DX LISTENING DIGEST 4-059, March 30, 2004 edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.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 For restrixions and searchable 2004 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 1225: Wed 1030 on WWCR 9475 Mon 0330 on WSUI 910 http://wsui.uiowa.edu WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1225 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1225h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1225h.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1225.html WORLD OF RADIO 1225 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1225.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1225.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1225 in mp3 recorded from 5070 at 1130: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-27-04.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-27-04.mp3 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1226: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415, 17495-CUSB Thu 2130 on WWCR 15825 ON DEMAND from early UT Thursday: change 1225 above to 1226 CONTINENT OF MEDIA 04-02 is now available at http://www.dxing.com/conmedia.htm (Stream) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0402.ram (download) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0402.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0402.html While listening, why not take a look around the DXing.com site ** ANGOLA [non]. Re: ``First non-official A-04 monitoring: Radio Ecclesia, 7205 Meyerton, at 1910, interview, Portuguese 32342 (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Sun. 28 March, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Radio Ecclésia is as "non-official" or "official" as any other religious station ;) The background of this station seems to be widely misunderstood. Even though Radio Ecclésia is not especially "liked" by the current government, it is a licensed Catholic station in Angola since 1997 (originally active in the country since 1954), broadcasting from studios in Luanda 24h a day via a 5 kW FM transmitter in the Angolan capital. In order to reach remote areas of the country, the station would like to broadcast also on SW from Angolan territory, but the Angolan broadcasting laws did not provide this possibility for a private station so far. That is the reason why Radio Ecclésia has been renting air time on SW transmitters outside of the country in the last years, most recently via Meyerton, RSA. However, the laws were due to be changed, so that Radio Ecclésia will have the chance to use its own SW transmitter in Angola: "In June 2003, Media Minister Hendrick Vaal Neto announced plans to change the existing Press Bill, to allow private TV channels as well as privately-run short wave radio stations. While financial considerations will limit the number of applicants for short wave broadcasting, Radio Ecclesia will certainly be a candidate. The Episcopal Conference of Portugal has purchased equipment for Radio Ecclesia to begin short wave operations from Angola, but the station still needs authorization from the Angola government [for the SW facilities -BT]. Funds had been collected in the annual communications campaign of the Bishops Conference in Portugal. " (Quote from http://www.evrel.ewf.uni-erlangen.de/pesc/peaceradio-ANG.html by Dr. Hansjörg Biener which has the the "full" story on Radio Ecclésia). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx for the reminder. I don`t think Silvain nor I was implying it is clandestine; we are just lacking a good term for stations such as this using relays outside their own country for whatever reason. BTW, I did not mess with the accent (or not) on Ecclesia above --- let`s not revisit that again too (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA [non]. Report from Austria earlied the time of its Sackville relay a week before our clock change, a sure way to lose your audience, encountered March 30 at 1508 in English, 1525 into German, on new 13775, ex-17865. Some adjacent 13780 from DW-Wertachtal in German tho not beamed this way, required off-tuning (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CHUM proposes pay-digital-radio from cell towers: See INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non] ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC [non]. UNITED KINGDOM, 15470, R. Ndeke Luka 1909 Mar 30 with lots of ID's and great music. Nice to be able to tune in this one again now that they are on 19 mb again from the UK (Hans Johnson, Naples FL, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** CHINA. Progress in China's Human Rights Cause in 2003 -- Xinhua - China: ... By the end of 2003, China had 282 radio stations, 744 medium- and short-wave radio transmitting and relay stations, 320 TV stations and 62 education TV stations ... http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-03/30/content_1391523.htm (via Mike Terry, DXLD) And how many of those are jammers? ** CHINA [non]. 13740, the CRI Habana relay frequency replacing 17720 at 1400-1600, has co-channel interference problems: March 30 at 1430 something else in unID Asian? Language of almost equal strength; both paused at 1457, and then BBC started up 13740 at 1500, listed Tajik via Cyprus, but no 13740 listed for BBC at 1430, so I don`t know what that was. China/Cuba clear after 1530 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. THIRD CONTENDER ENTERS RADIO RACE - -- Unlike two satellite proposals already on the table, Toronto's CHUM Ltd. wants to offer a digital service, MICHAEL POSNER writes By MICHAEL POSNER, Saturday, March 27, 2004 - Page R17, Globe & Mail You may need a program to follow the knights, but the scramble for Canada's first subscription-service satellite radio licence is turning into a lively little joust. Until last month, there were only two major contestants for the potentially valuable prize. One is Canadian Satellite Radio, a venture launched by Toronto entrepreneurs John Bitove Jr. and Stewart Lyons. The second involves an alliance between the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and privately held Standard Radio, which controls more than 60 AM and FM stations across the country. In turn, each Canadian operation is planning to tune its antennae to one of the two principal providers in the United States. Bitove has signed a licensing agreement with Washington-based XM Satellite Radio, the largest U.S. service (with 1.6 million monthly subscribers). The CBC-Standard team has inked a more formal alliance with New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio; it's actually a co-applicant. Both groups have made preliminary submissions to the Canadian Radio- television and Telecommunications Commission, which is expected to hold public hearings later this spring. The first licence would likely be issued in the fall. For consumers, satellite radio offers the appealing prospect of more than 100 channels of largely commercial-free, static-free (or CD- quality) music, news, sports, talk, weather and information. Every conceivable musical genre is available. Programs are recorded and beamed skyward to a satellite, which then beams them down again to signal-equipped receivers, located in cars, trucks or homes. The technology allows listeners to tune into the same channel even if driving from California to New York. XM subscriptions cost $9.99 (U.S.) a month for 121 channels; Sirius levies a $13 a month fee for 105 channels. Discounts are offered for customers who sign up for longer periods. Officially, Canadians are now ineligible users, but those who have a U.S. billing address and a receiver can become so- called grey-market subscribers. The skies over the Canadian battlefield, however, grew a little cloudier recently with the arrival of a third entrant -- Toronto's CHUM Ltd. It's proposing a subscription-driven digital radio service, broadcast not from Earth-orbiting satellites but from terrestrial repeater stations that would function much the way cellphone towers now do. The CHUM proposal has no American partners and, like every radio station in Canada, would have to devote about 35 per cent of air time to Canadian content in mainstream musical genres -- a cultural dimension that might appeal to the CRTC commissioners. The satellite companies are exempt from this stipulation, since their signal does not travel through the conventional broadcast spectrum. But officials from both groups say they plan to make significant investments in Cancon, and will allocate specific satellite channels to various kinds of Canadian music. The CBC-Sirius bid could obviously offer all of the public broadcaster's program offerings. And both it and the Bitove -XM alliance, as Stewart Lyons observes, means that "we'll be adding Canadian content across North America." On the other hand, CHUM will almost certainly need to forge an alliance with a Canadian wireless carrier, such as Bell Mobility or Rogers Wireless, which has a transmitter infrastructure already in place. More problematically, it would capture no serious revenue streams until digital receivers able to hear the terrestrial signals are widely available to consumers. At the moment, they aren't. Another question hanging over the CHUM bid is whether consumers will be willing to pay even $10 for programming that won't be available as a coast-to-coast service, but limited to the geographical reach of the ground stations. CHUM is believed to have initially sought a partnership with both of the other Canadian bids before deciding to take another approach to subscription-driven radio. It's entirely possible that the CRTC could license both a satellite and a digital audio service. Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but, for the winner potential dividends are substantial. After some initial financial problems, both XM and Sirius -- publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange -- are claiming they will reach cash-flow break-even by year's end. By then, says XM, it will have 2.8 million subscribers, jumping (according to projections) to 20 million by the end of the decade. The service was launched nationally in 2001. Although Sirius remains the number two American service (it hopes to reach one million subscribers by December), its subscriber base multiplied eight-fold in 2003. And it recently signed an agreement with Radio Shack to raise the number of retail outlets selling Sirius stand-alone receivers in the U.S. to 20,000. Both firms also have agreements with various auto makers -- XM with General Motors, Sirius with BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford and Audi, allowing consumers to buy or rent vehicles with satellite units built- in. About 100 model lines offer it as an option, for $300-400 (U.S.). Alternatively, you can replace the ordinary car radio with a satellite model, available from electronics retailers. At the moment, the two devices available are not inter-operable -- that is, either you buy the XM model or the Sirius model. But the two companies are said to be working on a unified standard model that could work on either. And coming soon to new model cars will be devices capable of receiving video signals, so the kids in the back seat can choose from the 500- channel satellite-TV universe. Meanwhile, the new WorldSpace Corporation recently announced the first multinational global satellite-radio subscription service covering Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Aimed initially at American and British expatriates, it will carry Fox News, National Public Radio (NPR), Bloomberg, Radio Caroline, talkSPORT, BBC, and Virgin Radio U.K., plus music, the spoken word and dozens of international channels, for $9.99 (U.S.) per month. How it works In 