DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-085, May 17, 2003
edited by Glenn Hauser, ghauser@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.
Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not
having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of
noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits
HTML version of this issue will be posted later at
http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3e.html
For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see
http://www.worldofradio.com/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
NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1182:
RFPI: Sun 0530, 1130 [maybe; see CR], 1830, Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue
1900, Wed 0100, 0700/0830, 1300/1430 on 7445 and/or 15039
WWCR: Sun 0230 5070, 0630 3210, Wed 0930 9475
WJIE: [maybe] Sun 1030, 1630 7490 and/or 13595
WBCQ: Mon 0445 7415
WRN ONDEMAND:
http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24
OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html
[Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1182.rm
(Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1182.ram
[High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1182h.rm
(Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1182h.ram
(Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1182.html
** AUSTRALIA. On two occasions this coming week, RA will not be
emanating from Shepparton. Aerials are in two groups in 1.5 sq km
area. J group is a collexion of curtains and two rhombics, favoring SE
Asia, Japan, NW Pacific, etc. J had work on transmission lines a few
years ago, a bit of a disaster; since then working on handicap with
reduced power, some frequencies not accessible. Lines are now being
replaced or modified to enable them to work over full frequency range
and full power. Aerials out of service while working on transmission
lines. For a period of hours on Tue and Wed, will be off the air. Tue,
whole station will be quiet, 0500-0900 UT; Wed, local time, P =
Pacific transmissions on but J aerials for English, Indonesian, Tok
Pisin will be off air. Need to switch off all the antennas when using
sensitive measuring equipment. Wed, will also have staff members
working inside transmission lines with 100 kW, so must be off for
safety, OSH issue. As we go into solar minimum, J6 and J9 = 6 and 9
MHz curtains are constrained only to use certain frequencies;
afterwards, J6 for example will be usable all the way from 5.9 to 6.2
MHz, to access clear channels more readily. Plan subject to change:
Tue 20 May silent 0500-0900 UT; Later UT Tue from 2100, frequencies
reduced for a 12 hour period. Brandon, Cox Peninsula, and offshore
relays, webstream unaffected (Nigel Holmes with Roger Broadbent, RA
Feedback May 16, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BOLIVIA. 5580.21, R. San José, San José de Chiquitos noted 2312-
2350 YL and OM, deep fades, no music, 16 May. Anyone else hearing
this? (Bob Wilkner, FL, R-75 and NRD535D noise reducing antenna, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** BURUNDI. Re 6140 reactivated: Hi Glenn, absolutely no sign of it
here. Could someone in Africa check this? 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland,
May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. CRTC AWARDS FOUR NEW RADIO LICENCES
By KEITH DAMSELL, MEDIA REPORTER, Thursday, May 15, 2003 - Page B4
The federal broadcasting regulator has awarded four new radio licences
to serve the Southern Ontario twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo,
including an FM dance station to CanWest Global Communications Corp.
The Beat, to be broadcast by CanWest at 91.5 FM, is expected to begin
operations "sooner than later," said a company spokesman. To win the
licence, CanWest has committed to broadcasting 40 per cent Canadian
content -- 5 per cent above the minimum 35 per cent -- and will spend
$2.1-million on local artist development over the seven-year licence
term.
The hip-hop dance station targeting young adults is the TV and
newspaper giant's second radio service in Canada. In February, CanWest
began operating a jazz radio station in its hometown of Winnipeg. The
company has radio applications pending in Montreal and Edmonton.
In its addition to the Beat, the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission awarded three additional FM licences:
A country music station to small private broadcaster Larche
Communications Inc.
A Christian music station to non-profit charity Sound of Faith
Broadcasting.
A native radio station to Toronto broadcaster Aboriginal Voices Radio
Inc.
The four services were chosen from among 10 applicants, a group that
included a proposed mainstream hit music station from Rogers
Broadcasting Ltd., a unit of Toronto holding company Rogers
Communications Inc. In its decision, the CRTC said approval of the
Rogers application "would not contribute to the diversity" of voices
serving the market, noting the company already owns two radio stations
and a cable TV service in the region.
At present, three major broadcasters operate five commercial radio
stations serving Kitchener-Waterloo: Rogers' AM news station and an FM
pop music station; CHUM Ltd.'s AM talk radio station and an FM rock
service; and a single FM music station in nearby Cambridge owned by
Corus Entertainment Inc. (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD)
Haven`t seen the CRTC info about this yet (Westenhaver)
The following is a digest of decisions released today (May 14) by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for four
new radio stations to serve Kitchener-Waterloo, twin cities located
about 60 miles west of Toronto. The estimated population of Kitchener-
Waterloo in 2002 was 437,542, making it the eleventh-largest radio
market in Canada (From Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada)
1/ The Commission approves the application by Global Communications
Limited for a licence to operate a new Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio
FM station serving Kitchener-Waterloo. The station will operate at
91.5 MHz (channel 218B) with an effective radiated power of 3,600
watts.
Global¹s proposed station is one of four new FM radio stations
authorized in decisions issued today to provide service to the
Kitchener-Waterloo area. In total, these decisions deal with ten
applications for new FM radio stations that were considered at the 28
October 2002 Public Hearing in Kitchener.
2/ The Commission approves the application by Larche for a licence to
operate a new English-language FM radio programming undertaking
serving Kitchener-Waterloo. The station will operate at 99.5 MHz
(channel 258A) with an effective radiated power of 1,600 watts. It
will be a new Country FM station
3/ The Commission approves the application by Sound of Faith for a
licence to operate a low-power English-language specialty FM radio
programming undertaking at Kitchener-Waterloo. The station will
operate on frequency 94.3 MHz (channel 232LP), with an effective
radiated power of 50 watts.
4/ The Commission approves the application by Aboriginal Voices Radio
Inc. for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-, French-, and
Aboriginal-language Native Type B FM radio station in Kitchener-
Waterloo at 102.5 MHz (Channel 273A) with an effective radiated power
of 460 watts (via Harry & Brenda van Vugt, DXLD)
** CEUTA. 1584, RadiOlé, MAY 14, 2327 - man in Spanish, then musical
interlude; way over SER [mainland Spain]. This was one of the first
TA's fading in: imagine if it ran big power! + MAY 15 0011 - Spanish
pop vocal, then woman mentioned Melilla; HUGE signal! (Mark Connelly,
Rockport, MA (GC= 70.622 W / 42.667 N) (Granite Pier) Receiver: Drake
R8A Antenna system: 2 m per side square broadband loop, 1.8 m active
whip, 46 m wire, Superphaser-2 phasing unit, NRC-AM via DXLD)
** CHINA. A couple of strong Chinese transmitters (serving to jamm
Radio Free Asia transmissions?) with CNR 1 can be heard here in the
middle of Europe between 0400-0600 UT (and also before and after...)
on 17525, 17615 (very strong - a Hi-Fi reception), 17880 kHz. They are
much stronger than regular CNR 1 transmitters from Beijing on 17550,
17580, 17605 and 17890 kHz listed with 100 kW. GOOD DX, (Karel Honzik
the Czech Republic (Czechia), AOR AR-7030 30 m Long Wire, hard-core-dx
via DXLD)
** COSTA RICA. RFPI`s program schedule must be regarded as highly
variable, even before 0600 UT. On UT Sat May 17, the scheduled 0130
airing of WORLD OF RADIO did not start until 0207, tho it was the new
edition 1182. The scheduled 2330 Sat airing must not have happened, as
at 2357 check something else was on 7445 and 15039; upon recheck at
0030 after DX Partyline on HCJB, the RFPI Mailbag was in progress and
that ended at 0037.
From the last 7 minutes of that show, I learnt that it was produced on
May 13, and apparently they now intend to do a new Mailbag on Tuesdays
rather than Friday or Saturday. Still working on live streaming; that
was tested for 4 or 5 days, but has problems with congestion,
choppiness; listeners invited to try [no URL given; it used to be
http://195.210.0.134:8004/listen.pls but this would not work when
checked at 0219 UT May 18]. On SW, 15040 is back, at 90% power;
reception reports wanted, observing when it peaks, compared to 7445,
to help decide what hours to run it; for now and a few days it is
continuous like 7445, which has also been tweaked (James and Naomi,
RFPI Mailbag, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CZECHOSLOVAKIA. 80 YEARS OF RADIO BROADCASTING IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
50 YEARS OF TELEVISION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
In May there are two important anniversaries on the territory of
Czechoslovakia (which now includes the Czech Republic and Slovak
Republic): 80 years of radio and 50 years of television.
Czechoslovakia was the second country in Europe to start regular radio
broadcasts in May 1923. The first country was the United Kingdom in
1921. Regular television broadcasts started in Czechoslovakia in May
1953 (Karel Honzik, Czechoslovak DX Club (CSDXC) http://www.dx.cz
hard-core-dx via DXLD)
** ECUADOR [and non]. This appears to be based entirely on the HCJB
press release published here weeks ago, but anyway –--
HCJB SHARPENS FOCUS ON LATIN AMERICA -- May 16, 2003
QUITO, ECUADOR - HCJB World Radio is refocusing its radio ministries
in Latin America for greater impact in the region and as part of a
strategic global media mix. . .
http://www.jesusjournal.com/articles/publish/article_398.html
(via Mike Terry, DXLD)
If you read this in time, a reminder to check VIVA MIAMI, UT Sun May
18 at 0330 on WRMI 7385, for Allen Graham with new news about HCJB.
That show normally repeats: Sun 0930 on 9955, 1200-1300 and 2200-2230
on 15725, but some of those might be the Spanish version. There was
nothing new about the situation on this week`s DXPL (Glenn Hauser, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** GERMANY [non]. Radio RASANT from IRRS-Shortwave on 13,840 and 5,780
Radio Rasant the students' radio of the Realschule in Sundern
(Germany) will be airing via IRRS-Shortwave on Sat & Sun May 17 and
May 18, 2003 at the following times:
May 17, 2003 at 0830-0930 UT on 13,840 kHz
May 17, 2003 at 1930-2030 UT on 5,780 kHz
repeated at the same time & freqs on Sunday May 18. IRRS-Shortwave is
on 13,840 kHz Sat & Sun from 0800-1200 UT, and daily every evening on
5,780 kHz from 1900-2030 UT. We will be glad to receive reports to:
reports@nexus.org
Check also http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules and
http://www.radiorasant.org, email: info@radiorasant.org
Best 73, (Ron Norton, NEXUS-IBA support, PO Box 11028, 20110 Milano,
Italy ph: +39 02 70606603 - fax: +39 02 70638151 e-mail :
ron@nexus.org http://www.nexus.org Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD)
** INDIA. AIR Patna of Bihar State is noted today on 11620 & 9595 sign
on at 0015 UT. They are noted announcing the SW frequency. Usually
these are External Service frequencies (Urdu, English etc.) AIR Patna
usually operates on 621 kHz.
