DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-128, August 2, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING 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 2005 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 1282: Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [occasional] Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1282 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1282h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1282h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1282 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1282.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1282.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1282.html WORLD OF RADIO 1282 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3: (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_07-27-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_07-27-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1282 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1282h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1282.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently available: 1277, Extra 57, 1278, 1279, 1280, Extra 58, 1281, 1282) FIRST BROADCASTS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1283: Wed 2200 on WBCQ 7415 Wed 2300 on WBCQ 17495-CLSB Thu 2030 on WWCR 15825 Thu 2330 on WBCQ 7415 [maybe, like last week] on demand: from early UT Thursday, change 1282 above to 1283 ATTENTION, EDITORS: I often used ``ibid.`` in a credit line to avoid repeating an entire string or even an individual attribution, meaning ``from the same source``. But if you excerpt an item attributed only to ibid., you need to look to previous item just above it, and keep looking up if necesary, until you find what the ibid. refers to, and make that the explicit credit of the excerpt (gh) ** ALASKA. DXing in ALASKA --- Everyone, I recently returned from a ten day vacation in Alaska, covering Anchorage, Denali National Park, Fairbanks (briefly), and Seward. It was a fantastic trip with lots of wildlfie and scenery. I even managed some DXing on My Sony 2010 while we were there. I only had the internal loopstick in the 2010. I didn't have much space in my luggage for a loop. Plus I wasn't sure what airport security would think of my radio west ferrite loop, or for that matter a spool of wire. Here are a few observations from the trip: Anchorage: There are six locals, plus a TIS at the local university. KHAR-590 is standards, KUDO-1080 is Air America, and KTZN-550 is Sportstalk. KENI-650, KBYR-700, and KFQD-750 are news and talk, ranging from mainstream to conservative. The Soldotna and Homer stations are also audible (fair-weak) during the day. Our hotel had lots of electrical noise so I didn`t try any DX listening. Healy: This is a small town a few miles north of Denali National Park. The strongest daytime signal is KIAM-630, about 50 miles up the road in Nenana. I could also hear the four Fairbanks area stations with fair signals: KFAR-660 (talk), KCBF-820 (sports), KFBX-970 (talk), and KJNP-1170 (religion). Sunset was about 11:45 pm and sunrise was around 4, but it never really got dark at night. I tried DXing at around 2 or 3 am two nights. The first time, I had weak carriers from the Anchorage stations, with bits of audio on 650, but that was it! The second attempt was better – readable audio from the Anchorage stations, plus some of the other stations in south central Alaska (620 790 890 920 1140 1230 1450), and a few signals from the lower 48. KFBK was the strongest non-Alaskan, followed by KGO and KEX. Seward: Seward is on the coast, at the north end of a bay about ten miles long and 2-3 miles wide, with high mountains on all sides. We stayed in a duplex, which had some electrical noise I could sort of deal with. Seward has one local, KSWD-950, plus a flea-powered TIS on 1500. The Anchorage stations, about 70 miles away, are audible during the day with fair signals. I could also hear the more distant Homer (620 890) and Soldatna (920 1140) stations fair-poor, plus KCHU-770 Valdez very weakly. I DX'ed three of the nights we were there. The results weren`t all that spectacular, but it was interesting to hear my locals and other pests as DX. The Vancouver stations were mostly strong, as were some the other 50 kW west coast stations. I heard several regional channel stations, including surprises like KITI-1420 and KYKN-1430. I sometimes had audio on graveyard channels but it was never readable, except from the Alaskans on 1230 and 1450. There was absolutely nothing from the higher latitude stations (Nome, Fairbanks, Whitehorse, etc.) and nothing outside North America. I hadn`t done any domestic DXing for a while, so it was frustrating to hear the same six talk shows up and down the dial, with infrequent local station breaks all at the same time. I miss the 1970s, when we had all those Top 40 stations shouting out their calls after each song. Station Notes 840, KCKC, Big Lake, confirmed silent, not heard while in the area and has been deleted from FCC database 950, KSWD, Seward, had been silent, but is now active. 24 hour non- stop country music, no ads or announcements except for occasional IDs 980, KZXX, Kenai confirmed silent, not heard while in the area and has been deleted from FCC database 1020, KAXX, Eagle River is silent, though still listed in FCC database 1110, KAGV, Big Lake-Houston, was silent. According to http://www.daveandlauraonline.com KAGV started broadcasting in late 2004. Less than a month later, the transmitter building was flooded, and some of the equipment was damaged. The station had hoped to be back on by March. No mention of a revised target date. 1170, KJNP, is apparently not 24 hours. Noted off at 2 or 3 am LT while in Healy, but stayed on past midnight 7/19. Their web site says they’re on about 19 hours/day, so sked might be 0500-0100 +/- local time. 1500, Seward, low powered TIS noted here while in Seward with parking info, etc. Very low power. 