1992, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated a spectrum in the "S" band (2.3 GHz) for nationwide broadcasting of satellite-based Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS). The predecessors of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio each paid more than $80 million each to acquire space in the S-band. XM Radio uses two Boeing HS 702 satellites, known as "Rock" and "Roll," placed in parallel geostationary orbit (GEO), about 36,000 kilometres above Earth. XM Radio's ground station transmits a signal to its satellites, which bounce the signals back down to radio receivers on the ground, programmed to receive and unscramble the digital data signal. In urban areas, where tall buildings may block the satellite signal, ground transmitters are used as a supplement. Sirius uses three SS/L-1300 satellites in an inclined elliptical constellation, ensuring that at least one satellite is over the United States at all times. Otherwise, their system is exactly like XM's, with programs beamed up and then down (via Eric Flodén, DXLD) I realize the inconsistency in my classification of items under the INTERNATIONAL VACUUM heading. Concerning most countries` services, such news go under the country itself, especially if the item concern only one country. Regarding services to the US and Canada, I tend to group them under IV, still a useful distinxion, I think (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. Pirate BBC Essex Last Updated: Monday, 29 March, 2004, 14:35 GMT 15:35 UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3579767.stm (Photo: Radio Caroline first went on air on Easter Saturday 1964) Seven original pirate radio presenters have signed up for the 40th anniversary celebrations of pirate radio. DJs such as Dave Cash, Keith Skues, Pete Brady and Roger "Twiggy" Day will broadcast on Pirate BBC Essex, which will run from 10-16 April. The temporary station will broadcast 24 hours a day from a ship off the Essex coastline during the Easter week. "We're pleased and privileged these pioneers of radio are coming aboard," said Tim Gillett of BBC Essex. "We've a playlist of 1,500 special musical memories for the week, some of which won't have been heard for 40 years," he added. Other DJs who have signed up are Paul Burnett, Mike Ahern and Ian Damon. The studio equipment aboard the LV18 ship in Harwich harbour will be similar to that used by pirate presenters of 40 years ago. Pirate BBC Essex will broadcast regular news updates, along with retro news from the original pirate days. The station will be available on 729, 765 and 1530 AM and will also broadcast via the internet (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ** IRAN. Re: ``ISRAEL [non]. Kol David via VOIRI: 3985 from 1900- on. ID, website, etc, Hebrew 35443 (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Sun. 28 March, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Rather: "Kol David by VOIRI"; Kol David is the name of VOIRI's Hebrew service, see: http://www.irib.ir/worldservice/hebrewRADIO/default.htm Btw, the domain "www.iribworld.com" which was used by IRIB's Worldservice some time ago is for sale (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Reception conditions for XERMX 9705 seem to vary day by day and hour by hour. March 30 at 1430 check, very weak signal in Spanish per occasional peaks, presumably this, but equally weak co-channel with Mideast? Music; no het as both were close enough to be subaudible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. CHIAPAS TODAY: TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE EZLN ...The thread that will secure the life of the Autonomous Municipalities will be "Insurgent Radio, the Voice of the EZLN" broadcast on shortwave band of 49 meters, in 5.8 megahertz where Subcomandante Marcos will have his voice. And here, once again, is the right to information by means of deeds. This radio, according to national laws that grant a monopoly to just a few companies, is illegal according to this point of view. Nonetheless, the San Andres Accords agreed that it is the right of indigenous communities to have their own mechanisms for communication and information. (Even the radios of the National Indigenous Institute were to pass directly to the indigenous communities.)... (excerpt from very long document touching on alleged SW operation again, "Chiapas Today" Bulletin No. 381 CIEPAC; CHIAPAS, MÉXICO October 23, 2003, via Dave Hammer, DXLD) ** MEXICO. En esta semana se han sumado más emisoras de FM en la ciudad de México, que están usando el sistema RDS; todas estas pertenecen a Grupo Radio Centro. Sumando ya un total de diez emisoras en la ciudad de México usando esta tecnología. Estas emisoras de Grupo Radio Centro son: * XHRED - FM 88.1 Radio RED transmitendo el texto de identificación "RADIORED" * XHFAJ - FM 91.3 ALFA RADIO con el texto "ALFA" * XHFO - FM 92.1 Universal Stereo con "UNIVERSL" * XEJP - FM 93.7 Stereo Joya con "JOYA" * XEQR - FM 107.3 La Z con "LA Z" Las otras emisoras son * XEDA - FM 90.5 Imagen despliega "IMAGEN" * XHDL - FM 98.5 Radioactivo vs radioactivo despliega "RACTIVO" * XHMVS - FM 102.5 Monitor MVS desplegando primero "MONITOR" y después "MVS" * XERFR - FM 103.3 Radio Fórmula despliega "RFORMULA" * XHEXA - FM 104.9 EXA FM despliega "EXA FM" (Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Conexión Digital March 27 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. De manera inopinada, sin mediar explicación sobre los objetivos y las razones del proyecto, como debería corresponder a una entidad pública, el Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (IMER) lanzó al aire el 14 de febrero una nueva emisora: XHIMR Horizontes 108, La sintonía de tus ideas, que opera en los 107.9 megahertz. Con ésta, el IMER suma ya 20 radiodifusoras distribuidas en el territorio nacional (siete en el DF, incluyendo a Radio México Internacional, de onda corta) y el resto en otras entidades de la República. No sería cuestionable que el IMER manejara otra emisora si no fuera por el inadmisible sigilo con que ha procedido --- en detrimento incluso de la nueva estación que, ahora, a un mes de su aparición, pocos saben que existe --- y porque resulta increíble que una entidad dependiente de la Secretaría de Gobernación no respete la normatividad radiofónica vigente; de igual forma, no tiene justificación que la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes otorgue un permiso para operar una frecuencia sin apegarse a las normas técnicas autorizadas por ella misma. En dichas normas técnicas, publicadas en el Diario Oficial en noviembre de 1993, se indica que "las estaciones de radiodifusión sonora de FM que operen en una misma localidad deberán mantener una separación de sus frecuencias portadoras de 800 kilohertz como mínimo". Pues bien, entre Horizonte 108, instalada en los 107.9 mhz y la emisora más cercana, La Z, ubicada en 107.3 no hay 800 kilohertz sino 600. Claro, qué tanto es tantito dirán las autoridades, y argumentarán que 200 kilohertz no son nada y que técnicamente es posible operar. Sí, pero la normatividad es clara y el gobierno y sus instituciones deberían ser los primeros en respetarla. De lo contrario, con qué autoridad moral impugnarán a quienes instalen emisoras pirata y funcionen al margen de las normas vigentes (Arnaldo Slaen, de http://www.etcetera.com.mx/rad77.asp March 27 Conexión Digital via DXLD) IMER squeezed in another station at less than the required 800 kHz separation, since it could not use 108.1! (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Hi Glenn, Further to your previous comments in DXLD, I can tell you that from now on the late Princess Juliana will again be referred to as "Queen Juliana", as the Dutch people fondly remember her 32 years on the throne. On her abdication in 1980, she requested the title of Princess, rather than Queen Mother. That was typical of Juliana, who eschewed formality. As queen she even insisted on being addressed as mevrouw (madam) the same as any other Dutch woman. 73, (Andy Sennitt, Holland, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. UAE Radio, Dubai, has gone haywire again; the 21605 transmitter a big blob of buzz on approximately 21608-21609 causing heavy interference to Spain 21610; Arab music and talk around 1502 UT March 30, and nothing on 21605 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Alistair Cooke has passed away at age 95. RIP (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LONDON (AFP) - Alistair Cooke, a broadcasting legend in his native Britain and adopted United States, has died, less than a month after he recorded his final "Letter from America", BBC radio said. In a brief statement, the BBC said Cooke -- who had been suffering from heart disease and arthritis -- passed away around midnight (0500 GMT) on Monday at his home in New York (via Robert Wilkner, DXLD) The death of Alastair Cooke has just been announced (Mike Terry, UK, 0715 GMT March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VETERAN BROADCASTER ALISTAIR COOKE DIES AT 95 Tue Mar 30, 2004 03:59 AM ET By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Legendary broadcaster Alistair Cooke, best known for his long-running radio series "Letter from America," has died at the age of 95. A spokesman for the BBC said on Tuesday that Cooke, who was credited with improving transatlantic understanding for more than half a century, died at his home in New York. British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid warm tribute to Cooke. "He was really one of the greatest broadcasters of all time," he said. "I was a big fan. I thought they were extraordinary essays. They brought an enormous amount of insight and understanding to world. We shall feel his loss very very keenly indeed." Cooke retired from the BBC in March after 58 years of Letter from America. He said he had decided to quit the show -- the world's longest-running speech radio program -- due to ill-health and on advice from his doctors. In a statement when he left, Cooke said he had thoroughly enjoyed his 58 years on the airwaves and hoped some of the enjoyment had passed over to the listeners "to all of whom I now say thank you for your loyalty and goodbye." "ALISTAIR COOKIE" Cooke -- a Briton who became an American citizen in 1941 -- first went to the United States in 1932 to study drama at Yale University on a Commonwealth Fund fellowship. He was best known to many Americans for his show "Omnibus," which changed the face of U.S. television in the 1950s and for presenting "Masterpiece Theater" on public television. He was even gently spoofed on the famous children's show "Sesame Street" as Alistair Cookie." Continued ... http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=4696481 (via Mike Terry, DXLD) ALISTAIR COOKE DIES AT 95 --- March 30, 2004 Alistair Cooke, the broadcaster and journalist, has died at the age of 95, the BBC said today. Cooke made his name with his weekly Letter from America, broadcast on BBC radio, which ran for more than half a century. Generations have grown up, married and raised their own families to the sound of Alistair Cooke's genteel account of life in the United States on BBC Radio 4. Letter From America, started in March 1946 and finally came to an end earlier this month. The show was supposed to run for only 13 weeks but Cooke's honeyed tones redolent of intimacy, as he murmured "Good evening" across the airwaves, captivated his audience and he became a permanent fixture. The BBC believes it is the longest running radio show in history - certainly, it established Cooke as Britain's pre-eminent observer of American life. Earlier this month, it was announced that Cooke would retire, heralding the end of the programme, and bringing with it a flood of tributes from colleagues and admirers on both sides of the Atlantic. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1-1056643,00.html (via Mike Terry, DXLD) LEGENDARY BROADCASTER ALISTAIR COOKE DIES By MICHAEL McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer LONDON - Alistair Cooke, the broadcaster who epitomized highbrow television as host of "Masterpiece Theatre" and whose "Letter from America" was a radio fixture in Britain for 58 years, has died, the British Broadcasting Corp. said Tuesday. He was 95. Slideshow: Alistair Cooke Dies at 95 Cooke died at his home in New York at midnight, a spokeswoman at the BBC's press office said. No cause of death was given, but Cooke had retired earlier this month because of heart disease. "I have had much enjoyment in doing these talks and hope that some of it has passed over to the listeners, to all of whom I now say thank you for your loyalty and goodbye," Cooke said when he stepped down on the advice of his doctor. Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed sadness at the broadcaster's death. "I was a big fan. I thought they were extraordinary essays and they brought an enormous amount of insight and understanding to the world," Blair told the BBC, referring to Cooke's broadcasts. "He was really one of the greatest broadcasters of all time, and we shall feel his loss very, very keenly indeed," Blair said. "For many Americans he will always be associated with the best of Britain," said William Farish, the U.S. ambassador in London. "He had movie star good looks, a poised and effortless manner, a first-class mind, and — most flatteringly — a sincere and abiding interest in all things American." Cooke's family informed BBC reporter Nick Clarke of the death, the BBC spokeswoman said. Clarke has written a biography of Cooke. "I think he thought retirement was a very bad idea and when he was forced to stop work three weeks ago, I thought, this won't be long now, because here was a man living for this one task," Clarke told Sky News TV. "Letter from America," which was carried on the BBC World Service and on Radio 4 in Britain, started in 1946, and was originally scheduled to run 13 weeks. "Alistair is a national institution," said Christopher Sarson, the original executive producer of "Masterpiece Theatre," once said. "He has defined what public television was and is for so many people that it is difficult to imagine life without him." Born Alfred Cooke in Salford in northern England in 1908, he earned an honors degree in English from Cambridge University. In 1932 he came to the United States to study at Yale University, and he journeyed across the country by car. "That trip was an absolute eye-opener for me," he recalled. "Even then, even in the Depression, there was a tremendous energy and vitality to America. The landscape and the people were far more gripping and dramatic than anything I had ever seen. "It truly changed me. You see, from then on my interest in the theater began to wane, and I began to take up what I felt was the real drama going on --- namely, America itself." Returning to England and, having changed his name to Alistair, Cooke joined the BBC in 1934 as a film critic. He has been the BBC commentator on American affairs since 1938. In a speech to the Royal Television Society in New York in 1997, Cooke traced the development of his urbane, soft-spoken style to his wartime work with the BBC. "During the end of the war, the BBC in New York invited various famous exiles, Frenchmen mostly, to come and talk to the underground in France — famous, famous, great literary men," Cooke said. "And I had the privilege of sitting in the control room, and I thought that I will learn about broadcasting from listening to these men... "What I learned is that they were dreadful broadcasters. They wrote essays, or lectures, or sermons and they read them aloud. And I suddenly realized there was a new profession ahead. Which is writing for talking. Putting it on the page in the syntactical break-up and normal confusion that is normal talk," he said. Cooke also recalled some advice when he started the program. "A wise old talks producer came to me and said, 'Cooke, a word in your ear. Could I give you a bit of advice?' I said, 'of course.' He said, 'don't get too popular ... or they'll drop you.'" Cooke published 12 books including "Alistair Cooke's America" (1973) which sold more than 800,000 copies in hard cover. In addition to his BBC work, Cooke was London correspondent for the NBC network in 1936-37, The Manchester Guardian's United Nations (news - web sites) correspondent from 1945 to 1948, and chief U.S. correspondent of The Guardian until 1972. He was host of the "Omnibus" television program in the United States from 1952 to 1961, and presented "Masterpiece Theatre" on the PBS network from 1971 to 1992. He received four Emmy awards, three George Foster Peabody awards for broadcasting, and he was made an honorary Knight Commander, Order of the British Empire. It was an honorary award because Cooke, the consummate Englishman, had become a U.S. citizen in 1941. Cooke's "insight, wisdom and unique ability to craft words enabled millions of listeners in the UK and around the world to understand the texture of the United States and its people," said Mark Byford, acting director general of the BBC (via Yahoo news via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) A special tribute to Alistair Cook will be broadcast on BBC Radio Four at 2100 BST on Tuesday 30 March, 2004 and on World Service at 1030 GMT, 1430 GMT (not Europe) and 2130 GMT (Europe) on Tuesday 30 March, 2004. Also, see the Radio 4 "Letter from America" page where they have a link to the audio-on- demand of this program: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/letter_from_america/default.stm (Mike Terry, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`m listening to the Radio 4 tribute at 2000 UT; retrieve it if you can! No repeats on the BBCWS European stream online schedule shown! American stream schedule not accessible, but possibly at 0230 UT Wed? (gh) ** U S A. The new A04 Voice of America sked is now up on their website: http://www.voa.gov/index.cfm?sectionTitle=Shortwave%20Frequencies (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, Drake R7, R8 and R8B http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm swl at qth.net March 29 via DXLD) As already in DXLD, but no doubt there will be revisions ** U S A. Radio Liberty/Free Europe A-04 Schedules (Time is UT) Daily except where indicated --- From web site March 29, 2004 Radio Free Afghanistan (Pashto and Dari) 0230-0530 17670 0330-0830 19010 0530-0630 17710 0630-0830 17685 0730-1030 17685 19010 0930-1430 17685 0930-1330 19010 1330-1430 17685 Albanian (Kosovo) 1900-1930 7165 9705 15140 Arabic (Radio Free Iraq) 0100-0300 7205 0100-0600 9730 9865 0300-0400 11910 0400-0600 11930 1400-1700 9825 15170 17740 1400-1500 13755 1500-1900 11805 1700-1800 9865 17690 1800-1900 9505 9740 Armenian 1400-1500 9790 Azerbaijani 0300-0400 9680 1500-1600 15255 1800-1900 11865 Belarusian 0300-0500 6170 9635 1500-1700 9565 15215 1700-1900 7190 15480 1900-2100 7115 9750 South Slavic (Bosnian, Serbian) 0730-0800 9555 11970 15260 1300-1330 9555 11795 17605 1600-1700 6040 7115 11925 1730-1800 6130 9625 15245 1800-1900 9855 11715 15120 2000-2100 5970 7165 2200-0000 6130 9635 11730 Georgian 0400-0500 9595 1500-1600 17725 Kazakh 0100-0300 7260 9680 15205 1100-1200 11870 15195 17670 1300-1400 12140 13795 17670 1400-1500 4995 15355 15455 2300-0000 5945 7250 9615 Kyrgyz 1200-1230 11930 15120 17615 1300-1330 11930 15370 17865 1400-1500 11845 1400-1600 5860 15530 1500-1600 9435 North Caucasus [actual languages are??] 0400-0500 9850 11780 15350 1700-1800 9805 11705 17630 Persian (Farsi) 0030-0200 9615 0030-0600 9795 0030-0400 9805 0200-0400 9775 0400-0830 9510 0400-0600 15185 0400-0830 15290 0600-0830 17845 0800-1400 17755 21530 1400-1500 9435 1400-1700 13870 1400-1600 17750 1500-1700 13680 1600-1700 17670 1700-1900 7105 11855 1900-2100 5860 1900-2000 7365 11670 1900-2130 9505 2000-2130 9960 11960 Romanian (Moldova) 1500-1530 7160 11905 MoTuWeThFr 1800-1900 7130 12025 MoTuWeThFr Russian 0000-0100 6095 7120 7170 7220 9520 0200-0400 6105 7155 0200-0300 7170 7275 0200-0600 7220 0200-0700 9520 0300-0400 7175 0300-0500 11725 0400-0500 5995 7295 0400-0700 9760 0500-0800 11815 0500-0600 12015 0500-0700 17730 0600-0800 9635 0600-1100 17810 0700-1100 11860 0700-0800 15130 0700-0900 21705 0800-1000 15280 0900-1300 17730 1000-1100 11725 1000-1200 15460 1000-1300 17890 1100-1300 13745 15130 15205 1200-1300 15215 1400-1500 9595 11880 15215 1400-1700 11725 1400-1600 11895 15205 1500-1700 9725 11885 13755 1600-1700 7220 9520 1900-2100 3965 1900-1930 6105 1900-0000 7220 9520 1900-2000 11865 11885 2000-2100 5955 9860 2000-2200 7260 6040 2100-2200 7155 2100-2300 7245 2200-0000 5985 6095 2200-2300 9590 2300-0000 7120 7170 Tajik 0100-0200 4760 0100-0300 9695 0100-0400 9760 0200-0400 15525 0300-0400 11655 1400-1700 15370 1400-15 15725 17670 1500-1700 9790 1500-1600 11960 1600-1700 7190 1630-1700 4760 Tatar-Bashkir 0300-0400 9815 11820 0500-0600 11990 15350 1500-1600 11990 15245 1900-2000 9650 11925 1930-2000 9650 11925 Turkmen 0200-0400 7295 9555 15295 1400-1700 13815 1400-1600 15145 1400-1500 15345 1500-1600 15160 1600-1800 11895 17885 1700-1800 9785 Ukrainian 0300-0400 6065 7115 9710 MoTuWeThFrSa 0500-0600 7115 7165 11780 MoTuWeThFr 1700-1800 9855 12035 15115 1800-1900 7165 11785 11875 1900-2000 9615 11695 11875 MoTuWeThFrSu Uzbek 0200-0400 12015 12110 21770 1600-1800 9595 11980 1600-1700 11835 1700-1800 11815 (via Bernie O`Shea, Ottawa, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Here`s another handy thing to bookmark: http://www.zappahead.net/wbcq/anomaly.php ANNOTATED WBCQ PROGRAM GUIDE --- ANOMALIES AND RECENT OBSERVATIONS This page contains the latest observations and other unexplained or otherwise unscheduled things observed coming out of Monticello or related to WBCQ. Saturday, March 27, 2004 Allan Weiner announced that Frankie V is now on at 7 PM ET Sundays on 9330, displacing The RMF Show. Hal Turner is gone, replaced by the Jewish Radio Network at 8 PM ET Mondays on 7415. How incredibly appropriate! Saturday, March 20, 2004 The new show on Friday evenings from 7 to 8 PM ET is a talk show called "Just another day in America". The host gave a contact e-mail address of hostjadia at yahoo.com. Allan Weiner announced on his March 19 show that all time on the 7415 transmitter has been sold out. A new show called "Radio Weather" will appear on Mondays from 6 to 6:30 pm ET on 7415. He also announced a new block of programming on 9330 from 4 to 7:30 pm ET, including the following four half hour shows: Faith Factor at 4, Northern Lights at 4:30, Science Rocks at 5, and Radio Weather at 5:30. Wednesday, March 17, 2004 Firesign Theater on 7415 at 630 PM (2330 UT) replaces "When all else fails," a short-lived infomercial that formerly held this time slot. . . . (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see CONVENTIONS & CONFS I also noticed a few days ago a comic serial about a rabbit (? Can`t remember the title), squeezed in between Planet World News and hourtop at about 2056 UT, on 9330 rather than 7415, tho Annotated schedule does not show either on 9330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Merlin Press Release today Mon, 29 Mar 2004 21:36:18 (I believe this is the Mormons joining the ranks of shortwave broadcasters...albeit via DRM... Mike) [PUFF ALERT!! PUFF ALERT!!!] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marketing" Marketing@merlincommunications.com VT MERLIN DELIVER DIGITAL RADIO BROADCASTS FOR BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY RADIO --- PRESS RELEASE Date: 29th March 2004 VT Merlin Communications has signed a contract with BYU Radio, part of the broadcasting arm of Brigham Young University to deliver programming using the new Digital Radio Mondiale* (DRM*) broadcast system. BYU programming will be transmitted from VT Merlin's short wave transmitter site in Rampisham, Dorset, UK using VT Merlin's DRM capable 500 KW HF transmitter, providing extensive coverage of BYU's target regions in Europe, including Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. BYU Radio's commitment to DRM broadcasts demonstrates its belief in the strength and potential of DRM as an emerging, innovative broadcast medium. VT Merlin is offering digital transmission capacity from Rampisham as part of its strategy to highlight the benefits of DRM to different broadcast markets. BYU programming is transmitted as part of the religious stream, which features many of the world's most distinguished faith broadcasters, including HCJB Radio, Trans World Radio, LeSea Broadcasting and Family Radio. Launched in June 2003, DRM is the world's first non-proprietary digital broadcast system for broadcasting in the AM bands below 30 MHz, utilising existing frequencies and bandwidth across the globe. With clear, near FM quality sound and the inherent advantages offered by AM radio, DRM is revitalising the AM broadcasting bands in markets worldwide. VT Merlin is part of the DRM consortium of broadcast related organisations bringing digital AM to the market place. DRM has already seen more than 50 international, national and local broadcasters start regular DRM transmissions since its official launch. Peter Gordon, VT Merlin's Head of Digitalisation commented:" We are delighted to welcome BYU as part of our high quality DRM stream. BYU's support of this exciting new DRM digital technology is very important, as we continue to build a critical mass of broadcasters committing to crystal clear audibility across Europe from our Rampisham site. We hope to grow and develop our partnership with BYU as DRM becomes part of mainstream broadcasting." BYU Broadcasting's Managing Director John Reim said: "We are excited to be a part of this new technology that has the potential to bring the world the highest quality short wave audio programming imaginable. DRM also offers us the opportunity to deliver high-quality programming to an even greater audience." About VT Merlin Communications VT Merlin Communications, part of VT Group plc, is a leading provider of critical communications and broadcast services to customers in the broadcast, defence and space communications industries worldwide. Operating the world's leading short wave network, VT Merlin transmits over 1,000 hours of both short and medium wave broadcasts every day. VT Merlin's global network provides broadcasters with exceptional coverage of the world's most populous regions, and offers capacity to deliver your programmes globally. Other broadcast services include the design, build, operation and maintenance of broadcast facilities and infrastructure worldwide, as well as project management. VT Merlin's broadcast customers include BBC World Service, NHK (Radio Japan), Radio Canada International, Radio Netherlands, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Voice of America. VT Merlin is a founder member of Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), a consortium of broadcast related organisations working to bring digital AM radio to the market place. About BYU Radio Originating from the Brigham Young University campus in Provo, Utah, BYU Radio serves an international audience through satellite, Internet, and over-the-air transmission. Programming on BYU Radio includes: campus lectures and forums, sporting events and inspirational music. In addition, BYU Radio features selected content from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. About VT Group PLC VT Group is an international Government services provider. The Group is divided into two businesses - support services and shipbuilding. Together, these activities employ 10,000 people. Turnover is approximately £600m. VT Support Services - comprising activities in both the military and public sectors - now accounts for over two thirds of turnover. Military support is tri-service and includes training, platform and equipment maintenance and facilities management, while services for the public sector focus on training and education, careers guidance, and secure communications. VT Shipbuilding designs and builds a wide range of vessels for the Royal Navy and navies throughout the world. Smaller boats are also supplied to the commercial market. Specialist marine equipment is provided to both the naval and commercial sectors. For further information about this press release, please contact: Laura Jelf Marketing Manager VT Merlin Communications Tel: +44 (0) 20 7969 0000 Email: laura.jelf @ merlincommunications.com Web: http://www.vtplc.com/merlin For further information about BYU Radio, please contact: Chris Twitty, General Manager, New Media, BYU Broadcasting Tel: (801) 422-8450 Email: ctwitty @ byu.edu Web: http://www.byuradio.org For further information about DRM, please visit: http://www.drm.org http://www.vtdigital.org (via Mike Terry, UK, DXLD) Glenn Hauser commented, ``The nitwits --- they never mentioned the frequency or time, not that there are more than a handful of people equipped to pick it up, and of those, only an infinitesimal fraxion would care to listen to LDS nonsense, analogically or digitally. Or is the church equipping their bicycle-riding, white-shirted missionary duos with DRM sets, to keep them in touch? But this has already been mentioned in DXLD, and apparently started before A-04. The Current DRM schedule shows: 1500-1600 Sun, 9660, 95 degrees, Europe, 35 kW, BYU Radio, English, Rampisham. ``I listen occasionally to KBYU-FM on webcast, where the format is primarily classical, but even there the LDS nonsense is intrusive. Apparently this is not KBYU-FM, as nothing is said about classical music, tho that would supposedly be ideal for DRM.`` (DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUFF ALERT! PUFF ALERT!!! : ** U S A. WWRB is elated!! Hi Glenn: Many have asked are we concerned that Alex Jones??? went to another station??? Our response!! We are ELATED; Our assets are now going towards our original goal of Christian broadcasting! Ministries are in SHOCK AND AWE !!!!!!!! that broadcasting to Europe, Middle East, Africa, South and Central America via WWRB shortwave can be had for so little! For years, we had to TURN MINISTRIES AWAY that wanted to reach "PRIME TIME" evening / night time in the Middle East and Europe. They had to buy time from the stations charging $ 140 to $ 180 dollars per hour. Not anymore ! Ministries can obtain airtime for as little as $50.00 per hour! We have returned to our original Goal --- Broadcasting the Gospel to the world at EXCEEDINGLY low prices. We have sent / are sending out well over 700 letters of introduction to various ministries advising them of our ministry and our inexpensive airtime rates. Why pay more than $50.00 to 60.00 dollars per hour? New 'listener response' map section on our web site. Please visit our page http://www.wwrb.org click on 'purchase airtime' button for your viewing pleasure (Dave Frantz, WWRB, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I realise that messages such as this are blatantly for commercial self-promotion, but am tempted to include them anyway for their curiosity and amusement value. Who`s Alex Jones? I don`t really want to know (gh) ** U S A. THE O'FRANKEN FACTOR COMING SOON http://www.ofrankenfactor.com/ LIBERAL TALK-RADIO NETWORK SET FOR DEBUT - The Washington Times [Moony] Nation-Politics http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040329-104730-6731r.htm (both via Art Blair, March 30, DXLD) ** U S A. NPR STATIONS HAD PUSHED FOR CHANGE March 30, 2004 By LYNETTE CLEMETSON http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/30/arts/30PUBL.html?ex=1081654445&ei=1&en=54d8f5ffebef2ca1 WASHINGTON, March 29 - National Public Radio's decision to remove Bob Edwards as host of "Morning Edition" is part of a broader push by the network, at the urging of many of its local partners, to remain competitive in an increasingly demanding and crowded news marketplace, several public radio managers across the country say. The announcement that Mr. Edwards would leave his anchor post, effective April 30, to take on a new assignment as a senior correspondent, and his statements that the move was not his idea, ignited widespread criticism. NPR, based in Washington, has received more than 17,000 calls and e-mail messages from angry listeners, its officials said. A Web site, http://savebobedwards.com has generated close to 3,000 signatures. Though Mr. Edwards has formally accepted the new position, some managers at NPR member stations called the timing callous and clumsy, coming just eight months before Mr. Edwards's 25th anniversary as host and at the start of spring pledge drives at stations nationwide. Some critics of the move argued that public radio should be immune to the ratings-driven pressures that often prompt such personnel shifts in commercial broadcasting. NPR, which last week described the Edwards move as an effort to update its programming, has been riding a wave of success. Its overall audience has grown 64 percent over the last five years, network officials said. In the same period "Morning Edition's" audience has grown 41 percent, they added. The network has recently acquired the financial freedom to overhaul its programming and expand its news coverage, thanks to a $200 million bequest last November from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, the philanthropist and widow of Ray A. Kroc, chairman of the McDonald's Corporation. In recent years, however, several station managers confirmed, some member stations have voiced concerns to NPR management that Mr. Edwards, who has served as host of "Morning Edition" from its beginnings in 1979, often seemed less engaged on the air. More critically, some station officials said, the program's traditional anchor-dominated format, heard live from 5 to 7 a.m., Eastern time. And rebroadcast with updates throughout the morning, has left NPR ill positioned to respond instantly to breaking news. "A host, when news is breaking, actually needs to be able to interact live with a reporter on the scene and do live interviews with analysts as a story is unfolding," said Jeff Hansen, program director for KUOW in Seattle, and an independent coordinator for news-focused radio stations that carry NPR programs. "We owe a lot to Bob Edwards for setting exactly the right tone for the first 25 years. But I think there is probably wide agreement in the public radio system that it is time for an evolutionary change." Mr. Edwards said he was never informed of concerns about his performance. Several managers said, however, that discussions about the flexibility of the show's format intensified after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. On the morning of the attacks, when television morning programs cut immediately to live coverage after the first airplane crashed into the World Trade Center, NPR was replaying its taped broadcast. NPR began special programming at 10 that morning and went on to win several awards for its coverage. But those problematic first moments renewed long-running discussions about the way the program should be run and the need for a host who is more of a reporter than an anchor. As partners have pressed for more up-to-the-minute news, stations and listeners have demanded more in-depth features and investigative reporting on "Morning Edition" and other NPR programs, said Jay Kernis, NPR's senior vice president