[Later:] About AIR Patna heard on 9595 & 11620, my investigations have
revealed that, the 100 kW MW Transmitter of AIR Patna on 621 kHz is
having some problems. So for the last two days their programs are
relayed via Delhi on 11620 kHz! This will continue for a couple more
days only.
The monitored schedule on 11620 is:
Transmission I 0015 to around 0400 UT
Transmission II 0630 to around 0930
Transmission III 1130 to around 1741
There will be extended broadcasts on Sunday. Most of the programs are
in Hindi and some programs in Urdu were also monitored.
The External & other Home Services on 11620 are cancelled for this.
AIR Patna is already announcing 11620 in their broadcasts. 9595 was
also noted in parallel today for the first transmission only.
Patna is the capital of Bihar State in Northern India.
It is a rare occasion. So keep watching this interesting transmission
on 11620.
The address of AIR Patna is:
Superintending Engineer
All India Radio
Frazer Road
Chhaju Bagh
Patna 800001
Bihar
Their following email ID seems to be working: cbspatna@sancharnet.in
The other email ID I have is not accepting my messages.
73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS/AT0J, May 17, dx_india via DXLD)
Having such a SW backup for an ailing MW transmitter is fine, but at
the expense of numerous external services? Shows where AIR`s
priorities lie! (gh, DXLD)
** INDIA [and non]. AIR, BBC TALK SWAP
If all goes according to plan, Indians in Britain will soon be able to
hear desi numbers from All India Radio (AIR) on BBC's domestic FM
channels while people here will be able to listen to entertainment and
lifestyle programmes from the Beeb courtesy AIR. An hour-long meeting
between senior executives of Prasar Bharati and BBC here on Monday
explored the possibility of swapping airtime on each other's home
turf. If the agreement both sides discussed actually gets signed, the
programme swapping will begin on August 15, Independence Day. The BBC
will be given an equal one-hour slot on AIR's medium wave.
While there is a restriction on BBC dishing out news and current
affairs, no such conditions inhibit AIR programmes in the UK. "If we
can raise money on the BBC programme, we can have it," said a senior
Prasar Bharati official. However, the BBC sounds a little cautious by
pointing out that no agreement has yet been clinched. "A meeting was
held on Monday which dealt with a wide range of issues; no agreement
was reached on any of these," a BBC World Service spokesperson said on
Wednesday. - The Times of India (From : Indiantelevision.com) Regds,
(via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, DXLD)
** INDIA. On the subject of dangers in broadcasting. Picked up a few
years ago. /Olle
HOW A COBRA BROUGHT AIR TO EARTH
All India Radio's Gulbarga (in Karnataka) station announcer was up on
air when a cobra decided to bring him to earth. It crawled up the
station steps, sneaked into his studio and made its presence known by
a couple of majestic hisses. The next thing anybody knew, the
programme was off air. For, the snake -- an inquisitive fellow --
undertook an exploratory journey of the studio. He crawled under
tables, over wires and cables, unmindful of the people around -- he
wasn't afraid of them; if they were afraid of him, well, tough luck!
He crawled on, heading straight for the anchor's chair. Which was more
than what either the announcer or his cameramen could take. They air-
navigated the room and, in 5 seconds flat, was out of the doors. Once
outside, it was a mad rush towards the nearest telephone. Soon, police
and forest officials, armed with sticks and nets, rushed to the
station. The next hour, they moved chairs, looked under tables and
even rolled up the carpet (while the scheduled programme remained off
air, and the station relayed Dharwad AIR). But no luck! The slithery
villain was nowhere to be found. The brave officials looked some more,
but the cobra remained unfound. Till, finally, it got tired of the
game, crawled out from inside the toilet it was hiding and went its
way! The station resumed broadcast immediately.
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2000/01/10/stories/0410227j.htm
UNI (via Olle Alm, Sweden, DXLD) Only gets to indiaserver recipes
** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. Exciting offshore radio news
From http://www.mvcommunicator.com/4693.html
On 27 March 2003, The Super Station acquired the radio ship MV
Communicator for use as a radio station. Unfortunately, any thoughts
of broadcasting have been severely delayed due to vandals entering the
ship and smashing up much of the equipment, leaving us with massive
repair bills.
Our main priority at the moment is to bring the MV Communicator back
from Pampushaven in the Netherlands to Essex, UK so we can carry out
repairs and restore her to her former glory as a working radio ship.
We will be launching "The Communicator Club" very soon. Membership of
the club will provide you with an exclusive newsletter, trips to see
the ship once she returns to the UK, and progress reports as we
continue work on her. Discounts on merchandise will also become
available. Funds from the membership will help to finance the
extensive repairs we need to carry out.
Once repairs to the ship are complete, our aim is to launch a live
twenty four hour radio station, broadcasting a mixture of hot A.C. and
soft rock.
Very soon we will be publishing recently taken photographs of the
ship. This will enable you to witness the scale of the damage, and
give you an idea of the extent of repairs needed in order to make the
dream of bringing this ship back to life a reality.
In May 2002, Dave Miller called Janie Ash, the former Managing
Director of a radio station in Belfast where they both worked, for a
chat about a mad idea of saving a radio ship from the scrap yard.
To his amazement she thought the idea of preserving a piece of radio
history, while at the same time creating a brand new vibrant radio
station was a thrilling prospect.
Through the lengthy process of purchasing the ship, both Dave and
Janie remained committed and hopeful that Clear Channel Communications
(the previous owner of The Communicator) would finally sell to them
for an affordable price and not scrap her.
On 27 March 2003, Dave and Janie flew to Amsterdam to meet Rob Van Der
Vegt from Clear Channel to take another look at the vessel and take
ownership of her. It was a huge achievement after months of complex
negotiations. As they both stepped on board the smiles disappeared as
they looked around to see that vandals had been on board and wrecked
the ship. A deal was struck and the ship was transferred over so that
work could commence with immediate effect.
In May 1984 Laser 558 appeared from the radio ship MV Communicator
anchored in the North Sea. Its All American DJ's soon attracted a cult
audience of 10 million loyal listeners. Independent Local radio
stations were not only losing listeners but advertising revenue as
well.
Laser 558 always disputed the "pirate" tag and in a press release from
the New York Office Roy Lindau President of MMI, the Worldwide Sales
Group for the station stated "that unlike other pirate stations of the
past Laser 558 is a legal station, since the ship is registered
outside of Europe, transmits from International Waters, is owned by a
Panamanian company and staffed and supplied by citizens of The United
States Of America.
Big American Personalities became household names all over Europe.
Jessie Brandon, Rick Harris, David Lee Stone, Steve Masters, Holly
Michaels, Craig Novak, Chris Carson, Tommy Rivers and of course
Charlie Wolf.
Contact details:
The Super Station, Suite 449, 305 Madison Avenue, New York NY 10165
USA Or email: info@mvcommunicator.com (via Mike Terry, DXLD)
** ISRAEL. There was a three hour programme on the "Time Tunnel"
oldies show between 12.00 - 15.00 today (14/05/03) on Radius 100FM
here in Israel, to the Voice of Peace. This being on a day that a
tribute is going to be paid to Abie Nathan, the founder of the VOP at
the Tzavta theatre in Tel-Aviv. Lots of Israeli artists will be
performing and the proceeds will go to the costs of Abie's treatment.
To remind your readers, Abie has suffered two strokes, leaving him in
a wheelchair, and barely able to talk. The programme consisted of VOP
Jingles, excerts from Kenny Page, Tim Sheperd, commercials, Twilight
Time, and other famous moments from the VOP's 20 year history. It was
broadcast on the station Radius, which broadcasts on 100 FM; the
station that took over the old VOP frequency. The VOP closed down in
October of 1993, and Radius started in September of 1995. The
programme was also broadcast through their website
http://www.100FM.co.il which also has a camera showing live pictures
from the studio. The Israeli radio station is paying tribute to the
VOP now (1200-1500 Israel local time) on 100 FM or through the
Internet at the above web address. There will be a special benefit
tonight a 8 pm in Tel-Aviv to help the recovery of Abie Nathan, who
has suffered two strokes in the past few years (Mike Brand, Earthradio
via Mike Terry, DXLD)
** ITALY. IRRS: See GERMANY non
** NETHERLANDS. Radio 10 FM will leave 675 by the end of September: --
Subject: [A-DX] Radio Tien FM: AM nur noch bis September
Hallo Liste! Vor allem für Nordrhein- Westfalen und Emsländer
interessant: Radio 10 (Tien) FM sendet nur noch bis September 2003 auf
675 khz. Von Juni- September kommen in den Niederlanden 19 Füllsender
zu den beiden Hauptfrequenzen (103,0/103,3 MHz) hinzu. Dann werden
statt 22% 60 % der NL- Landesfläche erreicht werden. Quelle: Radio 10
FM (war da Donnerstag nach Ostern). (Demnächst mehr im RADIO KURIER)
Gruß in die Runde (aus Franken Hendrik Leuker, Germany, A-DX via Kai
Ludwig, DXLD)
** NIGERIA. VON`s English program schedule grid now updated, for
April-September 2003, with no breaks from 0450 to 2300, all on 15120?
--- and ??: http://www.voiceofnigeria.org/english.html Drop-down menu
for other languages available (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA [and non]. FEBC Announces New Station in Russia
FEBC St. Petersburg, 1089 AM
---------------------------------
Far East Broadcasting Company's Russian Ministries
http://www.febc.org/russia http://www.radiotserkov.ru
have purchased the long established AM station Teos St. Petersburg,
enabling FEBC to establish a full time local radio ministry in the
second-largest city of Russia. FEBC St. Petersburg, 1089 AM, will
broadcast to some five million people in the Greater St. Petersburg
area on a 20 kW medium wave transmitter.
Since 1 May 2003, 1089 AM has been on the air with FEBC organised
programmes from 7.00 to 24.00 h local time daily. The main emphasis of
the station is on Christian evangelism and building a bridge between
the community and Christian congregations, modelled after FEBC
Moscow's ministry in connecting radio listeners with local churches in
the area. Types of programmes on the station will include Bible
teaching, counselling, talk-shows and music.