1610, WPHC769, Anchorage, TIS at University of Alaska Anchorage campus, parking and other info about campus activities, "WPHC769, Wolf Radio for University of Alaska Anchorage". Good-fair throughout Anchorage. 1610, KOE700, is a TIS near the entrance to Denali National Park, with park info etc. ``KOE700 The Radio Voice of Denali National Park`` Here are a few loggings from the Alaska trip. All times are EDT [= UT -4 whilst AK is on UT -8]. All loggings are from Seward, except as noted. [gh excerpted AK only; also had some BC, US 50 kW as far as KFMB-760, KSL-1160; XEPRS-1090] 525, `ICW` Nenana, beacon noted all day in Healy, quite good for listed 25 watts at 50 miles 560, KVOK, Kodiak, AK, 0810 7/25 fair-poor with promo mentioning call & "Kodiak ____ Report" 630, KIAM, Nenana, AK, good signal all day in Healy with Christian programs, music etc. Program sample: 0100 7/21 ending "Unshackled" program, "The Gospel Voice of the Wilderness, KIAM Nenana" into USA network news, later had "Mukluk Messages" (messages for listeners in remote areas) and very detailed weather report (including the water level for every river in the area). Also IDs as "The I Am Radio Network" 670, KDLG, Dillingham AK, 0800 7/25 good ending jazz program, ID mentioned relays by KIAL Unalaska, KSDP Sand Point, KNSA Unalakleet & FM translator, then BBC news 770, KCHU, Valdez, AK, weak days in Seward with various music/talk programs. Good with jazz show 0637 7/24. Loud with NPR`s "Blues Before Dawn" show 0732 7/25. NPR news good 0806 7/25. 790, KCAM, Glenallen AK, 0703 7/20 fair with weather & call ID by woman 830, KSDP, Sand Point AK, 0808 7/25 marine weather forecast, fishing report from AK Dept of Fish and Game, then music fair, not // 670 despite ID heard earlier on KDLG 870, KSKO, McGrath, AK 0715 7/25 tentative with offbeat music program, stuff like operatic version of "Till There Was You", soft voiced woman announcer, some jazz music weak-fair over unID talk 890, KBBI, Homer, AK, 0616 7/23 loud with BBC program 920, KSRM, Soldotna, AK fair signal days in Anchorage & Seward, strong at night in Seward with newstalk. Noted in Healy 0700 7/20 with legal ID "KSRM Soldotna-Kenai-Homer", then ABC news 930, KTKN Ketchikan AK, 0426 7/25 good with oldies "930 KTKN Ketchikan, a proud service of Alaska Broadcast Communications" 1140, KSLD, Soldotna, AK, fair-weak days in Seward with rock music. Good at nights. Loud 0755 7/25 with rock "The Classic Rock Experience, KSLD" 1230, KVAK, Valdez, AK 0613 7/24 good-fair with country music "The Best Country Sounds in Prince WIlliam Sound, KVAK 12-30" 1450, KLAM, Cordova, AK, 0532 7/23, local ID during Coast to Coast fair-good (Bruce Portzer, July 31, IRCA via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. Sorry for the delay. I have been away in Potiskum, Yobe State, where I`m doing a compulsory one year NYSC (National Youth Service Corps). I will be rounding up in February 2006. On returning home I found some interesting QSL cards from Africa. Radio Nacional de Angola, a beautiful yellow coloured QSL card for my report on 4950 kHz of 27:08:04 (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Aug 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also EQUATORIAL GUINEA ** BELARUS [non]. EU MAY FUND INDEPENDENT BROADCASTS TO BELARUS The European Union may finance independent media broadcasts in Belarus to give the country a source of information other than state- controlled broadcasters, the EU Commission said on Monday. "We are currently exploring the possibilities to support independent media outlets, radio, TV, and others," Commission spokesman Amadeu Tardio said. The statement follows last week's condemnation by the EU executive of what it said were "acts of intimidation by the Belarussian authorities" against members of the 400,000 strong Polish minority and arrests of some activists. "Clearly they occur in a period of growing repression against political parties and non-governmental organisations in Belarus and we call on Belarus to fully respect human rights obligations," Tardio told a daily Commission briefing. Tardio said the broadcasts to Belarus could be financed from the EU's 8 million-euro human rights budget. # posted by Andy @ 12:23 UT August 2 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CANADA. Once again I have noticed one RCI frequency lagging behind the other two, this time by about 2.5 seconds: 9515 behind 13655 and 17800, during the news at 1403 August 2. To even out power consumption peaks, I assume, as all are surely Sackville. This could be a problem if RCI ever broadcasts the NRC noon timesignal which you always hear on CBC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. Re 5-127: ``I still don`t quite get it --- why NWI had to go to make way for Current (gh, DXLD)`` I was most interested in the comment in Glen[n]'s latest digest on the loss of Newsworld International. It is indeed a sad day that a service which provided unique access to international news for an American audience has been replaced by News Videos for 20 somethings. The 'dumbing down' of the media continues apace. The most distressing thing is that according to the CBC they tried hard to sell DirecTV and other carriers on their product without success. They were told Americans are not