for programming. With a total of 700 employees, and a news staff of 300 reporters, anchors, editors, producers and managers worldwide, he said, responding has been a formidable undertaking. "Listeners have enormous expectations for us to be there and explaining things immediately," said Mr. Kernis, who, as a producer, started "Morning Edition" with Mr. Edwards 25 years ago and who was central in the decision to replace him. "They want us to be more responsive to the news and at the same time offer deeper context. And we want to be top notch in both areas." If there was widespread agreement that NPR's approach to news could use some tweaking, the removal of Mr. Edwards, which was communicated to member stations last week, just before it was announced to the news media, has received mixed reviews. "Discussions about programming happen all the time," said Gerry Weston, president of the Public Radio Partnership in Louisville, Ky., Mr. Edwards's hometown. "For management to hint that there was a conclusion reached or that we were all informed of this outcome beforehand is wrong." Bill Buzenberg, senior vice president of news for Minnesota Public Radio and a former vice president of news at NPR, said: "These pressures have been there for a long time, from stations saying `Morning Edition' sounds tired. But I felt like Bob was like Walter Cronkite. Let's do what we can on other parts of the show, change some things around him, but let's leave him there." NPR management's decision to remove Mr. Edwards before his program's 25th anniversary in November, said other managers, seemed unnecessarily heavy-handed. "There seemed to be very little in the way of gratitude to Bob for two and a half decades of service," said Bill Davis, president of Southern California Public Radio and senior vice president of programming at NPR just prior to Mr. Kernis. "The handling and timing seems suboptimal to listeners and to people inside of public radio. There's a universal sense that this has been managed poorly." Still, Mr. Kernis said, moving to a format in which news hosts are roaming field reporters rather than studio-locked anchors had been discussed widely as a possible solution. And NPR has made other host changes in recent years with positive results. According to the latest ratings from Arbitron, the service that tracks radio listeners, audience numbers for "All Things Considered," NPR's popular evening news program, have grown 8 percent to more than 11 million weekly since changing hosts two years ago. The Kroc bequest, which has yet to be transferred to NPR, came with no strings attached, Mr. Kernis said. Once invested, it could yield $10 million a year in interest. He said NPR planned to use new hires to free veteran correspondents to concentrate on long-term features and investigative journalism. In addition NPR plans to expand its online offerings. And the growth of digital radio, Mr. Kernis said, should bring new opportunities to provide more programming overall. Earlier this month, NPR announced the hiring of William K. Marimow, former editor and senior vice president of The Baltimore Sun, as managing editor of national news, a new position. "The money, first and foremost, gives us the freedom to dream about things we hadn't been able to dream about before," Mr. Kernis said. "For years we've had no breathing room. Each year at the end of the year we were making very difficult decisions about what could be covered and where we could afford to send people." Mr. Kernis would not offer specifics about any forthcoming changes to show formats or staffing except to say that "sometimes changes will be subtle, sometimes they won't." If the Bob Edwards flap is any indication, subtle may be the safest course. As much as public radio stations around the country have been pressing their national partner for change, they also want many things to stay the same. "There is a hope that NPR's focus on content will not be eclipsed by this move for new personalities," Mr. Hansen, of KUOW in Seattle, said. "You look at the media landscape with all of these bombastic hosts who tell you more about themselves than about the news. We don't need to know about the host's life or likes, we just need a facilitator who can help the show move." As for loyal NPR listeners, who are still busy sending e-mail messages, calling Mr. Kernis and other managers and signing petitions to keep Mr. Edwards on "Morning Edition," the resounding message seems to be: Proceed with extreme caution. Mark Forman, online petition signer No. 1,191, who listens to NPR on WFPL in Louisville, perhaps summed up the sentiment of many fellow listeners when he wrote, "This could be NPR's version of the `New Coke' debacle in the works." (via Mike Cooper, Bill Westenhaver, DXLD) Hmmm, maybe Tim should blame WLRH after all (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT IN THE MATTER OF SANDRA TSING LOH --- KCRW PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: March 23, 2004 MEDIA Contacts: Sarah Spitz (310) 450-5183 SANTA MONICA, March 23, 2004 --- Until now, public radio station KCRW has chosen to respond in limited fashion to reporters and concerned listeners about Sandra Tsing Loh's dismissal and the station's offer to re-hire her, which she rejected. Out of deference to her personal situation, which she subsequently chose to make public in the media, KCRW provided only factual responses about the station's policy on indecent language and FCC regulations. After much deliberation, KCRW has decided to release the letter that Ms. Loh faxed to General Manager Ruth Seymour on the day she was notified that her program "The Loh Life" was cancelled. Less than 48 hours after writing this letter, Ms. Loh retained the services of a public relations firm. In the ensuing weeks, Ms. Loh and her representatives fanned a media storm with negative remarks about the station that led to personal attacks on its employees. She made misleading statements about her own culpability in using "indecent" language on the air. Little more than a week later, KCRW offered to reinstate "The Loh Life." Ms. Loh was to respond by the next day. Instead, she requested an extension over a weekend to make up her mind. That same night, Ms. Loh chose to appear on television, and never told the interviewer that she'd been offered her show back. In her letter, Ms. Loh apologizes and takes full responsibility for her "foolish and ill-timed mistake." She expresses her gratitude to Ms Seymour for the success she's enjoyed because of her association with KCRW. Ms. Seymour notes "The discrepancy between the content and tone of this letter and the subsequent attacks on KCRW has yet to be explained. I guess Sandra figured that attacking KCRW gets far more attention than a 3-minute weekly commentary. Unfortunately this came at the expense of the station that had given her a home on the air for six years. The letter reads as follows: ``March 1st, 2004 Ruth Seymour KCRW 1900 Pico Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405 Dear Ruth, I just want to say, once again, how deeply horrified I am about what occurred Sunday morning. While uttering an expletive over the air was the very opposite of my intention, I should not have placed another person in a "gatekeeper" capacity for my work. I genuinely hope KCRW will not suffer lasting negative effects due to my foolish and ill- timed mistake. I also wish to extend my apologies to (the recording engineer)...He is an excellent engineer, who I thoughtlessly--and unfairly--put in a professionally precarious situation. The responsibility for this disaster is mine, not his. While I myself have been fired, I hope that (the recording engineer) will be able to continue in his otherwise wonderfully productive career at KCRW. On a personal note, I do remain extremely grateful for the long tenure I've had with you, and the valuable opportunities that have come my way because of my affiliation with your great station. I continue to wish you all the very best. Sincerely, Sandra Tsing Loh`` (via KCRW press release March 23 via DXLD) ** U S A. I ran a search on CDBS for applications for major changes which have been received but not yet accepted for filing. There are 195, almost all of which are listed as filed on January 30th. So far I've run just the first page. Stations moving from Alabama to Utah? Expect anything! AL Opp WAMI-860 to Kanab, UT, 1540, 250 D1. . . Tried to do a run on applications for new stations, but there are 893 of them! -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, March 27, NRC-AM via DXLD) You missed KJSA-1120, Mineral Wells, TX to 1200 in Maple Grove, MN and KELE-1360 Mountain Grove, MO to 1200 in Ripley, OH. Talk about absurd!! I think something went amiss in the FCC's Facility Numbering, as I found a couple which had numbers transposed which, if they had not been, would make more sense (BILL Hale, TX, ibid.) CC's proposed move [of WWVA 1170 from Wheeling WV] to Stow is only the city of license. The transmitter site would be about 5 miles west of Strongsville, Ohio....on the SW side of Cleveland. (Tim Davisson, ibid.) In 1940, roughly the time that WWVA's class I-B 50 kW status was enshrined into federal regulations, the Wheeling-Steubenville market had 364,132 people in it, a larger market by far than Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Phoenix, San Diego, Miami, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Omaha, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Nashville, Memphis, Austin, San Antonio, Salt Lake City or Richmond. It was pretty easy, really, to justify putting a station that big in what was then a vital industrial area. Today, the Wheeling radio market ranks #239 in Arbitron and has just 129,900 people in it. (The Wheeling-Steubenville TV market is ranked #151 with 142,450 people; almost every single one of those other markets I mentioned is now a top 50 market.) I'm not sure how many people on the list have actually been to Wheeling. It's a VERY compact market that's never experienced any sort of significant suburban sprawl. The station on 1400 (the old WKWK, now WBBD) that will likely end up with the WWVA calls and format actually covers the market quite well. And there's no significant local programming left on WWVA to preserve anyway; much of its news already comes from CC's Cleveland news hub, its morning show comes from WPGB in Pittsburgh and the rest of the day is mainly syndicated talk until you get to the preachers overnight. By contrast, the new signal on 1170 will be one of the best AM signals in a much larger market (Cleveland's ranked #25, with 1,800,000 people) that's conspicuously lacking in good AM signals. The new 1170 will be one of the few AMs that penetrates the downtown core effectively both day and night, and it will be in a market that can provide the kind of advertising revenue needed to do the kind of programming that sort of signal deserves. Wheeling is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Most of the times I've driven through the downtown area, you could lay a good Beverage down Main Street without worrying about cars getting tangled in it. It's just not a market with the economic "oomph" to merit such a big AM signal anymore. So I guess I just can't get too worked up about this one; it seems like a pretty good move to me. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) RELOCATION OF WWVA RADIO WOULD BE HUGE LOSS FOR WHEELING http://www.dailymail.com/news/Money/2004032544/ Jim Wallace, Daily Mail staff, Thursday March 25, 2004 WWVA Radio has done so many things right during more than 77 years on the air that it's especially sad for those of us who once worked there to see it become a symbol of what's wrong with broadcasting today. During the seven years in the 1980s and 1990s that I worked there, first as a reporter and then as news director, I always had a feeling of pride in working for a radio legend. WWVA, which went on the air in 1926, is West Virginia's oldest station. Back in the 1940s, it became the state's strongest station, pumping out a 50,000-watt signal that blanketed the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. I recall listening to a program from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in the 1980s in which a musician recalled growing up in one of Canada's Maritime Provinces and listening to country music from West Virginia on the radio. She didn't have to give the call letters. It couldn't have been anything other than WWVA. WWVA was West Virginia's electronic ambassador to the world. It was all many outsiders knew of the state. When I worked there, it was quite common each winter to receive a few letters from radio listeners in Finland or other northern European countries reporting their receptions of the station, often with cassette recordings to prove it. I once interviewed a World War II veteran in Wheeling who recalled picking up the station while flying in a bomber over Germany. For most of its history, WWVA was identified with country music, largely because it was the home of the Jamboree, a weekly program featuring live performances by country musicians that began in 1933. The only show of its kind that is any older is the Grand Ole Opry from WSM in Nashville. It was the Jamboree that brought in dozens of busloads of fans lining the streets of downtown Wheeling when I worked there. It was no coincidence that most of them came from Pennsylvania, upstate New York and Canada, because that's where WWVA's signal booms in like a local station every night. As a newscaster, I was also proud that WWVA had a strong news tradition. Each year when I was there, the station typically won several Associated Press awards in both Ohio and West Virginia plus one or more national awards. In 1986, our four-person news team became the smallest staff at that time to win one of the most prestigious awards in broadcasting: the Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. But by the early 1990s, corporate management began chipping away at tradition. I left during one round of downsizing. The latest round hit at the end of last year when local talk show hosts were replaced by syndicated programs and the last of the newscasters with whom I had worked were fired or, in the case of David Demarest, resigned on the air. So now WWVA's owner, Clear Channel, wants to move the station to a suburb of Akron, which would make it just one of many stations competing for an audience in the Cleveland market. The signal would go, but not the proud tradition of service as West Virginia's most recognizable broadcast voice. WWVA already puts a strong signal into northeastern Ohio. That was nice for my parents who used to tune in from the Cleveland suburb where I grew up to hear me deliver the news from Wheeling each day. But Ohio's gain in receiving WWVA would be much less than the loss that would be suffered by West Virginia and especially by Wheeling. When I worked there, I could stroll out of the station's Capitol Music Hall home across the street to the flagship store of Stone & Thomas in what still was a lively downtown. Now Stone & Thomas is gone and so is much of Wheeling's downtown business district. It would be a cruel shame if it also would lose the state's flagship radio station (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) NEY OPPOSED TO MOVING LICENSE (WWVA) http://www.wtrf.com/home/headlines/675881.html Your Town * Your State * Your Future --- Frank O'Brien It`s history that some fear will be demolished under a new plan for WWVA radio. Wheeling's City Manager Bob Herron goes on record tonight... He's opposed to a plan to move the long time Wheeling station's 50-thousand watt license out of the state. Clear Channel has filed an application with the FCC to move the station's powerful 50,000-watt signal to Stow, Ohio, just outside Cleveland. Some Wheeling officials say while the move makes good business sense for Clear Channel, it will negatively impact a piece of West Virginia entertainment history. Over the years these three towers combine to make 50,000 watts for WWVA radio, that signal has attracted millions of visitors to the Wheeling area. Now, there's a plan by Clear Channel to move these transmitters out of the area and that has some officials concerned. I think its an unique plus that we have a transmitter of that magnitude here in Wheeling. As I said its the only one in West Virginia so I think its important that we thoroughly analyze the application and the reasons they'd like to locate that. If we disagree with those reasons, then we should voice our opinion on that. Herron says WWVA is one of the great treasures of the mountain state and when the FCC asks for public comment on the transfer request Wheeling City Council will also take a stand. I suspect that comment will be the transmitter remain in the Wheeling area. There are other public officials including Ohio Congressman Bob Ney who believe WWVA should stay where it is. "I believe the station is better served there. Now, legally can anybody stop them, I'm not about to say that we can, but know that I assume there's a public hearing where people would have the chance to voice their opinion," Ney said. Congressman Ney says while we certainly live in a Democratic, capitalist society that gives a private business the right to make money-he believes the glory days when WWVA was among the top radio station in the country should be considered as well. Station Manager Scott Miller says there will always be a WWVA in Wheeling. Miller says the current news/talk programming and the Saturday night Jamboree USA show would be put on another frequency. Officials tell me they wonder about the appeal of the Jamboree if its not heard on a big radio station (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. [Re previous item about WRN on 1710 --- this may predate that, delayed receipt here] There is something on 1710, Niel. I can hear bits and pieces of it under local QRN. It seems to loop SSW/NNE of my QTH in Rochester Hills MI. I am camped on it right now. The signal is in the noise floor most of the time, peaking to S1. My impression was that the station gave IDs at 20:00:04, 20:30:04, 21:00:04, and 22:00:04. Program seems to be talk but at 21:45 I heard accordion music, such as the type you would expect from Hungary, Romania, or Russia. At 21:50 they were talking about e-Mail attacks on people in other European counties. Language is English, but with an accent. At 22:00:03 female voice mentioned Radio Prague with news bulletin about defense minister. Weather given at 22:02:50 then a jingle and into another female announcer. Male announcer at 22:03:30 with "Inside Europe". I don't think this is Lubavitchers. I have not heard anything that follows their line of programming (Harold Richards, Rochester Hills MI {EN82kq}, Receiver: FT-857, Antenna: AzEl 24" box loop, NRC-AM via DXLD) Saul Chernos, up in the wilds of Burnt River, Ontario reports hearing at 3:30 a.m. (also known as 0330 ELT) on 1710 something very week that sounded like it might have been Radio Australia. Image? Or somebody fooling around? The mysterious Lubavitchers would have been off the air last night as was Shabbos in Brooklyn. Thoughts anyone? 73 (Niel Wolfish, Toronto, March 27, NRC-AM via DXLD) Sometimes there are European pirates in the X-band, maybe also just outside. But mostly they close before midnight UT. Or, it is 2 x 855, European fq. Also 3 x 570, are there any US/Canadians in 570 rebroadcasting Eu stns? Greenland also in 570, but they have Eskimo or Danish (Sigvard Andersson, Sweden, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4916.0v kHz Radio Familiar Cristiana, unknown QTH (Could be Colombia) 30/3 2004 1100 UTC. This Tuesday morning religious program up to 1125 and then greetings and music in a program called "Amanecer con Cristo". Transmitting from(?) "Centro de Vida Cristiana Asamblea de Dios". I´m not sure but it is my opinion that it is a Colombian station. UT -5. "Radio Familiar Cristiana" has transmitters on FM in some Colombian cities: Tunja, Boyacá Sogamoso, Boyacá Duitama, Boyacá Chiquinquirá, Boyacá Bucaramanga, Santander You are very welcome to listen to my recording of "Radio Familiar Cristiana" at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 30/Mar/2004 11:34 Saludos Cordiales desde "La Mitad del Mundo"! (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ DATABASE DELETED Hi all, I deleted the HTML database from my web page. Too many complaints due to slow DSL(s), small caches and wrong format from some who were trying to download it. Sorry (Chuck ka4prf Bolland, Clewiston FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Would be nice to be able to search and display a certain frequency or range without downloading the whole shebang first (gh, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ NASB SURVEY OF SHORTWAVE LISTENERS IN NORTH AMERICA In August of last year, the NASB attended the 2003 Mexican National DX Meeting in Tizayuca, just north of Mexico City. At that meeting, we conducted a survey of shortwave listeners who attended. The results appeared in the September 2003 NASB Newsletter. This year, we conducted practically the very same survey, translated into English, at the 2004 Shortwave Listeners Winterfest in Kulpsville, Pennsylvania, where listeners come from mostly throughout the United States and Canada. Below are the results of the North American survey. In this survey, we refer to North America as the United States and Canada. Around 220 persons attended the meeting; 96 filled out survey forms for us. The numbers in the left column are raw numbers. The center column is the percentage. The right column is the percentage from the Mexican survey, for comparison purposes. Note that for some questions, there is no percentage figure; only raw number of responses. Not all percentages add up to 100, due to rounding. Please note that this is a relatively small sample of very active shortwave listeners. The analysis comments in italics [in the original] are the personal comments of the survey`s author, Jeff White, and do not necessarily represent any official NASB points of view. What are your three favorite shortwave stations? BBC 64 WBCQ 35 Radio Netherlands 31 Radio Canada Intl/CBC 24 Voice of America 15 Deutsche Welle 12 Radio Australia 12 WWCR 12 HCJB 07 Radio Havana Cuba 07 WHRI/WHRA 06 Voice of Russia 05 Radio New Zealand Intl 03 Radio Prague 03 All India Radio 02 Channel Africa/RSA 02 China Radio Intl 02 Radio Bulgaria 02 Radio For Peace Intl 02 (station is off air since Fall 2003) Radio Sweden 02 Radio Taiwan Intl 02 Voice of Greece 02 WEWN/EWTN 02 WRMI 02 + One mention each for: Adventist World Radio, BSKSA (Saudi Arabia), CFRX (Toronto), Kol Israel, Papua New Guinea National Broadcasting Corp., Partial India Radio (pirate station), Radio Austria Intl, Radio Exterior de España, Radio France Intl, Radio Korea Intl, Radio Slovakia Intl, Radio Táchira (Venezuela), Radio Tirana, Radio Tunis (now off air), Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal, RAI (Italy), T.I.E. Radio (pirate station), WHYB (pirate station), WNKR (pirate station) and WWV. These are raw figures; not percentages. Some respondents mentioned fewer than three stations; some mentioned more. Figures were not weighted for #1, #2 and #3 listings. By far the most listened-to station among North Americans is the BBC, which is ironic since the BBC ended its shortwave transmissions aimed at North America over a year before this survey was taken. And it would be fair to say that almost all of these respondents listen to the BBC via shortwave, as opposed to local station rebroadcasts or the Internet, as the BBC likes to claim. Six NASB member stations received mentions (WBCQ, WHRI, WHRA, WEWN, WRMI and AWR are shown in bold [in the original]), plus associate members VOA and HCJB. WBCQ is very highly rated by this group; it has a long history of attending the SWL Winterfests and of broadcasting programs that are popular among the DX hobbyists. Former NASB member WWCR airs a lot of similar programming and is also highly-rated. Stations rated in the top 10 by Mexican listeners which were also mentioned by North American listeners include Radio Netherlands, Radio Havana Cuba, Radio Exterior de España, BBC, China Radio International, HCJB, WRMI and Radio France International -- in that order. One respondent in North America commented: "HCJB was my top favorite when they had English programs," referring to the station`s decision to eliminate most English programming to North America in mid-2003. ------------------------------------- Do you live in: USA? 91 95% (NA) Canada? 