Far East Broadcasting Company originally started out as a missionary
radio station on short wave but since the 90s has moved to a more
diversified approach establishing more and more local FM and AM
stations. In the case of Russia, FEBC short wave broadcasting started
in the late 40s from the Philippines, while local ministries started
in 1992 with programmes in Khabarovsk. Today, there are several
regional ministries while nationwide coverage is still provided by
some ten hours via short wave station KGEI [sic] Saipan. In the 90s
activities mainly concentrated on Siberia and Ukraine, but more
recently FEBC's Russian Ministries also moved to European Russia.
"Radiotserkov" first broadcast radio programmes in St. Petersburg in
June 2002 from another local station (three hours on Olguno 684 kHz,
10 kW).
It should be noted that beside Russian FEBC also maintains many other
programmes in national and regional languages of the former USSR.
While many of the programmes are produced within the Russian
federation, FEBC still actively seeks overseas funding especially
among US donors (Dr. Hansjoerg Biener, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SWEDEN. Regarding PLC in Sweden it has suffered a lot of setbacks
during the last years. Sydkraft, Sweden's second large power company,
has in practice halted all its grand plans on PLC for most of southern
Sweden. It is cheaper and more effective to use ADSL on common phone
lines.
My guess is that the state controlled Vattenfall, Sweden's dominant
power company, eventually will come up with the same conclusion. Song
Networks, the Vattenfall partner, a broadband company, has been
balancing on the fine edge of bankruptcy for the last few years and
will not have that much money to drown in PLC. Vattenfall is also
running huge losses on its broadband operations, with adventures into
wireless broadband for urban as well as rural areas (Hermod Pedersen,
Web Editor DX LISTENING DIGEST) See
also PLC section at bottom
[If this issue seem a bit bottom-heavy, it`s because we held over a
lot of UK and USA stuff from last issue ---- gh]
** U K. CORPORATION CHIEF REJECTS 'MYTHS' ABOUT BROADCASTER
By Tim Burt Published: May 12 2003 5:00 | Last Updated: May 12 2003
5:00
Gavyn Davies wants to nail "a few myths" about the BBC. The chairman
of the world's largest publicly-funded broadcaster denies the BBC is
too rich, too commercial and wary of outside regulation. . .
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1051389928557
(via Jill Dybka, Mike Cooper, DXLD)
** U K. BBC Management Training --- The big question is if this will
really result in better programs (From the London Telegraph, May 15,
2003 via Roger Chambers, Utica, New York)
BBC TO SPEND MILLIONS ON LEADERSHIP TRAINING COURSES
By Tom Leonard, Media Editor (Filed: 15/05/2003)
The BBC is to send more than 5,000 staff on an eight-day residential
management training course in a multi-million pound campaign to
improve leadership, Greg Dyke, the director-general, is to announce
today.
Greg Dyke
Mr Dyke, who joined the corporation pledging to cut costs and
management bureaucracy, is expected to tell staff that the BBC can
make better programmes if it is better led. It will be compulsory for
every member of staff in any sort of managerial role to attend the
course at the Ashridge business management school in Hertfordshire.
The school, a country house set in 150 acres near Berkhamsted, offers
training in jargon-wrapped subjects such as "action learning",
"appreciative inquiry" and improvisation workshops.
The BBC's leadership training programme, which will partly be
conducted by some of its managers, will include advice on motivating
and appraising staff, dealing with poor performance and an element of
role play.
The corporation intends to put an initial 5,000 people through the
course over the next three years, and then 1,500 during each
successive year. The course will be the same for everyone, whether the
director of television or a reception desk supervisor.
As there are 23,000 staff at the BBC, the corporation is giving
between a fifth and a quarter of them management training - a high
proportion compared with many businesses that use such courses. The
BBC spends around £40 million a year on training, most of it devoted
to technical skills such as operating cameras and presenting. A
spokesman said the leadership initiative would be out of its training
budget but insisted other areas would not suffer as a result.
He said a recent consultation process with staff had revealed that
their main complaint was over the standard of management, with many
accusing their bosses of bullying them. The BBC refused to comment on
the cost of the initiative for reasons of commercial confidentiality
but admitted it would run into millions of pounds.
Working on the basis that similar week-long training courses cost at
least £5,000 per person, the BBC's leadership programme could cost
around £7.5m a year.
The BBC pointed out that many organisations, including the Ministry of
Defence, Tesco and Channel 5, sent their staff on similar courses at
Ashridge. "Whether you manage a thousand members of staff or just one,
you will have to do management training, which we don't think is
unreasonable," said the spokesman. "You may be an excellent programme
maker but that does not mean you are a natural leader. Everyone needs
some help."
He added: "We want to make sure that they're managing staff and not
bullying them. But this is not an exercise to make the place cosier -
it's to make better programmes, which staff will do if they're happy
in their jobs." Despite Mr Dyke's public rejection of the heavy
reliance on management consultants of his predecessor, Lord Birt (then
John Birt), he speaks enthusiastically about the time he spent on a
management course at Harvard.
He has also borrowed heavily from the industry's language. Yesterday's
speech was officially called "The Big Conversation", which was a
response to a staff consultation known as "Just Imagine".
Both events are part of Mr Dyke's "Make It Happen" campaign to improve
the BBC's creativity, which included an earlier stunt to issue "Cut
The Crap" cards for staff to brandish at meetings (via Roger Chambers,
DXLD)
But who's going to save the BBC from the management types?
73- Bill Westenhaver ::
-------
DYKE TELLS BBC TO 'GET HAPPY'
Owen Gibson, Thursday May 15 2003, The Guardian
BBC director general Greg Dyke today hit back at "nonsensical" claims
that he has exhumed the bureaucratic ways of his despised predecessor,
John Birt, by squandering money on away days, leadership academies and
"making it happen" initiatives.
He admitted the corporation still did not have enough good managers
and vowed to invest millions of pounds of licence fee payers' money
into raising standards of leadership.
"There is a deep rooted fear in public organisations that spending
money on your staff is seen as a waste. That's nonsense," he said.
"You get real value in any organisation when your staff feel inspired
and invigorated about what they do. The most important part of my job
is to inspire people who work for the BBC to produce and broadcast
wonderful things," Mr Dyke told thousands of staff today via satellite
link as part of an event dubbed the "Big Conversation".
Among the array of "get happy" initiatives unveiled by the director
general today was a "holiday swapshop".
This gives staff the chance to sell, buy and exchange their holiday
time as part of a set of measures aimed at keeping BBC staff happy and
improving creativity.
Mr Dyke said "a big issue for most people wanting a better work-life
balance was flexibility with leave. Soon, staff will be able to buy
extra days' holiday, sell unwanted days or store them up over time to
take a paid sabbatical".
Other plans aimed at inspiring and retaining staff include a new
annual values awards ceremony, which will "celebrate achievements that
exemplify the BBC values", as well as "creativity training", which
will bring together staff from different BBC departments in an attempt
to generate ideas and collaborations.
The "BBC Values" - another new set of aims - were first published
earlier this year, and include mission statements such as "We take
pride in delivering quality and value for money" and "We respect each
other celebrate our diversity".
Yet another new scheme will take the focus group one step further,
where research specialists are embedded within programme production
teams "to help them get under the skin of audiences and create
inspirational content".
The hefty slate of new plans and initiatives will provide further
ammunition for critics who claim the BBC has become bogged down in
management speak and internal navel-gazing, despite Mr Dyke's repeated
insistence that he would cut bureaucracy and pour more money into
programme making.
Making staff happy to work at the BBC was one of Mr Dyke's primary
objectives when he took over at the helm in January 2000. He told
"whingeing" staff they should "put up or shut up" and started a three-
year "One BBC" programme, involving away days aimed at establishing a
new culture at the corporation.
Today's proposals were the result of consultations with more than
10,000 staff that have taken place over the past year.
Thousands of BBC staff were expected to attend the broadcasts, but
more than 3,000 members of the National Union of Journalists
threatened to boycott them in protest over the sacking of two
colleagues from the World Service.
The event is the latest stage of Mr Dyke's "Make it Happen" programme,
which kicked off last year with the distribution of cards that read
"Cut the Crap - Make it Happen", which employees were encouraged to
brandish at meetings.
Mr Dyke also used the Big Conversation event, which linked over 400
meetings of BBC staff around the country, to defend the decision to
use a slice of the BBC's £40m annual training budget to send more
than 1,500 managers a year on residential leadership courses.
"We've got some great leaders across the BBC who inspire and are
approachable and decisive. But we don't have enough of them because
we've never made a point of valuing and nurturing that kind of
talent."
The eight-day intensive courses, beginning this autumn, will be held
at Ashridge College in Hertfordshire and will be backed by "online
learning, 360 degree feedback and assessments", said Mr Dyke.
The new plans suggest Mr Dyke's oft-repeated call for "more leadership
and less management", first articulated as part of his rallying call
when he became director general, is not filtering through to the BBC's
rank and file.
"Our aim is to create one BBC, where people enjoy their job and are
inspired and united behind the common purpose of making great
programmes and delivering outstanding service," he said in a similar
speech at the time.
One of Mr Dyke's first acts was to cut away some of the red tape that
surrounded Lord Birt's internal market, making hundreds of
redundancies among middle management and introducing a widely
publicised ban on croissants, biscuits and staff taxis within the
organisation.
Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill Westenhaver, DXLD)
** U K. BBC LAUNCHES STAFF DEALS | GREG DYKE JOINED THE BBC IN 2000
A scheme to encourage flexible working for staff has been launched by
the BBC, including the option to buy and sell holiday time. . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3031401.stm
(via Jilly Dybka, DXLD)
You'll remember stories about the sackings back in February. 73- (Bill
Westenhaver, DXLD)
UNION TO SNUB DYKE'S BBC 'CON'
Jason Deans, Tuesday, May 13 2003, The Guardian
Up to 3,000 BBC journalists are planning to rain on director general
Greg Dyke's parade tomorrow by boycotting his much-hyped Big
Conversation speech to staff in protest at the sacking of two
colleagues. Mr Dyke is due to make his speech, part of the much
derided Making It Happen project which was launched last year to make
the BBC a better place to work, to all 20,000 BBC staff at 10am on
Thursday morning. The speech will be broadcast live to the BBC's 150
newsrooms and bureaux around the world.