interested in international news. I'm not sure this is true but if it is this is a sad commentary indeed (Sandy Finlayson, swprograms via DXLD) Newsworld International relaunches as demographically correct lifestyle TV Newsworld International http://NWITV.COM which I believe is an outgrowth of CBC and had a lot of foreign TV news programs like ITV news and CBC The National, is now a demographically correct lifestyle story channel, Current TV which I can't watch for more than a few minutes (Joel Rubin, DX LISTENING DIGEST) quote from http://www.nwitv.com/ --- On August 1, 2005, NWI re-launched with a new slate of programming and a new name: Current. On behalf of everyone working at NWI, thank you for your years of support and viewership. Questions about future availability of CBC programming should be directed to cbcinput @ toronto.cbc.ca Note that CBC's The National is available online [quote from] http://www.timewarnercable.com/nyandnj/products/cable/upcomingchanges.html UPCOMING PROGRAMMING CHANGES AUGUST 1, 2005 Effective August 1, NWI (News World International) will be replaced by Current TV on Channel 103 in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Mt. Vernon and Bergen, NJ, and on Channel 118 in Hudson Valley. Current TV, created by and for 18 to 34 year-olds, will be the first national network to invite viewers to become creative partners by submitting their own short features on everything from technology, fashion, music and videogames to the environment, relationships, spirituality, politics, finance, and parenting. We hope you enjoy this innovative new addition to the DTV-Digital Television lineup. [close quote] (via Joel Rubin, DXLD) While "Current" is a different kind of network with a different focus, I'm not sure it's fair to describe it as a "dumbing down" of news right out of the box. It appears to have taken note of the more interactive nature of communications today; and of the distinctively different ways under-35s use media. I think it is at least an interesting experiment that seeks to marry aspects of the "old media" with the new and entice an audience that -- quite frankly -- seems to be turning its collective back on what those of us over 35 commonly recognize as the mass media. I, too, lament the loss of NWI; but to be fair, that network had done very little over the years to better distinguish itself or improve its visibility. If CBC television feels the same way about reaching an American audience as apparently its radio side does, it too should find a way to re-emerge on US television screens. (N.B.: CBC Radio One and Première Chaîne (the French first network) should be available to Sirius radio subscribers sometime this fall.) (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) To some extent, what we, uh, older folks would call "dumbing down" is more of a difference in how the under-35 demographic uses media. We have turned into a society of skimmers. We want to know a little about a lot of things, and then dig deeper into those things that specifically interest us. We then use other interactive tools (read: Internet) to do our spadework. Through one lens, that's "dumbing down". Through another lens, it's layered presentation of information (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) John: I am not sure what you have in mind when you say that NWI did little to distinguish itself or improve visibility. I think it was distinguished from other services since the product was unique. As to improving visibility I do not know what they tried. There clearly were attempts to keep NWI going as the following CBC statement attests When it was announced that NWI would be closing part of the CBC's statement said, "Attempts to keep NWI alive 'unsuccessful' CBC News management, while praising the quality of NWI's programming, said the decision to close it was beyond CBC's control. "A few months ago, we were advised that the content supply arrangement will likely not be renewed," said CBC News Editor-in-Chief Tony Burman in a statement. "Since that time, the CBC has been aggressively exploring alternate arrangements with the Gore Group and a myriad of other distribution partners throughout the United States in an effort to secure an ongoing future for NWI," he said. "Unfortunately, these discussions have been unsuccessful." Burman said it became clear during those discussions that the people running the U.S. satellite and cable distribution world think there are already too many news and information channels and that there's no market for another international service. "At the CBC, we don't accept this analysis but there is little at this point that we can do," he said." The full statement can be found at http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/national/2005/04/07/nwi-050407.html (Sandy Finlayson, ibid.) Sandy, et al: I think the relevant portion of that release is this: ``Burman said it became clear during those discussions that the people running the U.S. satellite and cable distribution world think there are already too many news and information channels and that there's no market for another international service.