subject. The fact that there is a distinction to be made between "shortwave radio hobbyists" and "listeners to the BBC via shortwave" should/must be advanced in any correspondence sent to the BBC "higher-ups" and responsible government officials on this subject (John Figliozzi, ibid.) I wonder if part of the reason could be that these untried satellite delivery systems, Sirius and XM may have twisted the BBC's arm to close SW in order to get people to sign up for their operation, which is designed primarily for autos and not fixed home receivers. Don't know why they have dumped Australia and the Pacific. No satellite systems like that are even contemplated here. Also worth noting no receivers have yet been installed in autos due to a shortage of chips (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Tasmania, ibid.) In my interview with Jerry Timmins, BBCWS Head of Americas Section, I asked him if there was some sort of exclusivity arrangement (i.e. no shortwave) with XM and Sirius. He said no. (Kim Elliott, DC, ibid.) ** U K. BBC R2, 3, 4 picks for Sat-Sun-Mon May 19-20-21: SATURDAY MAY 19 4 1130-1200 UT: 12:30 The News Quiz Simon Hoggart hosts probably the best weekly comedy topical radio panel game in the world. This week, the panel are in the Grand Opera House, York [Rpt of Fri 6.30pm]. Weather follows. 3 1200-1300 UT: 13:00 World Routes As a prelude to Radio 3's Greek Day tomorrow, Lucy Duran visits Athens and explores the range of Greek traditional music that is being performed there. Following years of social upheaval, a period of political oppression and countless cliched performances of Zorba's Dance, Greek musicians are now rediscovering their rich heritage of influences from Europe and the Middle East. 2 1200-1230 UT: 13:00 The Smith Lectures A new series showcasing the irreverent Professor Emeritus Arthur Smith. This week's lecture focuses on Science Fiction. 2 1230-1300 UT: 13:30 The News Huddlines Roy Hudd, June Whitfield and Chris Emmett with a satirical revue based on the week's news. With Richard Clegg and music from Peter Moss and the Huddliners. 3 2115-2145 UT: 22:15 ... And One Simon Dove and Duncan Fraser present the first of six programmes exploring the intimate relationship between dance and music, from first steps in a dance class to tackling the 'big scores' and taking to the dance floor. Episode 1: What's the Score? Choreographers David Bintley, Anna Huber and Jerome Bel talk about settling old scores. 3 2145-2400 UT: 22:45 Hear And Now Verity Sharp reports from Belfast's Sonorities Festival, which this year hosts the Sonic Arts Network Conference. Guests include distinguished composer from Canada, Robert Normandeau, who will be showcasing new electronic compositions. Also, Dublin's multi-media Crash Ensemble perform pieces by their founder, Donnacha Dennehy, Claude Vivier and Roger Doyle. Saxophonist Paul Dunmall lays down his improvised stylings over electronic composers Alistair McDonald and Joseph Hyde. Plus the amplified ensemble Icebreaker playing Dutch and American music with driving rhythms. 4 2200-2230 UT: 23:00 MasterTeam Peter Snow hosts a quiz which tests the general knowledge and risk- taking skills of teams from around the country. 4 2230-2300 UT: 23:30 Poetry Please Frank Delaney introduces a selection of poems about twilight. The readers are Fiona Shaw, Stephen Thorne, Sally Cookson and Andrew Hilton. [Rpt of Sun 4.30pm] SUNDAY MAY 20 3 1300-1940 UT: 14:00 Greek Day Sarah Dunant introduces an afternoon of programmes celebrating and investigating our modern day fascination with the Ancient Greeks. Amongst the guest joining her live in the studio for an afternoon of debate, drama, documentaries, and contemporary Greek music will be Sir Peter Hall, playwright Colin Teevan and Prof Paul Cartledge. To help to invoke the Muses, reporter Ian Peacock will be relaying tales from modern Greece in his radio-postcards throughout the day. Listeners can participate in the proceedings by e-mailing their questions to our guests via the Radio 3 web-site. Further details at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/education/betsie/parser.pl/0005/www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/whatson/search/daylist.cgi?service_id=49699&day=Sunday 2 1500-1530 UT: 16:00 The Mario Lanza Story Michael Freedland presents the last in a series on the Italian- American tenor who died aged 38, having amassed great fame from his stage, screen and studio work, despite ongoing personal troubles. 