But BBC members of the National Union of Journalists plan to boycott
the speech, as part of industrial action in support of the two BBC
World Service journalists who were fired on February 18. The NUJ is
claiming the way Adli Hawwari and Abdul-Hadi Jiad were dealt with was
in breach of the union's agreement with BBC management. "In the Big
Conversation Greg Dyke intends to link up the whole of the BBC around
the world to promote his personal message and the new 'values' of the
corporation," an NUJ spokesman said.
"The NUJ sees this as a travesty, given the treatment of these two
long-standing members of staff. The 'Big Conversation' is a 'Big
Con'," he added. In a recent ballot of BBC NUJ members, 63% voted in
favour of limited industrial action short of strike action to help win
the reinstatement of Hawwari and Jiad. The boycott of Dyke's Big
Conversation speech will mark the first step in the campaign of
industrial action. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited (via Bill
Westenhaver, DXLD)
** U S A. People are having trouble with reception of 12160 in the
early morning, so we are working on using 9475 as a step-up frequency.
Details to be announced (Ask WWCR May 1-15, notes by gh for DXLD)
Original schedule for rest of summer has WWCR-3 5070 switching to
12160 at 1200, and 9475 available between 1000 when WWCR-1 finishes
with it, and 1300, when WWCR-4 starts it. So presumably WWCR-3 would
use 9475 at 1200-1300, unless further adjustments be made (gh, DXLD)
** U S A. Over a month after time change, http://wbcq.us still shows
the wrong UT for every listing on the site. Is it no longer updated
regularly? wbcq.net never had this problem; it used a backend database
that automatically updated UT based upon the operating systems offset
from UT (Dan Srebnick, [who mastered the old site], May 17, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [and non]. EARLY PIRATE RADIO DJ STILL CRAZY ABOUT BEING ON
THE AIR --- By Michael Picarella, Acorn Staff Writer
http://www.toacorn.com/news/2003/0515/Front_Page/025.html
In the 1973 movie "American Graffiti" about teenage suburban life on
summer nights in 1962, the voice of radio DJ Wolfman Jack was heard
emanating from every radio in town. Movie characters got out of their
cars listening to the Wolfman and walked into a diner and heard the
same broadcast. Wolfman might have been as popular as the musical
artists themselves.
Thousand Oaks resident DJ Emperor Rosko, born Mike Pasternak, spun
records during the Wolfman Jack era and Rosko continues to provide the
type of entertainment that the Wolfman provided in "American Graffiti"
over an Internet radio station.
"I chose this life from the get go when I picked up my first 45-record
when I was 10 years old. I used to play them in my room and practice
DJing when I was 11," Rosko said. "I'll go to the grave with a
microphone between my teeth."
Rosko started his radio career in the U.S. Navy, broadcasting from an
aircraft carrier. A couple years after his stint ended, music group
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs asked him to make a demo tape for a
pirate radio station off the coast of England.
In the U.K. in 1965, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) was
the only source of broadcast available and would only play talk shows
and classical music, Rosko said. "There was this movement in pop music
that was starting to build from the clubs in Liverpool with The
Beatles and The Who and all those guys, and there was no outlet,"
Rosko said. "So along came pirate radio."
Pirate radio, (mostly unlicensed stations), provided pop and rock
music broadcasts from a ship (and later many other ships) at sea
outside territorial waters.
New and at the time, "wild" music required wild DJs. Rosko's demo tape
for the pirate radio station delivered. He was brought aboard the
original pirate radio station, Radio Caroline.
"For 24 hours a day, off this ship out in the channel, we were
broadcasting nothing but The Beatles and the Stones," Rosko said. "And
that's what gave birth to the pop business in England. And then a few
years later, they all came over here (to the U.S.) and that's what
started the whole British invasion in America."
Nearly 10 million pop and rock 'n' roll listeners tuned into the
highly-rated Emperor Rosko show. Rosko's average routine was two weeks
at sea and one week on land. But Rosko did longer shifts, he said,
because some DJs got seasick.
After four years in the Navy, seasickness meant nothing to Rosko and
he often picked up extra shifts, replacing DJs with weaker stomachs.
Rosko sometimes worked 20-hour shifts. The only bad thing about being
at sea, Rosko recalled, were stormy nights playing records and the
needle sliding off the vinyl during a song.
Rosko moved on to Radio Luxembourg in Paris, then to BBC Radio One and
in 1976, the same year the British edition of Billboard magazine named
Rosko top European DJ. He came back out to California where he was
born because his father, Joe Pasternak, who produced movies like
"Spinout" with Elvis Presley, was ill.
Rosko continued as a disc jockey in his Thousand Oaks home, sending
his show overseas to the U.K. During his career, Rosko received many
awards and has radio experience all over the globe. He thrills at the
mention of his work with Wolfman Jack and Casey Kasem and many others
that helped hone his style, he said.
"My style can be described as a mixture of a dozen of the great
personalities," Rosko said. Overall, he said, his mission is to have
fun. And he spared no expense in his time as a DJ.
Legend has it that Rosko was notorious for throwing records he didn't
like through the portholes of the pirate radio ship, even if the
record label owned the ship. He pulled other stunts, according to
stories, that got him fired more than once.
It's the kind of stuff that should be in a movie, Rosko said. And a
movie is possible. Rosko said there's been talk of a movie about his
life that could star Adam Sandler.
Until then, Rosko is just having fun. You might see him around town.
He operates a DJ service and does parties and special events. Rosko
Party Productions can be reached at (USA) (805) 373-0708.
Rosko also does voice-overs for TV, has recorded some of his own music
and you can watch him in a few movies, including "The Jazz Singer"
with Neil Diamond. He can now be heard at www.classicgolddigital.com
Friday nights beginning at 7 p.m. He tries to put personality back on
the air, he said.
"I grew up in an era when personality disc jockeys were what they
wanted," Rosko said. "Today they don't want personality disc jockeys.
Today they want somebody to say, 'you're listening to...'" There are
exceptions, Rosko said, but not many.
"Basically, all the radio stations got bought by corporations and the
suit mentality is terrified of any kind of controversy, which is what
comes from DJs who are personalities, which is what the listener
wants." But people want personality, Rosko said, and people have
proven in the past that they can get what they want.
"Today they (the corporations) don't want personality disc jockeys,
but who knows," Rosko said, "maybe a pirate station will come along
and change all that." (via Mike Terry, DXLD)
** U S A [non]. 60 YEARS OF AFN IN EUROPE
When I'm looking back at my youth in connection with the subject
radio, then first comes into my mind the many fine evenings listening
to the radio under the blankets. It's not like today that children
watch television up till the late hours. No, we had to go to bed at an
earlier time. Television in Holland was just born and only a few hours
a week it could be watched. That's to say if your parents had a
television. Ours decided to buy one in 1960, a Siemens from Germany.
The three of us shared a big sleeping room and so in the late fifties
we had the opportunity to listen either to the fading signal of Radio
Luxembourg on 208 metres in the AM band or to another station. The
latter was also transmitting in English, although the presenters had
an American accent. They brought us music we never heard before,
including rock and roll and country music. The station was on AM and
became known as AFN Bremerhavn, which was not too far away from our
hometown Groningen and so the station came at a reasonable quality.
If you listened more and more to AFN Bremerhavn you could found out
that a part of the programming came from their own local station. The
other part were programs, which also were aired on sister stations
around the world. Yes, programs which were aimed at the American
soldiers. Only a few years later I found out what AFN, American Forces
Network, really stood for. Next to AFN Bremerhavn there were many
other AFN stations all over the world to provide the soldiers with
news, information, sports, comedy, culture and music. The programs
which went to all stations were delivered in those days on record.
Later on tape, cd's and through satellite feeds. Of course during
the last years also programming has been done with the use of the
modern techniques, including the use of internet.
But the three of us were not the only in our hometown listening to the
sound of AFN. During playtime, at school, we learnt that more of our
age were tuning in and all had the same reason: 'We're hearing things
which we are not allowed to listen to on our Dutch Hilversum 1 and 2.
Music we never heard before. Gorgeous.' It would take more than 10
years up till 1971 before I would be in contact with someone in a
foreign country who also tuned into AFN on a very regular schedule:
Ingo Paternoster. It became clear to me that AFN was his most
favourite station. Both we started to exchange material we had
recorded through the years and we did sent each other spoken letters
in which we talked about our love for radio.
Not much later the first visit from Ingo to Holland was taken, not
only to see me, but also to listen to AFN Shape (Soesterberg) as well
as visiting the studio's of Radio Veronica in Hilversum. Still after
32 years Ingo and I are still in contact and exchanging material of
all kind. But after the first meeting with him I really started to
learn more about AFN and AFRTS. The idea of grounding the station came
about a year before the invasion of the Allies in Europe and was the
brainchild of General Dwight Eisenhower, also known as Ike Eisenhower,
in later years President of the USA.
He had the idea that the American soldiers, far away from home, would
feel better if they could informed on a regular base by radio and
other forms of communications. His first target were the American
soldiers, who were already in British - overcrowded - military camps.
With in mind the forthcoming invasion they had to be informed very
properly.
It was in September of 1942 that a research brought the information
that more and more soldiers got demoralised. This was not only through
the fact that the camps were overcrowded but also due to the growing
fear to be part of World War 2. The soldiers could tune in to the BBC
program but they didn't enjoy the stiff way of presenting of the
British in those days. Also they only got 30 minutes a week of
American music and, yes, 5 minutes of sports information a week.
Information was sent to Washington's White House that due to these
facts more and more soldiers started listening in to the Propaganda
radio stations of the NAZI's.
This development was reason enough for Dwight Eisenhower to contact a
few of his best persons within the Ministry of War: General Everett
Hughes and Mr Brewster Morgan. They got to order to change things very
quickly. Not much later they came with the plan not only to start a
newspaper and a magazine, but also a radio station. From Dwight they
got the free hand to start up these information systems. The newspaper
was earlier used during World War 1 and was called 'Stars and
Stripes'. By the way, it still exists. And it brought the birth of
AFN, the American Forces Network with several low powered
transmitters, nearby or on the several Military Camps in Great
Britain.
Of course after that all over the world such stations have been
brought in where American soldiers were and are active. They can bring
info about the war they're in, but also news and information from
home. Next to stations which have a more permanent status, a lot of
mobile stations were and are used around the world. After World War
two, to mention one of the many, Blue Danube Network was grounded. The
main station was in Vienna (Austria) while two sister stations were
built in the cities of Linz and Salzburg. But also countries as Spain
and Italy got their own AFN stations.