`` Which, if even partially true, would make it a tough sell. The distributors are the gate keepers and with nearly 500 programming services available in the US, they can pick and choose. The number of "news channels" is set to grow further soon with the Al Jazeera English language channel, and several others coming on the air. (Any bets on how many distributors pick that one up?? ;-) ) Let's not forget that the BBC has claimed for some time to be trying to bring BBC World to US audiences with minimal success. Some existing channels, such as MSNBC, are barely financially viable. "Current" is on the air for several reasons --- one is the prominence of the backers, two, by dumping NWI they had an existing carriage arrangement that they could use, and three, they have sufficient funding for the near term. Whether their programming model works will be apparent soon enough. Sad to say, but the folks on this list may be the statistical exception (I don't know for sure) -- those who do care about international events and want multiple and diverse news sources (Rob de Santos, Columbus, OH, ibid.) I meant that NWI looked largely the same way it did when it debuted. For you and me, it's mere existence was distinguishing enough. But, for the larger audience generally speaking, those that didn't use it regularly at its inception, still didn't use it at the end. FWIW, I think the CBC statement is a little self-serving. It repeats the oft- stated perception that American audiences are not interested in international content. However, recent polling I've seen indicates that such interest has increased. I think it's closer to the truth that the CBC could secure another arrangement "on the cheap" that mirrored the relationship they had had with the previous owners of NWI. Having said that, I hope they keep trying. I'm going to miss "The National" (John Figliozzi, ibid.) I guess, from what you say, that it was a poor copy of the main Newsworld channel. The latter is an excellent source of documentaries, mainly from the U.K. and Canada. Recent greats were "Tribe" and "Holidays from the Danger Zone--Places That Don't Exist". Both from the BBC, and both really fascinating stuff. As the number of quality programmes on radio continue to diminish, I find myself, a bit surprisingly perhaps, turning more and more to quality television. There's not much of that out there, mind you, but there is some. 73, (Peter Bowen, ibid.) Good news is that it's easier than ever to listen to the good programs that remain. I still find myself with more good radio to listen to than time to listen to it. The new, independent distribution channels such as PRX create an even longer wish list (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) I had been a regular viewer of NWI for only three years after moving here in 2002. I was actually surprised to see them update their graphics and some packaging in the last year after they had been sold. This may have been part of their attempt to repackage and resell the channel. I don't disagree that there is an element of the self-serving in the CBC statement but I think it is probably true that there is less interest in Channels like NWI because the target demographic of Current TV, DirecTV etc is a younger one who are more interested in the kind of programming that Current offers (Sandy Finlayson, PA, ibid.) Glenn: The reason NWI had to go to make room for Al Gore's juvenile Current TV has more to do with cable and satellite distribution than programming. Cable TV channels are often bought and sold by people more interested in their potential audience reach than the programming. I helped launch the Video Jukebox Network, later called The Box, which aired on cable and LPTV. It was later purchased by MTV, which killed it off and put MTV programming on instead. MTV clearly had no interest in the Box's programming and only wanted the channel slots. Taking over from NWI allows Gore's channel to start with distribution on "20 million US cable and satellite households." If Current TV had started from scratch, it could have taken years (and much more money lost) to achieve the 20-million figure. The lack of interest in NWI and its international newscasts is another example of American navel- gazing and the growing dissolve between journalism and amateurism. The hype over a hip new youth channel trumps the important international perspective offered by NWI, CNN International, BBC World, CBC, DW and others (Mike Cooper, GA, Aug 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA for more on Current ** CZECH REPUBLIC. NOSTALGIA REIGNS AT RFE/RL AS BROADCASTER PREPARES FOR MOVING DAY Jiri Pehe, who used to work as a journalist in the RFE Czech section during the communist era - was one of the main advocates of the move. Now he says he still believes the presence of RFE/RL here has benefited the Czech Republic a lot. http://www.radio.cz/en/issue/69133 (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) hook over the r in Jiri. + Quotes from many others about the move, and real audio available (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. R. Prague goodies: see RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Radio Africa, the QSL card read P. O. Box 851, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, for report on 15190 kHz of March 6, 2005. Also accompanied by a letter from Pan Africa Broadcasting, encouraging me to write to individual programs (Emmanuel Ezeani, Sokoto, Nigeria, Aug 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Really Pan American Broadcasting, as off- topic as that seems, or are they actually calling themselves Pan African now? (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re 5-127: Dear DXer, Thanks for your kind email mentioning the DW World DX Meet web link. Actually I missed that and now I able to pick up that show. I prefer that show very much with its brief discussion. Perhaps you know that DW Bangla (Bengali) also air a DX show named Antenna. It's also the last Monday of each month (UT 0125). 