4 1715-1800 UT: 18:15 Pick Of The Week Laurie Taylor presents his selection of highlights from the past week on BBC radio. News follows. 4 1900-1930 UT: 20:00 Feedback Roger Bolton airs listeners' views on BBC radio programmes and policy. 4 2030-2100 UT: 21:30 In Business Peter Day asks where India is heading, finding out how real the celebrated Indian high-technology revolution is and how powerful the appetites are of the country's middle classes. [Rpt of Thu 8.30pm] 3 2115-2200 UT: 22:15 Between The Ears An aural kaleidoscope in 13 parts evoking the blackbird - one of the most familiar and best-loved birds with one of the most beautiful songs in the world. {13 x 45 minutes only about blackbirds?!} 4 2200-2230 UT: 23:00 The Write Stuff James Walton chairs the game of literary correctness, with captains Sebastian Faulks and John Walsh. 4 2230-2300 UT: 23:30 Something Understood Shakespeare's Henry V venerated them, the 19th century writer Stendhal dedicated books to them, and Anita Brookner celebrates them. They are The Happy Few. In this week's Something Understood, Sheena McDonald explains why she too finds the concepts of The Happy Few, for whom the glass is always half full, inspirational. 4 2315-2350 UT: 00:15 Music Afloat Short series about the role of music and musicians in sea journeys across the ages, from epic voyages of discovery to luxury cruises. 2: Musical Encounters, Maps... and Mutiny. Musicians played a crucial part in Captain Cook's historic expeditions. And William Bligh insisted on daily dancing for the crew: did this contribute to the mutiny on the Bounty? MONDAY MAY 21 4 1430-1445 UT: 15:30 Expatriates Five specially commissioned short stories by writers exploring the issue of what it means to live in a foreign land. A common theme is assimilation versus isolation. And expatriation emerges often as something that creeps up on someone living temporarily in a foreign land. When does the trip become permanent? Part 1: Please Excuse My Husband - He's A Vegetarian, by Michèle Roberts. Read by Lindsay Duncan. 'What kind of man is this? Can he really be called a man at all if he doesn't eat meat?'. An English couple retire to rural France where the husband's vegetarianism causes tension in their marriage and the wider community. 4 1445-1500 UT: 15:45 The Olive In a five-part series, Natalie Wheen interweaves the ancient history and legend of this gnarled tree with the story of one year in the life of her own small olive grove on the Greek island of Lesbos. Part 1: The Tree She looks at some of her very oldest trees and talks with her neighbours about the history of this and other groves on the island. Then News. 4 2030-2100 UT: 21:30 A World Without David Aaronovitch and guests fantasise as they debate the merits of a world without one of its constituent parts. Experts and extroverts discuss a world without advertising. Weather follows. 3 2030-2115 UT 21:30 Night Waves Isabel Hilton talks to the zoologist and explorer Tim Flannery, whose latest book, 'The Eternal Frontier', explores the story of North America over the last 65 million years, from dinosaurs to global warming. Plus a look at the first biography of Antoni Gaudi, the architect who spectacularly transformed the city of Barcelona. (What`s On BBC websites, chosen by gh for DXLD) ** U S A. WWCR 12160 at 1515 Saturday 5 May. The Nation of Islam. Farrakhan's group? Not listed on either the WWCR or the Nation's websites (Liz Cameron, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. Re WSJ story on KDKA: Yes, but its first paragraph starts off with a blatant error: PITTSBURGH -- On Nov. 6, 1920, Leo Rosenberg climbed into a wooden shack on the roof of a Westinghouse plant here, picked up a converted telephone mouthpiece and uttered the first words ever carried by a commercial radio station: "We shall now broadcast the election returns." NOT TRUE! This is an urban legend, hoax, Westinghouse PR from long ago, whatever you want to call it. I didn't see the entire article, but if it is as poorly researched as the opening paragraph, it isn't worth anyone's time (Barry Mishkind, NRC-AM via DXLD) Barry, I don't care who uttered the first words, or why you have your opinion, but it is still - in my opinion a good article and you should read it all. Sure, lots of stations have stories on when they first came on the air, and the shack at Westinghouse is only one of them. But the things in the article that most interested