But not only during times of war AFN was and is on air. During the
Cold War many AFN stations were active in countries like Germany and
from Offshore. The Americans used a radio ship, the MV Courier, to
transmit programs off the coast of Rhodes in the Mediterranean [was
this ever for AFN? Or just VOA --- gh]. And if it was AFN Vietnam, AFN
Bosnia, AFN Shape, AFN Berlin, AFN Heidelberg, AFN Balkans or AFN
Iraq, all those were interesting enough to listen to. Of course for me
and Ingo and all those other AFN lovers, mostly by recordings we did
exchange.
During the time, since our very first meeting in 1971, I stayed in
contact with Ingo and we shared our love for radio, with AFN and the
Offshore Radio as the most important within the industry. Up till
March 1993 it was for me possible to tune in to AFN Bremerhavn, after
which the local station was closed down. Ingo had moved from Northern
Germany to Bavaria, years and years ago, and could listen into
stations like AFN Frankfurt and AFN Munich. His top favourite deejays
were Rick Damerest and Bill Switcher.
Lucky enough we and other AFN friends did share and archived a lot of
transmitted material. This resulted in a beautiful production which is
produced and edited by Ingo Paternoster. Almost 130 different tracks
give the listeners of the double cd 60 Years of AFN Europe more than
2,5 hours of listening pleasure. It gives also a bright look at the
fantastic history of this network of radio stations.
The concept idea for this CD is from Dr. John Proven and Ingo has done
all the research and editing of the existing material. Just to
mention a few of the many recordings which can be heard on this double
cd: First of all you`ll be hearing a comic man who was always related
to American Army: Mickey Rooney. There is a speech of General Lucas,
from 1946, which was well conserved. A report from the Nuremberg
Process is one of the other unique things on the CD. Also you will be
hearing recordings of the jubilee program from '5 years AFN Berlin'.
But also a visit by Frank Sinatra to one of the AFN studio's is
brought back on the cd. As everybody knows Elvis Presley did his
military service in Germany and during this period he could be heard a
lot on the AFN stations over there. Also nice it's to hear that for
instance recordings have been saved from AFN Orleans and that in the
program 'On the scene' an item about President Kennedy from the early
sixties has been saved. Many more can be heard on this double cd 60
Years of AFN Europe, including a lot of beautiful promo's,
commercials, air checks, jingles and bloopers.
As told earlier, more than 2.5 hours of listening pleasure. No, I
won't give you a complete index of the double cd. I just suggest to
you to order your own copy. I surely know you won't regret. In the
meantime I've put the cd 60 Years of AFN Europe away on the shelf with
the ten best produced cd's in the history on radio.
The double cd 60 Years of AFN in Europe can now be ordered by sending
20 Euro (the price including postage and packing). For people outside
countries with Euros you can sent in 15 Pounds to: Ingo Paternoster,
Postfach 127, 86439, Zusmarshausen, Deutschland (Hans Knot, via Mike
Terry, DXLD)
** U S A. Re KFHX 1620 Arizona: Where is Fountain Hills? 17 miles NW
from my house in Mesa. It`s up AZ 87 a ways (Kevin Redding, Mesa, NRC-
AM via DXLD)
Well, a close read of the website reveals that they claim to be a non-
profit station (on the "contact us" page), but overall, the site does
indeed have the feel of a commercial station. The station is operated
by the "St. Dominic's Food Bank", and there are many mentions of the
food bank on the website. They also mentioned it on the air just a few
minutes ago. Seems a little high profile for a pirate, but very well
equipped for a part-15.
Actually, there is no real restriction on who can register a .org
domain name. I recently registered 2 of them for my boys' Scout troop
& pack. They're registered to me personally - I didn't have to prove
that I am a non-profit (though a quick look at my checkbook would have
put that issue to rest). Very interesting (Brian Leyton, Valley
Village, CA, ibid.)
I've had it on in my studio for the last half-hour or so. You should
hear the comments from my co-workers! Presently they're featuring the
Sons of the Pioneers, with the singer formerly known as Leonard Sly
(Roy Rogers) along even a vocal turn or two from his wife (the great
Dale Evans). The jock sure knows his "western." I wonder their non-
profit status gets them around the internet music streaming
restrictions the record companies and licensing agencies (ASCAP-BMI-
SESAC) have used to choke Internet broadcasting. At first glance this
seems to be the model for what a community station should be. I would
think they'd be an ideal candidate for LPFM. More power to them ---
unless the 1620 is on the air illegally! (Wally Wawro WFAA-TV, ibid.)
** U S A. Re 1700 heard in Harrisburg PA: WSVA Harrisonburg, VA has a
CP for 1700 kHz U1 10000/1000 with the calls WEZI. How far is that
from you? I don't have my Log here at work so cannot advise as to
their format (Bill in Fort Worth Hale, NRC-AM via DXLD)
** U S A. MEDIA CONCENTRATION [note: we consistently use this term in
dxldmid indexing, not MEDIA CONSOLIDATION or anything else --- gh]
``The F.C.C. vote for further deregulation of radio and television
will take place next month. How do you feel about deregulation, and
have you written to someone in government to voice your views?"
(NRC AM list question of the week)
Although the FCC hasn't released details, preliminary information in a
CBS News report indicates that radio station ownerships will
essentially remain as is. The big changes will be in the number of
television stations owned in a market and cross-ownership of broadcast
(radio/TV) and print (newspaper) media, all by the same company. The
Consumers Union (Consumers Report) has come out against any changes,
and Democratic FCC chairs are still calling for more opportunity for
public review. Visit the CBS News, Consumers Union, and FCC websites
to read the various reports. Personally, Powell and Republican chairs
seem bent on continued deregulation, and any comments from us will
have no effect on the outcome. Monopolies are the going trend these
days, and it's not limited to broadcasting either (Bruce Conti, Nashua
NH, NRC-AM via DXLD)
It's really getting strange. The commissioners (and the rest of the
world) were not given any information at all by FCC chief Powell until
this week, and Powell is refusing to engage in discussion with anyone.
100 legislators quickly asked Powell to delay the vote so that the
proposal could be studied, but he refused on the basis of timetable.
He claims this process should have been completed by the end of 2002
per Congressional mandate for biannual policy reviews.
The second line of defense is that the decision will be no easier or
different in 3 months, so do it now. Politically and realistically, I
think he's foolish to try and cram it down our throats like this. It's
become a fairly big issue and he'll have a political mess on his
hands. Plus, there's a lot of public and legislative desire to avoid
further consolidation; the Clear Channel consolidation to date has
already alarmed people (Chuck Hutton, WA, May 16, NRC-AM via DXLD)
I agree that the Chairman and majority on the FCC are set on putting
the media into even fewer hands than they are now. And since I believe
that the record is very clear that this leads inevitably to less local
programming, less local news/events/emergency coverage, and more dull
sameness of stations, I don't see this as a good thing at all, even
though it is apparently inevitable.
In our the American political system over the past 30-40 years, big
money talks big, and this Administration is only more open about their
intentions than were predecessors.
As a practical matter, however, since CC already owns 1200+ stations,
and dominates the top 100 markets, the proposed changes won't impact
that. And given that CC, Infinity and others own multiple stations in
many markets, adding another station or two won't change much. Nor,
for that matter, will cross-ownership of broadcast and newspapers
within markets.
The damage was done with the earlier breakdown of the broadcast
ownership rules, and it will take far more than this to make things
noticeably worse, IMHO.
But, that said, people are still listening and still watching, pretty
much as they have. Yes, many younger folks may have never heard of AM,
and may not listen to FM much, but that doesn't seem to change the
numbers much, and it's far to early to tell what impact satellite
radio will have, and the internet as a music source is still evolving.
So, I think it'll be same old same old.
Many other things are being crammed down our throats by government, so
why should this be any different? And I doubt there's sufficient
serious Congressional concern - I think a lot of it is merely lip
service to try to show people that they're on top of things, but that
in the end, the lobbyists for mega-media will carry the day and
Congress will take no action, and it will get crammed anyway.
(Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.)
Oh, man, don't even start me. I wholeheartedly oppose consolidation in
the media. I called my Senator, Frank Lautenberg, who's on the
Commerce Committee, to urge him to call for hearings on deregulation.
Here's why.
1. Monopoly is bad.
I guess I'd make a good turn-of-the-century Progressive. I think
capitalism and free enterprise is great, but monopoly is harmful to
both the public and free enterprise. In fact, it's a market failure.
The government has the right, and in many cases a duty, to regulate
private enterprise to protect the public welfare. History shows that
anytime a corporation or small group of corporations gets too much
market power the public (workers and consumers both) suffers. I can
provide many, many examples of this.
2. Further concentration in the media will continue to slant news
coverage.
Conservatives regularly trot out the "liberal media" whipping boy, but
they really mean the NY Times and LA Times. I can't name a single
liberal radio or TV show. Except for Jon Stewart, but he's on Comedy
Central. The broadcast media is already overwhelmingly conservative.
Witness the coverage of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. There was
the Fox News Channel, and other cable outlets trying not to get out-
Foxed. Then there was Clear Channel's patriotic chest-beating and
censorship of the Dixie Chicks. Try renting Michael Moore's "Bowling
for Columbine" at Blockbuster. Contrast all that with the BBC's much
more evenhanded and, at times, critical coverage; reflect that the BBC
is owned by the British government [sic --- see UK!], but that the
government is prohibited from influencing its editorial policies. We
might as well get it over with and appoint Rupert Murdoch Minister of
Propaganda.
Gee, could the US media be giving the Bush administration favorable
coverage so that it will look equally favorably on policies which will
benefit the media corporations? Any unspoken favors being exchanged
here? Nah, that's crazy talk.
3. Concentration of ownership will stunt the free exchange of ideas.
My point here is closely related to my second point. Again, take the
invasion of Iraq. Where could someone go to get an alternative or
critical viewpoint? Well, I had to go to the BBC, both on cable and on
SW. There simply wasn't an alternative to Fox and the Fox-lite cable
news channels. Witness also the killing of LPFM, at the behest of the
media companies (including, unfortunately, NPR). The media
corporations simply don't want any competition, no matter how small.
Sure, we have the First Amendment, but what good does it REALLY do if
you can't get access to the broadcast or print media to get your views
heard?