73's from (Ashik Eqbal Tokon, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. RADIO LITORAL. UNA EMISORA FUERA DEL AIRE, 4830 kHz. Emisora evangélica que emitía desde el puerto de la Ceiba, Atlántida, quedó fuera del aire definitivamente. El equipo de la emisora esté en venta y el cual consiste en un transmisor de mil watts con 2 antenas; por aparte venden un transmisor de 500 watts. Quien esté interesado en adquirir este equipo, favor comunicarse con la hermana Ondina Ortis al correo electrónico mcc @ televicab.com o al teléfono 504- 441 59 73. HONDURAS RADIAL. En Honduras existen más de cuarenta emisoras cristianas. La radio evangélica en Honduras comenzó a escribirse en 1960 con la salida al aire de RADIO LA VOZ EVANGELICA DE HONDURAS. HRVC que significa Hoy Redime Vidas Cristo. YHWH, (Asley Aguilar, Aug 2, Honduras DX Club via Noticias DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. The past few days I have found VOI missing from 9525, both before 1400 when there used to be Indonesian fairly well heard here, and afterwards with the useless and wasteful open carrier. August 2 I did not tune in before 1400, but then could not find any carrier on 9525. So I checked the other frequencies: 11785 too battered by QRM to tell; but 15150 had a carrier, no modulation audible at 1414, but with BFO on, it seemed a smidgen on the low side, and slightly unstable, wavering pitch. At 1441 recheck there was a het of some 200 Hz, indicating VOI was now clashing with some other weak signal actually on 15150.0 --- such as Iran, scheduled there per HFCC at 0530-1630. Then at 1606 recheck I still heard the het, but now bits of Arabic, which could be VOI as scheduled (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Yes, as most days broadcasts on the lower side, today on 15149.84 kHz heard strong signal of Spanish program 1700-1755 UT. 1600-2100 UT now easily heard every day in Europe. 1600-1630 suffers by IRIB Arabic service co-channel. No parallel. 9525 is off, due of the Indonesian main power saving program, I guess. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Air America Off Sirius --- Glenn, Checked Sirius channel 144 today (8/1/2005 [sic]) to see if Air America was still on. It was relaying channel 143 which is Sirius' other liberal channel. Channel 97 was playing a loop announcing the upcoming arrival of BBC Radio One, featuring its morning show host Chris Moyles (Steven Cline, Indianapolis, IN, August 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More on A.A. at USA ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. 9133 USB, 0032 02/08, Coalition Maritime Forces, oriental slow music/songs and short talks in pretty slow English, poor/fair. RX: TenTec/GW RX321 - RFT EKD 315 Ant: T2FD (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ITALY. Italian private station Radio Maria is audible here on 26000 again this morning. Heard from tune-in around 1100 UT with religious talk in Italian. The signal is weak and fading in and out, but quite clear at times. I though this station was supposed to be testing in DRM but it always seems to be in AM, and is often audible here around this time of day. Does anyone know if they QSL? 73 (Dave Kenny, Caversham, UK, Lowe HF225+ 25m long wire, Aug 1, BDXC-UK via DXLD) There's an address and some photos here: http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/radio_maria_e.html (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) Very surprised on picking up my headphones this evening at 2130, to find Radio Maria still audible on 26 MHz (the radio was still switched on from this morning!). This signal is still weak and fading - much the same as it was at lunchtime (Dave Kenny, ibid.) Likely sporadic E, not dependent on daytime (gh) ** JORDAN. What has become of R. Jordan`s sole English service, on 11690 until 1630? August 2 at 1603 there was a decent signal once side-tuned to 11691 to avoid the RTTY around 11687, but it was not in English. I wasn`t sure it was Arabic either, apparent fast-paced news with several voices; had faded out by 1615. Possibly the fellow monarchists are still in mourning for the Sa`udi king and decided to dispense with useless foreign languages (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar-terrestrial indices for 01 August follow. Solar flux 111 and mid-latitude A-index 17. The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 02 August was 3 (35 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) ** LATVIA. The Latvian relay facilities on SW and MW that are provided by KREBS TV (9290, 1350, and Radio Nord on 945) are enjoying great popularity among smaller and larger program producers. When renting airtime on these facilities, some of these producers sometimes claim that the facilities are "theirs". However, there is only one license owner for these transmissions: KREBS TV. All others are clients of KREBS TV, with no exception (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, August 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) European Music Radio Relay This Weekend on 9290 kHz: 6th of August 2005, 2000 UT for 1 hour. Good Listening (Tom Taylor, EMR, August 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saturday ** PAKISTAN. 