02 02% (NA) Other country? 02 02% (NA) No answer 01 01% (NA) In what year did you begin to listen to shortwave radio? 1930-1939 01 01% 00% 1940-1949 04 04% 00% 1950-1959 20 21% 04% 1960-1969 24 25% 09% 1970-1979 24 25% 11% 1980-1989 07 07% 38% 1990-1999 10 10% 19% 2000+ 05 05% 15% No answer 01 01% 06% Obviously, a lot more shortwave listeners in North America began to listen from 1940-1970 than in Mexico. This is because the average age of listeners in North America is much older. See "How old are you now?" below. How old were you when you began to listen to shortwave radio? Less than 10 13 14% 13% 10-19 58 60% 38% 20-29 06 06% 32% 30-39 09 09% 11% 40-49 06 06% 02% 50-59 02 02% 00% No answer 02 02% 04% In North America, most people began to listen to shortwave during their teens. In Mexico, most began to listen during their teens and twenties. How old are you now? Less than 10 00 00% 00% 10-19 00 00% 04% 20-29 04 04% 17% 30-39 09 09% 40% 40-49 30 31% 15% 50-59 28 29% 15% 60-69 18 19% 04% 70+ 05 05% 02% No answer 02 02% 02% The current age of Mexican listeners is much lower than North American listeners. The majority of Mexicans are under 40, while the majority of North Americans are over 40. Your sex: Male 90 94% 68% Female 05 05% 32% No answer 01 01% 00% In North America, shortwave listeners appear to be almost exclusively male. In Mexico, only two-thirds are male. What is your highest educational level? None 00 00% 00% Elementary school 00 00% 17% High school 05 05% 11% Univ. or Tech Inst. 64 67% 60% Postgrad. (univ.) 25 26% 13% No answer 02 02% 00% Because of the lower age, there are more Mexicans in elementary and high school at the present time. The number of university and postgraduate students is fairly similar in both samples, and this is extremely high in comparison to the overall population, both in North America and Mexico. So we can say that shortwave listeners are very well-educated in general. Do you belong to a DX club? Yes 55 57% 19% No 40 42% 81% No answer 01 01% 00% The majority of North American listeners belong to a DX club, while less than 1 in 5 Mexicans belong to a club. Do you consider yourself a "DXer?" Yes 63 66% 66% No 32 33% 32% No answer 01 01% 02% The results here were virtually identical in Mexico and North America. Two-thirds of listeners consider themselves to be "DXers." Do you regularly listen to shortwave programs in: English? 96 100% 30% Spanish? 13 14% 94% Other languages? 22 23% 17% (Languages mentioned: French, German, Creole, Greek, Portuguese, Urdu) Obviously, more people listen in English in North America, and in Spanish in Mexico. But there is a significant percentage in North America who listen in Spanish, and in Mexico who listen in English. In both areas, a large number listen in other foreign languages. During what hours (local time) do you normally listen to shortwave? 5:00-10:00 a.m. 35 36% (NA) 10:00 am-5:00 pm 20 21% (NA) 5:00 pm-12:00 mn 89 93% (NA) 12:00 mn-5:00 am 23 24% (NA) In the Mexican survey, this question was open-ended; we did not provide the time categories. Therefore, we can`t do a direct comparison. However, the tendencies are clearly the same for both samples. By far the largest listenership in both areas is from 5 pm to midnight local time, with a significant listenership in the early morning hours (5-10 am) as well. Do you listen to shortwave: More on weekdays than on the weekend 20 21% 26% More on weekends than on weekdays 24 25% 36% About the same amount all days of the week 52 54% 36% No answer 00 00% 02% It would appear as though listenership to shortwave is fairly equal on all days of the week in both North America and Mexico. There might be a bit more listening on weekends in Mexico. About how many hours per week do you listen to shortwave radio? Less than 10 46 48% 40% 10-19 33 34% 21% 20-29 09 09% 09% 30-39 02 02% 11% 40+ 02 02% 02% No answer 04 4% 15% Clearly, the vast majority of listeners in both North America and Mexico listen to shortwave for less than 20 hours per week. A slightly higher percentage of Mexicans listens for more than 20 hours per week. What is your profession? Retired 17 Engineer 11 Broadcaster/Journalist 06 No answer 07 Owner/Manager 05 Computer/IT Specialist 05 Consultant 04 Sales 04 Government Service 03 Technician 03 Accountant/Auditor 02 Clerical worker 02 Professor/Teacher 02 Scientist 02 Student 02 + One each of: Attorney, Electronics, Car repossessor, Carpenter, Entrepreneur, Financial planner, Firefighter, Health services professional, Laborer, Musician, Operator, Pharmacist, Police officer, Printing, Prison guard, Self-employed, Sports promoter, Trade and safety trainer, Two-way service, Urban planner, Writer. These are raw figures; not percentages. Therefore, it is hard to compare these results directly with those from Mexico. However, the tendency to find lots of engineers, broadcasters, journalists, technicians, teachers and students is seen in both surveys. The main difference is the very large number of retired persons in the North American survey, due to the much higher average age of the listeners there. What kind of shortwave receiver do you use most (brand, model)? Grundig 25 Sony 25 Drake 19 Icom 16 JRC 08 Radio Shack/Realistic 08 Kenwood 05 Sangean 05 Yaesu 05 AOR 04 Ten-Tec 04 No answer 03 Lowe 02 Palstar 02 + One each of the following: Collins, Fairhaven, "Internet," Kaito, Magnavox, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, WiNRADIO, Zenith. These are raw figures; not percentages. Many people mentioned more than one receiver. Many models were mentioned; the above figures are summaries by brand. It is obvious that Grundig and Sony are the most popular receivers in North America, but there is also a large number of very expensive, sophisticated receivers (such as Drake, Icom, JRC, Kenwood, Yaesu, AOR, Ten-Tec, Lowe, Palstar, Collins and Fairhaven). This is undoubtedly because (as you will see below) most of these listeners are amateur radio operators, and they have a lot of expensive receivers and/or transceivers that they also use for shortwave listening. In the Mexican survey, the most popular brands were Sony and Radio Shack/Realistic. In Mexico and the rest of Latin America (where most listeners are not amateur operators), very few listeners have expensive, sophisticated receivers like in North America, and there is a much larger percentage of cheap "boom-box" type radios used. So it is important for broadcasters to deliver a very good signal to their target areas in Latin America. North American listeners are somewhat more forgiving of poorer signals and will listen to harder-to-hear stations with their good radios and antennas. What kind of frequency readout does your receiver have? Digital 86 90% Analog 05 05% No answer 05 05% We did not ask this question specifically on the Mexican survey, but some listeners volunteered this information when asked what kind of receiver they use. Of those Mexican listeners who indicated, more used analog than digital readout receivers. In North America, almost all listeners have digital readout. What kind of antenna do you use? Longwire/random wire 41 Dipole 20 Sloper 09 Telescopic/whip 09 No answer 07 Active 06 Vertical 05 Loop 04 Reel/wind-up 04 Inverted L/inverted V 03 Beam 02 Beverage 02 External 02 + One each of the following: Amplified monopole, Automobile antenna, CB antenna, Hamstick, Screwdriver, "Various," VPA Joystick Rod, Windom, Zepp Again, these are raw figures rather than percentages. The tendency toward longwire/random wire, dipole and telescopic/whip antennas is seen in both samples. In Mexico, listeners are likely to connect a wire to anything and use it as an antenna, whereas in North America the listeners -- with their amateur radio backgrounds -- use all kinds of fancy, sophisticated antennas. What type of area do you live in? Urban 22 23% 66% Suburban 55 57% 23% Rural 14 15% 11% No answer 05 05% 00% The percentage of urban vs. suburban listeners is almost totally reversed in North America and Mexico. Do you regularly listen to shortwave: in your house? 92 96% 94% at work? 08 08% 13% in your car? 16 17% 06% at beach or in countryside 31 32% 13% Almost everyone listens to shortwave at home in both North America and Mexico. More people listen at work in Mexico, whereas more people seem to have shortwave radios in their car in North America. Far more North Americas appear to take their shortwave receivers to the beach or countryside with them. What type of programs do you like to listen to on shortwave? News 89 93% 81% Music 61 64% 60% Political analysis 61 64% 34% DX programs 55 57% 55% Cultural programs 54 56% 74% Science and technology 50 52% 47% Mailbag programs 46 48% 32% History 35 36% 45% Economy and business 23 24% 13% Religious programs 18 19% 19% Language courses 07 07% 19% Sports 06 06% 23% Philatelic programs 04 04% 13% News is obviously the most important kind of programming for listeners in both areas, and nearly two out of three like to hear music, despite assertions by some people that shortwave is not a medium particularly suited for music. There is a big difference between North American and Mexican listeners on political analysis; nearly two-thirds of North Americans like it as opposed to only one-third of Mexicans. DX programs are popular with over half of both samples, so those stations without DX programs might want to take a look at that. Cultural programs are very popular with both groups, but even more so in Mexico. Mailbag programs were selected by nearly half of the North American listeners, and one-third of the Mexicans. Economy and business programs seem to be more popular in North America; language courses and stamp collecting programs appear more popular in Mexico. A big difference was in sports programming, which is liked by nearly a quarter of the Mexican audience, but only 6% of North American listeners. Religious programming got exactly the same rating among both audiences (nearly 1 out of 5 likes it), which remains a big challenge for many NASB member stations who program almost totally religious material. Do you have access to the Internet? Yes 83 86% 74% No 10 10% 17% No answer 03 03% 09% Slightly more SWLs in North America have access to the Internet, but the number is pretty high in Mexico as well. If you have access to the Internet, where do you have this access? Home 79 82% 55% Work 51 53% 28% School 02 02% 02% Another location 08 08% 09% (Locations mentioned: Library, Hotels, Mobile phone, "Business trips") A lot more North Americans have access to the Internet in their homes. Twice as many North Americans have access to the Internet at work as do Mexicans. Very few Mexican or North American