me had to do with KDKA's hanging in there in spite of such problems as having to cope with FM, TV, tapes, CDs, and the Internet. And they still remain # 1 in the Pittsburgh market (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, Pa., ibid.) ** U S A. Though they don't simulcast, KENS-5 "operates" KBEJ-2 and in some sort of an ego trip Belo has just merged their ID's. See http://home.swbell.net/pjdyer/fred-2.htm for an extended look at the saga ...73, (Pat Dyer, WA5IYX, via John Tudenham, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Program "Women In Business," airing after 0030 Thursday news on VOA to Americas, announced this week it has finished its year-long run. Host said program would be replaced by a repeat of the Sunday "Kaleidoscope" program (Mike Cooper, Atlanta, DXLD) More and more repeats. Talk to America topics for this week were still not posted as of Thursday night. If such cutbacks were happening at RCI there would be an Action Committee forming (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. New Hoover Exhibit Features `Voices' of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (at Stanford) http://news.excite.com/news/bw/010517/ca-hoover-institution (via Artie Bigley) ** U S A. Thomas Rawlins sends in this info on a useful new scanner site- In the May 2001 issue of Monitoring Times, on page 89 there is an article on "New Online Scanner Database". This is a scanner frequency database that currently consists of more than two million frequencies and is updated weekly. So check out this very well put together Web Site at http://www.cityfreq.com In the first screen, you click on your State ( Michigan ); then on the next screen, scroll and find your city, then click on it. You will find a very detailed list of your local frequencies. This a very user-friendly site, one you will surely Bookmark (MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. WHYY previews: these repeat UT Sat May 19 at 0400 and 0500 respectively webcast via http://www.whyy.org : RADIO TIMES with Marty Moss-Coane 10AM-NOON Hour One: NPR News Analyst Daniel Schorr talks about his new memoir "Staying Tuned: A Life in Journalism." Long a familiar face to American television-news viewers, and more recently a familiar voice to public-radio listeners, Daniel Schorr recounts his 60-plus-year career covering some of the most significant events of the last century. Hour Two: We remember the life and career of Douglas Adams, author of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series of radio programs and later books. Adams died last week at the age of 49. Our guests include: Mike Simpson, the Research Archivist for "Welcome to ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha," the Official Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Appreciation Society in London, and Mark Maxon, the Editor of Douglas Adams' project H2G2, the Earth Edition (internet version) of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! The Radio Times toll free call-in number is 1-888-477-WHYY (1-888-477-9499). (Repeated at midnight) (via Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA. 7230, Radio Yugoslavia. Excellent signal from 2140 with Serbian px, into En from 2200 with opening annct about resumption of SW transmissions from site in Bosnia. May 18 (Matt Francis, Canberra, AUSTRALIA, ARDXC via DXLD) ** YUGOSLAVIA. Sr. Jorge García, Estimado amigo de Radio Yugoslavia: Tenemos el agrado de informarle que, después de casi nueve meses de interrupción, hemos reiniciado nuestras emisiones en onda corta. HORARIO (UT) FRECUENCIA (MHz) AZIMUT 19.00-19.30 7.220 250 23.00-23.30 9.680 265 Le agradeceríamos confirmarnos -por correo electrónico o postal- la calidad de recepción y difundir esta información a otros aficionados a la escucha. Atentamente, La Redacción Radio Yugoslavia Hilandarska 2 11000 Belgrado Yugoslavia E-mail: radioyu@bitsyu.net (May 16 via Jorge García Rangel, Barinas, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi Glenn, How you doing? I was wondering if you knew who that new Spanish Station is on 4815 kHz in the mornings? Heard here in Lake Worth Florida between 1000 and 1100 UTC. It comes on after 1000 without any NA or anything. By the time there's any kind of ID, the conditions have changed so much, it's impossible to copy. Anyway, if you know, I sure appreciate your help. Thank you (Chuck Bolland, FL, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nope, but on the lookout ###