15081 & 15119, 1555 UT 01/08/05, R. Pakistan, Spurs of 15100 kHz. Icom R75 + Ala 1530 Loops. Regards (Tim Bucknall, Congleton N.W England, UK, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. MAYOR ORDERS CLOSURE OF RADIO STATION | Text of report in English by Philippine newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer website on 1 August Malaybalay City, Bukidnon: Valencia City Mayor Jose Galario Jr. ordered the closure of Radio Mindanao Network's (RMN) station DXVR-FM after he cancelled the station's business permit on Monday [1 August]. Galario said he cancelled its business permit because Joash Dignos, DXVR acting station manager, allegedly violated a city ordinance. Galario said Dignos had been using the station in "a disorderly and unlawful manner" by maligning him on air. In a letter sent to engineer James Jadormio, RMN area manager, Galario said erring announcers of DXVR were not reprimanded and that they continue to injure the public morale and welfare, peace and tranquillity of the Valencia residents." "Instead of (being) mediators, they have shown bias against the duly constituted authorities," Galario said in his letter to Jadormio. Dignos said Galario got irked with his exposes, ranging from the issues of technical malversation of funds to his alleged coddling of suspected anti-drug vigilantes. He said relatives of victims of summary executions in Valencia claimed that the suspects in the killings were seen at city hall with Galario. "What is worse here is that these summary executioners are civilians unlike in Cagayan de Oro where policemen are the ones involved," Dignos said. Galario told the Inquirer that he was not given a chance to rebut the issues hurled against him by Dignos. Although he has a one-hour block-time programme at the station, Galario said he would rather answer the issues over the same programmes where these issues were raised. "I did not want to answer the issues using the block-time programme, they should have given me the chance in their broadcaster's programme. They practise irresponsible broadcasting," he said. Aside from Dignos, Galario said the tirades against him by Zaldy Ocon were further proof of irresponsibility among RMN broadcasters. Galario said he was not planning to reinstate the station's licence. But RMN got a 20-day reprieve after Judge Josefina Gentiles-Bacal of the Regional Trial Court Branch 10 granted a temporary restraining order against Galario's order. Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer website, in English 1 Aug 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 13855, Voice of RUSSIA spurious signals --- Russian service to NE/ME produces two accompanied spurious signals 38.88 kHz away each on 13816.12 and 13893.88 kHz, Moscow site, 250 kW 190 degrees. Date August 2, 2005. Time 1400-1800 UT. Heard on three receivers like Kenwood-1000, AOR 7030, SONY ICF2010 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. RUSSIAN TV HIGHLIGHTS 25-31 JULY 2005 Reaction to the US TV interview with Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev was the big story on Russian TV news in the week 25-31 July 2005. Both state channels, RTR Russia TV (RTV) and Channel One (CH1), condemned the interview and suggested that the US authorities must bear some responsibility for its being aired. Gazprom's NTV also adopted a generally negative stance on the broadcast, but stressed that it did not reflect official US policy. REN TV saw it as evidence of a cooling in Washington's attitude to Moscow. Elsewhere, main bulletins on state channels for the first time showed a meeting between Putin and members of the patriotic youth movement Nashi. However, they ignored the decision by the Kyrgyz authorities to extend the stay of US military forces in their country. Basayev interview on US TV General features of coverage All the main evening bulletins on 28 July reported on the reaction to the interview with Chechen rebel commander Shamil Basayev broadcast by the US TV station ABC on the previous evening. The story dominated the top half of RTV's VESTI (1600 gmt) and CH1's VREMYA (1700 gmt), which devoted 16 and 10 minutes to the subject, respectively. Both bulletins featured comment from Russian politicians and officials condemning the broadcast, and showed extensive footage of the crimes that Basayev is charged with in Russia. Editorial comment also criticized ABC and the US authorities for "double standards" on terrorism. NTV and REN TV ran the reaction to the Basayev interview as their second story. Coverage of NTV's SEGODNYA [sic thruout, spelt with a g, pronounced with a v] (1500 gmt) was almost as extensive as CH1's, and, although generally critical, was more restrained in tone. REN TV's 24 (1530 gmt) allocated only about three minutes to the story, and did not include any negative editorial comment on the interview. It featured reaction from Russian officials alongside comment from an expert who saw the interview as heralding a change of US policy towards Russia. State TV condemns ABC for giving platform to Basayev Russian state TV condemned the decision by ABC TV to broadcast the interview with Basayev despite a protest by the Russian embassy. CH1 suggested that the decision ran counter to common practice in the "civilized world" and to an agreement between the USA and Russia to counter terrorism. NTV and REN TV took a rather less committed stance. "A terrorist on the airwaves. One of the USA's largest TV companies allows Shamil Basayev to promote terrorist ideas," CH1 presenter Yekaterina Andreyeva announced at the top of VREMYA's (1700 gmt) headline sequence on 29 July. "ABC decided that Basayev should repeat everything about his evil deeds for an American audience," she added at the top of the bulletin proper. Correspondent Natalya Seminikhina took up the theme saying that Basayev was "given air time to justify crimes that cannot be justified". RTV's VESTI (1600 gmt) stressed that the decision to broadcast the interview had been taken despite protests from Russia. "The desire to give a platform to a terrorist was the conscious decision of the editorial board at ABC. All efforts by the Russian embassy