The bottom line.
Here's three easy steps to transform a representative democracy into a
plutocracy. (1) Make sure that corporations can influence the
political process. The more influence they have, the better. (2) Do
not provide citizens with diverse viewpoints on political issues.
We'll tell them how to think. (3) Make sure that citizens cannot
translate their deviant opinions into meaningful political actions.
Let them protest all they want, for all the good it will do them.
Concentration of ownership will go a long way toward achieving the
first and second steps (David Hochfelder, NJ, NRC-AM via DXLD)
** U S A. From the home of Clear Channel, here`s a quite different
spin on what is going on at the FCC! (gh)
FCC REVIEW COULD CLIP CLEAR CHANNEL
By L.A. Lorek, Express-News Business Writer
Web Posted : 05/17/2003 12:00 AM
The Federal Communications Commission is looking at limiting how many
radio stations a company can own in a single market as part of its
June 2 review of media ownership rules, according to Commissioner
Kathleen Abernathy. The FCC will review six media ownership rules. . .
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=110&xlc=997676
(via Mike Terry, DXLD)
** U S A. FCC RULE-CHANGE RERUN SPURS INTEREST IN SMALLER BROADCASTERS
By MARTIN PEERS and JOE FLINT
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Federal regulators relax TV-station ownership rules. Analysts predict
a feeding frenzy of deals as broadcasters race to take advantage of
liberalized ownership rules. Paxson Communications chief Bud Paxson
says he feels like the "prettiest girl" at the dance.
Sound like headlines from this week? No. That was the story1 in August
1999, the last time the Federal Communications Commission changed the
television-ownership rules. With the FCC preparing to further
deregulate the industry, the market seems to be following the same
script. In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Paxson even repeated his
"prettiest girl" description of his company.
Some investors in small broadcasting companies are pulling out their
rabbit-ear antennae, hoping to hear signals from the big networks.
Indeed, stocks of independent station groups like Sinclair
Broadcasting Group, Hearst-Argyle Television and Granite Broadcasting
have made gains in recent weeks in anticipation of the changes.
Buyers might be getting ahead of themselves, however. The frenzy
didn't materialize in 1999, and there is no guarantee it will happen
this time around, either. Hearst-Argyle, for instance, was expected to
be a buyer after the 1999 changes. It ended up adding just two
stations, including one it already managed. Its current station count
is 27 (including stations it manages but doesn't own).
[image]
The general consensus is that the 1999 rule changes didn't go far
enough to prompt more sweeping consolidation, and while the expected
changes this time will create some activity, just how much won't be
clear until the details of the new rules are clarified in several
weeks.
The proposals now under discussion at the FCC appear to be more
far-reaching than those in 1999. FCC Chairman Michael Powell wants to
raise to 45% the national ownership cap that now limits broadcasters
to owning stations reaching 35% of television households. Also
proposed is a relaxation of the ban on a company owning a newspaper
and a TV station in the same market, at least for bigger markets. And
he wants to extend changes in 1999 that allowed broadcasters to own
two stations in a market, known as a "duopoly." Most dramatically, a
company could own as many as three stations in really big markets --
as long as only one is among the top four.
Here's the problem, however: News Corp. and Viacom, among those
pushing for the changes, already have been the most aggressive in
acquiring TV stations. Both are already over the existing
station-ownership cap, with stations reaching close to 40% of the
country, so the higher limit would simply legitimatize what they
already own (and have been operating under a waiver of the existing
cap, pending changes to the rules).
That isn't stopping some big investors from thinking lightning can
strike again, however. "We think there is going to be a lot of
activity," says Mario Gabelli, chairman and CEO of Gabelli Asset
Management, a big investor in broadcasting stocks.
To be sure, Mr. Gabelli has made money on a similar bet before. His
Gabelli-managed funds were big shareholders in Chris-Craft Industries,
the TV station group bought by News Corp. after the 1999 changes,
which News Corp. used to establish duopolies in some big markets like
New York.
Big broadcasters are interested in buying stations in major markets,
Mr. Gabelli says. He points to Granite Broadcasting, Young
Broadcasting and Fisher Communications as having stations in major
markets. Clients of Gabelli Asset Management own shares of several
broadcasters, including more than 20% of Young. Young shares were up
six cents at $19.11 at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Nasdaq Stock Market
trading, up sharply from their 52-week low of $6.30 last August.
Granite is looking to sell or swap its two big-market stations in
Detroit and San Francisco so it can expand in smaller markets where
its other six stations are. "We might be able to hit a home run now in
the larger markets," says Stuart Beck, Granite's president. Granite
stock has almost doubled from around $1.50 in April to $2.67 earlier
this week. The shares were at $2.35, down 32 cents, or 12%, at 4 p.m.
Wednesday in Nasdaq trading.
So far, however, the big companies aren't likely to go on major
acquisition tears. General Electric's NBC television unit, for
instance, took advantage of the duopoly changes to buy
Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo last year, which gave it a
second station in markets like Los Angeles. But NBC isn't likely now
to seek out big purchases, people with knowledge of the company's
thinking say. ABC's parent, Walt Disney, is well below the cap but
long has been reluctant to do big TV-station acquisitions in a market
it deems too expensive. Now Disney is facing debt pressures and isn't
in a position to spend up big.
"It is hard to believe that raising the cap will create a slew of
deals," says Alan Bell, president and chief executive of Freedom
Communications, which owns several smaller-market television stations
and newspapers including the Orange County Register.
In any case, the big companies aren't making a lot of noises about
snapping up properties, no doubt partly to avoid inflaming political
sentiment against the changes.
"We do not see ourselves going out on a buying binge of television
stations," said News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch on a conference
call with analysts earlier this week. Furthermore, with News Corp.
expecting to face heavy government scrutiny over the purchase of
Hughes Electronics' satellite broadcaster, DirecTV, this may not be
the best time for Mr. Murdoch to try to buy more stations.
URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105295437193400800,00.html
Hyperlinks in this Article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB93387597991683528,00.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105285082277221200,00.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB93387597991683528,00.html
Updated May 15, 2003 12:17 a.m. Copyright 2003 Dow Jones & Company,
Inc. All Rights Reserved (via Mike Cooper via DXLD)
** U S A. "HERALD AND WLRN STRIKE DEAL"
Article in The Miami Herald on Apr. 29, 2003 BY CHRISTINA HOAG
http://wlrn.org/story.cfm?departmentID=24&story_id=2784
The Herald and WLRN 91.3 FM, a member station of the National Public
Radio network, formed a partnership Monday in which the newspaper will
produce news and information to air on the radio station.
''We have the pipeline and The Herald has the news-gathering machine,
which we don't have,'' said John LaBonia, general manager of WLRN's
radio and television stations, which are licensed to the Miami-Dade
school district. ``We're hoping this will become a model.''
Said Herald Publisher Alberto Ibargüen: ``This alliance unites the
best news operation in South Florida with the best national news
organization on radio. We look forward to providing WLRN listeners
with the high-quality news they expect from The Herald, WLRN and
NPR.''
Under the agreement, The Herald will hire a full-time staff of five
radio journalists to produce five-minute news segments to air every
half-hour from 5:05 a.m. to 10:05 a.m. The staff will work out of a
radio studio to be built in The Herald's downtown Miami newsroom.
Reports will feature local reporting by, and interviews with, Herald
staff writers and columnists, as well as business, sports and weather.
They will also be fed to NPR's national network.
In a later phase, segments will be produced for WLRN's afternoon news
programs, including NPR's All Things Considered. The partnership also
could extend to jointly producing public-affairs programs for WLRN's
television station, Channel 17, LaBonia said.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed and an on-air date
has not been set.
`A GREAT SERVICE'
''This is going to be a great service to the community,'' said Herald
General Manager Jesús Díaz. ``There's so little news on the radio
dial, especially local news.''
The newspaper, owned by San José, Calif.-based Knight Ridder, and the
radio station will also collaborate in promotional efforts.
LaBonia stressed that the station's content is not influenced by
either school district administrators or members of the School Board.
''We have an editorial integrity policy that was passed by the School
Board, which stipulates that the station has control over editorial
content,'' he said.
The partnership leaves all news decisions to The Herald. The alliance
is an example of the increasing convergence of media outlets that is
taking place across the country.
TOUGH COMPETITION
Facing tough competition from cable channels and the Internet,
traditional publishers and broadcasters are increasingly joining
forces in an effort to drive viewership and readership, as well as to
lure more advertisers.
The Herald already has a television news and marketing partnership
with WFOR-CBS 4, while the weekly Street Miami is teamed with WFOR's
sister station, WBFS-UPN 33. Spanish-language El Nuevo Herald has an
alliance with WLTV Univisión 23. Both Street Miami and El Nuevo Herald
are owned by The Miami Herald Publishing Co.
In print-radio teams, The Sun-Sentinel has partnerships with Palm
Beach NPR member station WXEL 90.7 FM, in which some dozen newspaper
stories a day are turned into radio packages, and with WIOD 610 AM,
which also uses that newspaper's content. The Fort Lauderdale daily
also has a television partnership with WTVJ-NBC 6.
CONCERNS EXPRESSED
Some media watchers fear that these types of alliances limit the
number of perspectives available to the public.
''If these partnerships are used to supplement or expand the type of
journalism available to the public, that's wonderful,'' said Jeffrey
Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. ``The
danger is that having two news departments working together, one of
the sources may cut back on its news budget.''
University of Miami journalism professor Mitch Shapiro said radio-
print partnerships are useful as local news coverage is increasingly
fading from the airwaves.
''TV does more local news, and you really do have divergent points of
view available to the public,'' he said. ``With these type of
partnerships, everyone wins.''
PROMOTION TOOL?
Others see such alliances as more about promotion than anything else.
''It's more marketing than journalism synergy,'' said Donna Leff,
journalism professor at Northwestern University in Illinois. `Anything
that promotes news readership or TV news viewership is good.'' (via
DXLD)
** U S A. Re IBOC, 3-084:
Given this development, that could occur! You can't make a silk purse
out of a sow's ear, or certainly not by saying so alone. IBOC is in
its most basic sense flawed conceptually, because its drawbacks
outweigh its benefits. The Eureka system hasn't taken off very well
anywhere either, despite being better technically. The one has audio
and interference problems owing in no small part to trying to cram it
into an existing service. The other suffers from being a completely
different band. Both ultimately force consumers to buy new receivers
to obtain a benefit they neither want nor understand, which can be the
kiss of death.