shortwave listeners have Internet access at school. A lot of those who don`t have Internet access anywhere else go to their public library in North America; in Mexico they tend to go to a cybercafé. Do you regularly listen to audio programs via the Internet? Yes 30 31% 17% No 63 66% 68% No answer 03 03% 15% This may change in the near future as more North Americans get broadband in their homes, but at the moment less than a third listen to audio programs via Internet, and in Mexico it is even much lower. So stations that are thinking of switching from shortwave to Internet to reach the North American audience should consider this very carefully. For Latin America, forget it for now. Do you regularly use e-mail? Yes 80 83% 60% No 13 14% 30% No answer 03 03% 11% Most of the shortwave listeners sampled in both regions use e-mail. Not surprisingly, the percentage is quite a bit higher in North America. Have you written at least once to a shortwave station via regular mail? Yes 74 77% 62% No 19 20% 34% No answer 03 04% 04% Most listeners have sent a postal letter to a shortwave station at one time or another, but the number is slightly higher in North America. Have you written at least once to a shortwave station via e-mail? Yes 59 61% 38% No 31 32% 53% No answer 06 06% 09% Here there is a big difference between the two samples. While most North American listeners have sent e-mail to a shortwave station, most Mexicans have not. Are you an amateur radio operator (with call sign and broadcast license)? Yes 50 52% 09% No 43 45% 89% No answer 03 03% 02% Here is perhaps the most striking difference between the two samples. The majority of SWL Winterfest attendees are amateur radio operators, while only 9% of Mexican DX meeting attendees are licensed hams. I suspect that the overall percentage of shortwave listeners in North America who are also amateur radio operators is probably far less than 52%. The Winterfest is not completely shortwave-oriented; seminars focus on many other aspects of radio and DXing as well. And this year in particular, amateur radio license exams were offered at the Winterfest. Have you attended other SWL Winterfests in the past? This is the first time 24 25% 45% I have been to others 68 71% 51% No answer 04 04% 04% In the Mexican survey, this question read: "Have you attended other Mexican National DX Meetings...?" In the case of both conventions, over half had attended a meeting in the past, but almost half of the Mexicans were first-time attendees, whereas only a quarter of the North American attendees were first-timers. What is your religious belief? Catholic 23 24% 53% Protestant 35 36% 15% Jewish 05 05% (NA) Muslim 02 02% (NA) Other 09 09%* 09% None 15 16% 19% No answer 07 07% 04% *Others mentioned: "Ethical culture," Moravian, "Christian" As would be expected, there were a lot more Catholic listeners than Protestants in Mexico, and a lot more Protestant listeners than Catholics in North America. In both cases, Catholics and Protestants together made up well over half of the sample. We did not include the Jewish and Muslim categories in the Mexican survey. Those who chose "Other" were 9% in both surveys. And a fairly large number (16% in North America and 19% in Mexico) have no religious belief. Again, this presents a great challenge -- and an opportunity -- to a lot of NASB member stations and other religious shortwave broadcasters (Jeff White, NASB, via Allan Weiner, WBCQ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO STUDIO OPERATION It's been ten or twelve years since I've been in a radio station and I am curious about how they function with everything being on a computer. Does the computer have a sound card with multiple outputs with each output going into a separate channel on a board? Does the computer software have the equivalent of several pieces of hardware -- CD players, cart machines, turntables, (couldn't resist that) etc.? Thanks, (An always curious Tom Dimeo, Harrisburg Pennsylvania, NRC-AM via DXLD) In our case, the (numerous) computers' and audio servers' sound cards are hooked into a digital distribution amplifier that routes the audio wherever it's supposed to be going. The sound cards themselves don't need multiple outputs -- a distribution amp or routing switcher takes care of that. As for equivalents of other hardware, yes and no. With our automation program, the computer will turn various audio sources on and off and feed them to the main live on-air board channel, either live satellite/network feeds or sound files stored on the hard drive of the server. The sound files stored on the server, I guess, you could consider the equivalent of cart machines, reel-to-reel, CD players etc. In fact, the Prophet Systems "Nexgen" system we use actually provides the board operator an on-screen interface called a "wall of carts"-- basically several rows of "buttons" which, when mouse-clicked, play various stored files that have been recorded onto the hard drive through the sound card. And the automatic "recording-programs-off-the- satellite-for-time-shifting" software in Nexgen is called "Digital Reel-to-Reel. So equivalent... Yeah, I guess so. But basically you're just dealing with computer files, like Word files or whatever, only these are very LARGE .wav files (Randy Stewart/Springfield MO, KSMU, ibid.) Thanks Randy, very interesting. Wonder if you'd answer another question or two. If you are sitting at the board can you select which computer or audio server you want to play a sound file into the live on-air channel? Can you be playing a sound file on the air and listen to another sound file in a cue channel? (Tom Dimeo, ibid.) 1) Well, we have two board channels set aside for Nexgen -- one is the automation pot (which much of the time is riding the network live and playing local spots/breaks from the server), the other is a "live- assist" pot, on which we can play sound files manually. So we really can't pick & choose which computer or server goes to which pot. (And a third pot is set aside for our digital-production/editing program [Sonic Foundary's "Sound Forge"] so we can play files live-to-air from THAT server!) 2) Absolutely -- we can listen to other sound files in cue while one is playing on-air. I don't really understand how it works, frankly, but the way it's set up you can basically do these two (or more) things at once without the system freaking out (Randy, ibid.) Hi Tom, As far as modern radio stations, they run the gambit [sic]. The high-end broadcast automation systems use multiple audio outputs from computers feeding cue, and loads of air channels. The ideal arrangement is a pot for each source. Other systems can run automation or live assist using one soundcard and one pot on the board for the automation. Mixing, playing of elements (spots, jingles, sweepers, and music) can be done through this one card. You can mix and match to a degree depending on the software package used, the soundcard, and the board. in use in the control room. The control room system is usually linked (networked) to a machine or machines in other studios/ production/ news etc. This allows program content to flow seamlessly to and from any studio in the building. I hope this helps (Dave Marthouse, N2AAM, ibid.) NO. There are sound cards, but they are often expensive ones sometimes costing hundreds to thousands of dollars. NO. There are other folks that run automation systems that work with radio and TV here. Music on hard drive, and you may have a CD drive and you can suck music ( rip ) onto the hard drive. Joining networks and other audio sources are done by audio switchers. It's not necessary to run the automation through the board unless you are running live with the automation. Now someone else.... (Powell E. Way, ibid.) OK - my turn, now that I'm back at work in radio on a semi-regular basis. At my station, there's an ENCO DAD automation system, with a rack full of servers and lots of hard drives to store all that audio. The system can run unattended, though it's wired through the board and needs to be brought up on a pot on the board to go to air. It records some incoming network feeds automatically; everything else goes into it through several workstations in the newsroom and the various studios. Each studio setup has two audio outputs (separate from the automation output) that each show up on their own pot on the board; I can set them up more or less like cart machines with the various audio cuts I need for a newscast or a break (underwriting announcements, news cuts, background music, etc) and can play separate material through each output channel. I can even play material from two output channels and record the result right back into the system (if I'm recording a newscast for later at night, for instance.) Setting it up this way means that I can have one piece of audio playing through one output in program while I preview another through the other output in cue. Oh - what station? Rochester's WXXI 1370, where I'm filling in for a while now that they've lost one of their veteran newspeople. Looks like I'll be doing the local All Things Considered breaks and some field reporting for a couple of months. Anyone catching me on the air will get some sort of special QSL...and yes, I'm trying to get them to do a DX test, too. s (Scott Fybush, NY, all NRC-AM via DXLD) MEMORIES OF A VICTROLA Dear Mike, Thank you Mike for the interesting CRU issue #273. Besides, news on Radio Horeb, I was really fascinated reading your FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK on the Victrola phonograph. Well, it immediately brought back sweet and happy memories in my childhood. I am forwarding your article to Pearl, my dear sister in San Jose, CA, who will, I am sure, be interested to read it. Actually, we have a cabinet type Victrola talking machine with the dog facing the horn. It was my parent's beautiful piece of furniture in our sala at home in Tondo, Manila in those days ... from 1950 to 1970. Though we had the electric phonograph already during the 50's to listen to Ricky Nelson's Poor Little Fool, Paul Anka's Diana, and the likes, we kids would every now and then play old records of music and speeches on big black record discs. Sounds were really scratchy... because of the worn out surface, done by the very abrasive needle like-headless nails. Never the less, we were fascinated playing it... as we would not stop to be awed by the big jump of technology from the old Victrola to the hi-fi sound machine. In the mid 70's, the family possessed another cabinet type Victrola from a departed uncle in Manila. That made it 2 Victrolas adorning our sala. And they remained interesting talking pieces among friends and visitors coming to our home. Crazy me, one time in the 70's, I converted one of the Victrolas to run stereophonic. With the delicate old sound mechanism inside it, I installed an 8-track stereo tape player, complete with stereo speakers that were well crafted inside the cabinet. In a jippy, it played Ray Charles songs and rock and roll music. Oh, my sister Pearl loves the Victrola up to this time. Being in the US, and the owner of the 2 Victrolas, she would ask my sister Daisy and her family (who reside in our old home in Manila) to take care of them, as they are now collectors' items. They are wonderful treasures, indeed. Thank you, Mike for such a beautiful, reminiscing article on Victrola. It was always around me at home in Manila for 41 years, more than half of my life. The next time I would visit home in Manila, I should touch it with so much love and remembrance.... and do it for my dear sister Pearl, too, who love them most. God bless... Best regards, (Danny Villanueva, DZRM Radio Maria Philippines, Tarlac City, Philippines, Catholic Radio Update March 29 via DXLD) ###