to persuade the station that it was abetting terrorism rather than combating it fell on deaf ears," correspondent Konstantin Semin said. He went on to dismiss ABC's contextualization of the interview as irrelevant. "It is beside the point that Shamil Basayev's appearance was preceded by information that he is public enemy No 1 in Russia with the blood of hundreds on his hands, including that of the innocent children of Beslan. The thing is that Basayev got the chance to speak directly to viewers in the USA, albeit not at prime time," Semin remarked. VREMYA pointed out that the interview flouted an important principle and was not in keeping with an agreement between Russia and the USA. "By showing this interview ABC violated the principle observed in most countries in the world not to give a platform to terrorists," correspondent Natalya Seminikhina said. She also alluded to a "long- standing agreement between Russia and the USA about the impermissibility of dialogue with terrorists". REN TV and NTV did not directly condemn ABC over the interview, though, like the two state channels, they did show scathing reaction by Russian officials. In addition, NTV noted that "the USA and UK, countries that have suffered attacks, often give terrorists a platform". State channels highlight Basayev's role in atrocities In reporting reaction to the ABC interview, state channels made plenty of verbal and visual reference to the terrorist attacks that Basayev is wanted for in Russia. NTV noted that ABC had referred to the warlord's victims. It also featured an emotional and defiant statement to Basayev by a Beslan mother. REN TV's main evening bulletin on 29 June made no reference to the catalogue of atrocities featured on state TV. "ABC broadcast an interview with the terrorist Basayev who has hundreds of human lives on his conscience: Dubrovka, Beslan and the apartment block explosions in Moscow and Volgodonsk, RTV presenter Mariya Sittel said on VESTI at 1600 gmt. The 1300 gmt VESTI bulletin listed these attacks as well as the siege of the hospital in Budennovsk in 1995, the Moscow metro blast and the airline bombings in 2003. The death toll was given in each case. The bulletin at 1600 gmt showed video sequences of these incidents as a kind of running background to the reports on the ABC interview. The same message was conveyed on CH1's VREMYA (1700 gmt). "Basayev has more than once assumed responsibility for the cruellest crimes of recent times, including the Beslan tragedy. Three hundred and thirty people were killed in Beslan, and 186 children failed to come home from school on 1 September," presenter Yekaterina Andreyeva said. The VREMYA sequence of reports on Basayev ended with shots of parents grieving in the ruined school in Beslan, and a handwritten note on a wall saying "What has happened to our planet?" NTV's SEGODNYA (1500 gmt) made rather less of the atrocities attributed to Basayev. It quoted ABC's introductory remarks that he is "a man guilty of 100 deaths in Moscow and 400 in Beslan". It also countered Basayev's denial that he was responsible for what happened in Beslan with a statement addressed to the Chechen commander by Susanna Dudayeva, chairwoman of the Beslan mothers' committee. "You killed my child, you bastard. You killed the children of all these women who are unhappy and devastated. We have the strength to fight you, you scum. We will find you and you will answer to us," Dudayeva said direct to camera. REN TV's 24 (1530 gmt) made no reference to Beslan or any of the other attacks mentioned on state TV in its report on the Basayev interview. Instead, it referred to the fact that the Chechen authorities had criticized a decision by the federal forces not to pursue a group of Basayev's fighters because of concerns for the civilian population. State TV implicates US government in decision to air interview State TV implicated Washington in the decision to broadcast the interview. NTV inclined to the opposite view, and suggested that the interview was unlikely to harm Russian-US relations. On the other hand, REN TV featured an opinion that the interview itself might be the symptom of a shift in the Washington-Moscow relationship. RTV's US correspondent Konstantin Semin explained how the interview should be understood in the context of US politics. "The appearance of Basayev on TV is certainly a way of expressing the mood of the elite, and of giving signals which the elite uses to accompany the official foreign policy of the State Department," he said. The message of US official responsibility for the interview was conveyed on CH1's VREMYA (1700 gmt) by the chairman of the State Duma committee for international affairs, Konstantin Kosachev. "When TV is used like this, it takes place with the direct indulgence of the authorities of the country in question, who give a platform to terrorists, and that is what happened in the USA," Kosachev was shown saying. NTV's SEGODNYA (1500 gmt) noted that "Russian politicians are speaking of a system of double standards, and, in some case, of a systematic anti-Russian policy". However it added that "many recognize that the position of a US TV channel does not necessarily reflect Washington's position". The bulletin showed a page from the US State Department's website, on which Basayev is listed as an international terrorist who should be arrested immediately should he come to the USA. Correspondent Roman Sobel added that "one cannot speak of a serious worsening of relations between Russia and the USA". On the other hand, REN TV's 24 (1530 gmt) reported that some experts were saying that the interview is a sign that US policy