AM $tereo actually offered people a benefit they could understand, but
through all sorts of bungling, it pretty much failed. It was also
probably too late (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, NRC-AM via DXLD)
** U S A. U.S. MOVES TO ALLOW TRADING OF RADIO SPECTRUM LICENSES
By STEPHEN LABATON, May 16, 2003
WASHINGTON, May 15 -- The government took the first steps today to
permit companies to lease and trade radio spectrum licenses, a move
that could result in improved service for the nation's millions of
users of cellphones and other wireless devices.
By a vote of 4 to 1, the Federal Communications Commission removed the
impediments for leasing such licenses, making it more economically
efficient for big and small wireless companies to gain access to
spectrum licenses held by others. That should help them patch the
holes in their networks that create cellphone dead spots, without
having to make big capital investments.
The move followed heavy lobbying by the largest wireless carriers,
including AT&T, Verizon and Cingular, as well as players on Wall
Street like Cantor Fitzgerald that are hoping to serve as brokers or
clearinghouses in the creation of a secondary market for swapping
licenses.
Officials and industry analysts say the hope is that by allowing
license holders to lease slivers of the spectrum that are currently
underused, consumers will benefit from reduced instances of cellphone
calls being dropped. More efficient use of the spectrum would make it
easier to connect to the Internet with hand-held computers in crowded
areas where the spectrum available is inadequate to move data and it
should help extend wireless services in rural areas that are
underserved.
The decision to allow companies to transfer portions of the spectrum
they do not use promises to reshape the economics of the market. It
will also change the longstanding federal framework that regulates the
holders of spectrum licenses.
The commission extinguished a 40-year-old rule that had the effect of
requiring the holder of a spectrum license to also control the
physical infrastructure needed to use that piece of the spectrum --
the antenna, the transmitter and the employees who run the operation.
The rule was intended to ensure that the license holder be responsible
for fixing signal interference and other problems.
Under the new rules, the holder of a license who is not making use of
the spectrum will be able to lease it to another company that would
provide the equipment and personnel.
"Today's action is one of the most important spectrum reform decisions
by this commission in the last decade," said Michael K. Powell,
chairman of the commission, in a joint statement with another
commissioner, Kevin J. Martin. "For years, the commission has
rhetorically praised the concept and possibilities created by
secondary markets in spectrum. Today that rhetoric turns into
reality."
"Our decision signals a new day of increased spectrum access and
improved services for consumers," they added.
Telecommunications industry executives were similarly pleased.
"Permitting secondary markets for spectrum will deliver to carriers
improved access to the airwaves, increasing their flexibility and
bringing down their costs, which should ultimately result in lower
prices for consumers," said Tom Wheeler, president of the industry's
main trade group, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet
Association. "Football teams aren't done after draft day. They
continue to meet their changing needs through trades and late-season
acquisitions. Wireless carriers deserve, and will now receive, similar
flexibility."
Officials have provided a variety of examples of how a commodities
market in the spectrum would work, including the following:
P: Nationwide cellphone companies would be able to lease pieces of the
spectrum in different regions of the country depending on the
available supply and on customer demand.
P: News organizations covering political conventions or the Olympics,
for example, would be able to buy contracts to use a piece of the
spectrum during the event to give them greater capacity to beam
pictures, sound and data.
P: An airport with congested airwaves from air-traffic transmissions
and cellphone use would be able to lease a piece of the spectrum from
other spectrum holders that are not using their space during peak
hours.
With the proliferation of wireless communications, including growth in
wireless browsing of the Internet, an expanding group of companies has
been clamoring for scarce space on portions of the spectrum.
But federal regulations have long impeded the ability of holders to
sell or lease licenses. A 1963 F.C.C. decision called Intermountain
Microwave linked the license to the requirement that each holder also
control the transmission equipment.
Three years ago, William E. Kennard, then chairman of the commission,
proposed altering the rules and allowing the formation of a secondary
market for spectrum licenses in response to increasing complaints from
phone companies and others that they did not have enough space on the
spectrum.
In reconsidering the Intermountain case, the agency found a host of
problems that prevented the owner of a license from lending it. In
particular, it was not clear which company in such a transaction ought
to be held responsible for problems like signal interference.
The commission said today that it had resolved that issue. A company
can become what officials call a lease manager and provide short-term
access to the spectrum. In those circumstances, the license holder
would remain responsible for complying with rules and would be liable
for any interference problems.
For long-term transfers, a company could turn over control of the
license along with the responsibilities of complying with the
regulations. That would require the approval of the commission,
although officials emphasized today that they would streamline the
process.
One commissioner, Michael J. Copps, dissented. He said the agency did
not have the authority under the Communications Act of 1934 to alter
the rules in such a way.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD)
** U S A [non]. 15170 Gospel for Asia, 1800 Golden Trail Court,
Carrollton, Texas 75010, USA. QSL Card full data in 134 days. I sent a
reception report for an Urdu transmission. V/S: Rhonda Penland. The
station sent me the schedule by language for Spring 2003, a
handwritten letter and a small personal card. Send your reception
reports to: Rhonda Penland, P. O. Box 1210, Somis, CA 93066, USA or to
gfaradio@mygfa.org (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, hard-core-dx via DXLD)
Didn`t they specify the transmitter site???
GFA via Wertachtal 15425. Card, sked and handwritten note apologising
for delay. V/s Rhonda Penland, coördinator in 4m for email report to
gfaradio@myfga.org. Gives mailing address of 1800 Golden Trail Court,
Carrollton, TX 75010, USA (Richard Jary, SA, Cumbredx mailing list via
DXLD)
** ZIMBABWE [non]. Re UNIDENTIFIED 4880 in 3-084:
This seems to be SW Radio Africa. The program fits with their website
info. The postal address and telephone numbers I heard are for
"Habitat for Humanity" organization, also mentioned at their website.
And - there is a mention about testing on new frequency 4880. See
http://www.swradioafrica.com/ 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski,
Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
You are right, now at 1815 audible // 6145. 73, (Mauno Ritola,
Finland, ibid.)
Out of schedule? from their website: Tests on new frequency 4880 KHz
Broadcast times will be Saturday and Sunday 0600-0625, 0705-0725,
0800-0855 (Zimbabwe Time) Bye (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, DX LISTENING
DIGEST) Site? South Africa? Madagascar? (gh)
Yes, maybe the Friday program was just additional test. I hear them on
4880 again today, 17 May at 1715 in parallel with 6145. They switched
off 4880 at about 1725 and returned around 1755, while 6145 was
continuous. So maybe those times mentioned at the website should be
local pm. Transmitter site still unknown. 73 (Jari Savolainen,
Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
[website announces: Tests on new frequency 4880 kHz. Broadcast times
will be Saturday and Sunday 06.00 - 06.25, 07.05 - 07.25, 08.00 -
08.55 (Zimbabwe Time) [pm?] In an effort to improve reception, SW
Radio Africa will be carrying out broadcasts on a new test frequency
this Saturday and Sunday. Listeners in Zimbabwe will be able to
received our signal on 4880 KHz as well as on the usual 6145 KHz.
[NB 6145 is scheduled 1600-1900 UTC via Meyerton]] (BDXC-UK via DXLD)
Wasn`t 4880 an old Springbok frequency? (gh, DXLD)
Yes, also heard in Australia 17/5, to sign-off 1900 with ID, after
program "Letter from Zimbabwe". 4880 was used many years ago by the
SABC, for their internal service in Afrikaans, so maybe a South
African-based transmitter? (Craig Seager, Bathurst, Australia R&S
EK890/Icom R75, hard-core-dx via DXLD)
UNIDENTIFIED. Re: DXLD 3-084 UNID 4870/Andy Sennitt comment. Andy has
the dog name right. I have couple of Lobo LP's (yep - those big, black
ones). To be more accurate, I'd call Lobo a singer, not a band :).
Never knew his real name. Anyone?. Cheers (Jari Savolainen,
Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. Glenn: I doubt that you are hugely interested, but I
rec'd an unexpected pirate transmission, probably, last night: the
first one ever, though I've tune around that area many times using
both AM and SSB.
6940 Probable Pirate: very rich quality sounding AM transmission of a
male voice, in a rambling dialogue about something. 0612Z
The odd thing about this was that the reception was limited to little
snatches of words and syllables. When I could hear it, the voice
quality was marvelous, like somebody using a great ribbon or condenser
mike: NOT at all like the weak, flat sound of typical ham
transmitters/communications mikes. The fellow was giving some kind of
story or complaint about something but I just could NOT get the gist
of it. The odd reception quality struck me: I'd hear a syllable or a
word, or maybe part of a sentence, and then it just CUT OUT. Then a
moment later it was on again, almost as though there was a loose
connection in his audio/transmitter/antenna that he wasn't aware of.
During those moments of "cut out" I got increased background noise as
the AVC pulled up the gain, so it was apparently a carrier cut -- or
the most DISCRETELY on-off skywave propagation that I have EVER heard
in my life! Indeed, it was SO discrete -- with no actual fading and
phasey variability -- that I suspected that it was an intermittent
transmission, maybe through a defective, squelching relay transmitter.
After several minutes of trying hard to discern what was being
transmitted, and failing to make sense of it, I gave up. Any ideas?
Receiver: R75, AM detection mode, antenna: 175 ft inverted L; also was
receivable on 355 foot dipole oriented N-S. Best, (STEVE WALDEE -
retired radio station chief engineer, San Jose, CA, May 17, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. Re 9270: Heard it at 2150 but could not recognise even
the language. Harmonic? Doesn't anyone else hear it? 73, (Mauno
Ritola, Finland, May 17, hard-core-dx via DXLD)
UNIDENTIFIED. 9745: Here in NZ, 9745 is in the clear at 2058z, with
Arabic talk heard, then just a few seconds prior to 2100, a second
station signs on with a heavily political sounding program with many
mentions of Iraq. The first station heard has a program mostly of
music so presume that to be Bahrain. Perhaps Tarek or someone closer
to the action can confirm? (Paul Ormandy, Oamaru, New Zealand, May 17,
dxing.info via DXLD)
UNIDENTIFIED. 13855 USB Armed Forces Radio and TV Service, via
Iceland. 16/04 2039 UT. Transmissão de comentários em inglês.
Retransmissão de programas de redes norte-americanas, com comentários
e noticias. 25442.
Obs.: Existe uma segunda emissora ao fundo, também em USB, em idioma
desconhecido. Se alguém conseguir identificá-la, seria uma ótima
informação. 73s, (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo, SP, May 17, radioescutas
via DXLD) [Another USB station on 13855 in the background]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PUBLICATIONS
+++++++++++++
Book Review by Lawrence S. Connor
http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/6/043684-2406-021.html
May 17, 2003
WORLD WAR II ON THE AIR: EDWARD R. MURROW AND THE BROADCASTS THAT
RIVETED A NATION
Authors: Mark Bernstein and Alex Lubertozzi
Publisher: Sourcebooks Price: $29.95
It's been more than 60 years since Americans sat by their radios
listening to Edward R. Murrow's sonorous voice announce, "This Is
London," while bombs exploded and buildings fell around him. This was
1940 and the Battle of Britain was reducing much of London to rubble.
Those broadcasts from London and other cities and battlefields by
Murrow and a dozen or more radio correspondents whom he enlisted for
the Columbia Broadcasting System during the six-year war have been
captured in words, pictures and sounds in "World War II On The Air:
Edward R. Murrow and the Broadcasts That Riveted a Nation."
It is high-level drama; made so by the compact disc included with the
234-page book. The disc includes significant segments of 51 broadcasts
made by Murrow and his team of young reporters who became familiar
names as the war spread throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. Americans
began hearing from Charles Collingwood, William L. Shirer, Eric
Sevareid, Richard Hottelet, Winston Burdett, Larry LeSueur, and Howard
K. Smith; names that would become familiar to listeners.
The book recounts significant events and battles as reported by the
reporters. The text is keyed to their voices in the CD. Dan Rather,
anchor of CBS Evening News since 1981, narrates the broadcasts in an
untypical low-key manner. The book also includes a broad range of
photos, including battle scenes, and biographical sketches of the
correspondents.
Shirer, whom Murrow had signed up in Berlin, was in Vienna in 1938
with an exclusive when Adolf Hitler's troops moved into Austria during
the Anschluss. From then on, CBS steadily expanded its coverage until
the Allied victory in Europe in 1945. There is scant coverage of the
war in the Pacific in the book.
Shirer gave listeners another exclusive in his account of the French
surrender at the Forest of Compiegne 45 miles north of Paris on June
19, 1940. It was the identical site on which Germany surrendered to
France in 1918. Watching Hitler through opera glasses, Shirer
reported:
"I have seen this face many times at the great moments of his life.
But today! It is afire with scorn, anger, hate, revenge, triumph. He
glances back (at the monument), contemptuous, angry -- angry, you
almost feel, because he cannot wipe out the awful, provoking lettering
with one sweep of his high Prussian boot." (The granite monument
proclaimed: "Here on the eleventh of November 1918 succumbed the
criminal pride of the German Empire.
Vanquished by the free peoples which it tried to enslave."
(After the war, Shirer chronicled the Germans' second defeat in his
acclaimed history, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.")
While most of the broadcasts were limited to 250 words or less,
Murrow's account of his harrowing ride on a bombing raid on Berlin and
his gripping description of what he saw when he entered the Buchenwald
concentration camp at war's end ran several thousand words.
The Buchenwald broadcast was so vivid that "it was re-aired on the BBC
and the text printed on the front page of the London Express as well
as many other papers," the authors said. "A translation of the report
was broadcast in Allied-controlled areas of Germany six to eight times
a day."
CBS was firm about not permitting its reporters to editorialize.
Murrow, described as a moralist rather than an ideologue, reluctantly
agreed, but his broadcasts from London created sympathy for Britain.
Some of the other correspondents -- most of them politically liberal -
- felt restricted by the order.
The authors said Murrow headed for the microphone "with something
approaching dread. The voice might be calm, but the fingers fiddled
and the toes worked a jittery tapping."
He was described as a notorious pessimist. Once, during the war, CBS
News Director Paul White called for Murrow from New York only to be
informed that his star broadcaster was out somewhere, "wearing his
customary crown of thorns."
One writer said Murrow delivered in a manner that "often conveys the
impression that he knows the worst but will try not to mention it."
Radio's reign was brief. When Murrow joined CBS in 1935, radio news
barely existed. By 1941, it became foremost. A decade later television
was already eclipsing it.
The authors contend that their radio reports were more influential
than newspapers during the war and that they influenced war coverage
in future conflicts.
The book is the product of Mark Bernstein, who writes on history and
biography, and Alex Lubertozzi, co-author of "The Complete War of the
Worlds" and editorial manager of Sourcebooks MediaFusion.
Connor is retired managing editor of The Star (via Mike Terry, DXLD)
POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hello Glenn, Just a few lines from Sweden regarding DXLD 3-084, May 16
2003 regarding PLC in Sweden and the reference: ``(TT, whatever that
is, via SCDX/MediaScan May 16 via DXLD)``. TT means Tidningarnas
Telegrambyrå and is an old Swedish News Agency (more than 80 years
old) and the biggest in the Nordic countries. Regards, (Lennart
Weirell, Västerås, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
TT means Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå (= press news agency). It is the
dominating general news agency for the Swedish press. It was also the
company that was selected to run the single Swedish national radio
channel from Jan 1, 1925 and remained the major owner of the public
radio for many years. Of course TT made sure to keep the radio
newscasts few and scheduled at times when they did the least harm to
newspaper sales (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
TT is Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå, which is the Swedish National News
Agency, a news wire service in Swedish jointly owned by several large
Swedish news organizations. (Hermod Pedersen, Web Editor
DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also SWEDEN
THIS DAY`S SWEDISH LESSON
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Re GREENLAND & ICELAND: Glenn, I regard you as a very dedicated and
skilled writer on media matters, now I have to add big joker too,
after reading your suggestion for this exchange of names. For all its
practicality, it would however meet some resistance from both
Icelanders and Greenlanders.
Sweden and Switzerland are often mixed up by people around the world,
and we have to live with that. Here’s another example of similar names
screwing it up for people.
One town in Sweden bears the name of Lidköping, another one Linköping.
Both appear in airline schedules, but if you fly from Stockholm
International to Lidköping, you actually fly to Trollhättan (where I
work) and then proceed by limo the last 30 miles to Lidköping. An
American professor arrived here with the last flight on a Sunday, the
limo was waiting, but all the rest was dead wrong, because he was
scheduled for a lecture next morning at the University of Linköping.
And these towns are about 250 km apart. The best option to solve the
problem was to get him into the limo and re-direct it to the correct
town. We wished him good luck, and he made it. A look at his ticket
revealed that the booking error originated almost halfway around the
globe, at his travel agent in La Jolla, CA.
BTW not so few towns in Sweden and Denmark end in -köping or –købing.
It`s a noun, simply meaning were you trade, do business. It`s of
medieval origin, of course. But the similarity of Lin- and Lid- is
causing trouble in Sweden too. We who can hear them pronounced by
locals have no doubt. We note the accent… 73 (Johan Berglund,
Trollhättan, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
PROPAGATION
+++++++++++++
ARRL PROPAGATION STATEMENT
Disturbed conditions triggered by a continuous solar wind stream
appear to go on and on, week after week, seemingly without end.
Nice quiet conditions would result from a daily A index of 10 or
lower. Average daily conditions near that level haven't been
reported since the week of February 20-26 when the daily average A
index was 11.1, or January 9-15 when it was 9.1.
Conventional wisdom says that disturbed conditions occur more often
when the solar cycle has passed the peak and is headed down, and
recent experience seems to bear this out. Recent forecasts for daily
solar flux and planetary A index don't predict a daily A index below
10 until May 31.
A plot from Jim Secan and Northwest Research Associates shows the
decline of the solar cycle over the past year at
http://www.nwra-az.com/spawx/ssne-year.html
The latest projection has solar flux rising over the next few days to
110 on Saturday, May 17, 120 on Sunday and 125 on Monday. The daily
planetary A index projection shows an unsettled 15 thought the
weekend, rising to 20 on Monday.
The solar flux and sunspot numbers were lower this week than last,
but the A index was higher. The average daily sunspot number dropped
around 100 points from 146 to 46.4, and daily solar flux was down
over 40 points to 95.5. Average daily A index rose from 20.7 to
29.3.
Last week we mentioned Scott Craig, WA4TTK and his solar plotting
utility freeware available at http://www.craigcentral.com/mystuff.asp
Scott says he usually gets 100-150 visits per day to his web page, but
last Friday when the bulletin came out he got 270, and Saturday it was
393.
The announcement this week about the new 60-meter band brings
speculation about propagation characteristics. Initially this will
probably be used just for domestic communications, since no other
country has adopted these frequencies for the amateur service. A
quick look with a propagation prediction program shows the band
opening and closing at hours somewhere between the 75 and 40-meter
bands.
With W6ELprop looking from Seattle to Atlanta, assuming that the
band is legal one month from now and the sunspot number is around
100, 60-meters seems to open a half hour earlier than 75- meters and
close a half hour later. Signal strengths during the peak hours,
which for the above parameters are from 0500-1000z, are between the
levels for 40 and 75-meters as well. A similar projection for
mid-September from California to Ohio shows similar characteristics,
although with more hours of darkness the openings are longer.
Mark Roberts, KD5SMF sent an email this week asking for a source for
the numbers used in the W6ELprop software, a free windows-based
program that can be downloaded at http://www.qsl.net/w6elprop/. I
wrote to him and said that it is probably better to take an average
of several days sunspot numbers and use that instead of the latest
daily solar flux. You can get both values at
http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/latest/DSD.txt and several daily K
indices from http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/latest/DGD.txt
The latest mid-latitude K index is on WWV at 18 minutes after each
hour, or you can get the WWV message on the telephone at
303-497-3235. The text of that hourly message is available on the
web at http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/latest/wwv.txt
For more information on propagation and an explanation of the
numbers used in this bulletin see the Propagation page on the ARRL
Web site at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html You can
write to the author of this bulletin at k7ra@arrl.net.
Sunspot numbers for May 8 through 14 were 33, 23, 22, 47, 66, 59,
and 75, with a mean of 46.4. 10.7 cm flux was 100.9, 97.1, 92.7,
91.5, 93.9, 96.1, and 96.3 with a mean of 95.5. Estimated planetary
A indices were 30, 29, 43, 31, 18, 27, and 27, with a mean of 29.3.
(via Duane Fischer, May 16, swl via DXLD) ###