towards Russia is beginning to change. "The vehicle of US policy is moving away from Russia," the correspondent observed. Sergey Kazennov of the Russian Academy of Sciences was shown saying that the replacement of Alexander Vershbow by William Burns as US ambassador to Moscow is further evidence of this policy shift. All the channels, including REN TV, showed Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Malakhov saying that the interview is "difficult to reconcile with the efforts of states, including the USA and Russia, to counter global terrorism". State TV rejects ABC advocacy of freedom of speech, attacks US "double standards" RTV and CH1 challenged ABC anchorman Ted Koppel's assertion of his right to show the interview. NTV stressed Koppel's high standing as a journalist, but, like the state channels, drew attention to perceived inconsistencies behind the decision to broadcast the interview. The state channels saw the interview as evidence of "double standards" in attitudes to terrorism. RTV's VESTI (1600 gmt) quoted Koppel's advocacy of freedom of speech in the following terms: "Basayev is a terrorist, but freedom of speech is more precious." Presenter Mariya Sittel conceded that there is no US law against interviewing terrorists, but said the issue was "more of a moral than a legal one". A US journalist named Laura Rendell was shown disagreeing with Koppel's position, saying that Basayev only gave the interview because it was a propaganda opportunity for him. CH1 correspondent Natalya Seminikhina suggested that the interview did contravene the law. She told viewers of VREMYA (1700 gmt) that freedom of speech was one thing, but that the US Supreme Court had made an exception for incitement to violence. She implied that Basayev's talks of "new plans" should be subject to this restriction. In contrast to the two state channels, NTV's SEGODNYA (1500 gmt) paid tribute to Koppel's journalistic reputation. Correspondent Roman Sobel noted that the ABC anchorman has the reputation of a "tough and serious interviewer", who "allows the viewer to decide who is right". In general NTV gave a more sober account of the ABC programme, noting that "little was seen of Basayev himself. Most of the footage was of the terrorist attacks in which he was involved." At the same time, SEGODNYA drew attention to perceived inconsistencies in the US attitude to terrorism. Sobel noted that when after the 9/11 attacks "Condoleezza Rice asked media directors not to give a platform to terrorists, her request was met with understanding". VREMYA (1700 gmt) made a similar point with reference to Al-Jazeera. It pointed out that the Arabic satellite channel was condemned for screening an interview with Usamah Bin-Ladin after 9/11 and was still not allowed to broadcast in Iraq, "where the Americans control everything". The Moscow bureau chief of Al Jazeera was shown condemning the Americans for "double standards". The correspondent went on to draw attention to the fact that a number of US newsmen had been dismissed over the way they reported the war in Iraq. According to VREMYA, double standards were also evident in ABC's failure to mention al-Qa'idah in connection with Basayev. Correspondent Natalya Seminikhina said the programme implied that there is a difference between "our terrorists, and other people's". On RTV's VESTI (1600 gmt) correspondent Konstantin Semin explained that Basayev's words would be "decoded by Washington political observers" as meaning that Russia is "waging a separate war on terrorism from the rest of the world". He also noted that it is "interesting that US TV does not give air time to other well-known terrorists, such as [Abu Mus'ab] al-Zarqawi". Interview seen in context of London, Egypt attacks Both state TV and NTV saw the interview in the context of the bomb attacks in London and the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Shaykh. RTV suggested that attitudes to terrorism in the UK had changed since the London bombings. CH1 said terrorists were not allowed to be heard speaking on UK TV. NTV's SEGODNYA (1500 gmt) noted that the Basayev interview "came in the wake of the cruel terrorist attacks in London and Egypt". RTV reminded viewers that the British TV station Channel Four had also shown an interview with Basayev a few months ago. "However, the UK lives in a different reality now, and its reality to former values has changed somewhat [since the London blasts]," correspondent Ivan Rodionov told viewers of VESTI (1600 gmt). Former BBC Russia analyst Stephen Dalziel was shown saying that he does not think "Channel Four would show the interview in the current circumstances". VESTI referred in this context to the Conservative government's ban on IRA supporters being allowed to speak on television. CH1's VREMYA suggested that this ban is still in place. Foreign officials quoted to bolster Russian position State channels carried extensive comment on the Basayev interview from Russian politicians and government officials. They also featured comment from foreign officials who were said to support the Russian position. The most unequivocal foreign comment condemning the ABC interview came from Israeli MP Yuri Shtern. He was shown saying on RTV's VESTI (1600 gmt) that allowing Basayev to appear on TV was to "support terrorism". VESTI presenter Mariya Sittel said that the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles also criticized the broadcasting of the interview. Gil-Robles was shown saying with Russian voice-over that if an interview like this is shown, "it is necessary to explain who this person is and the crimes that are on his conscience". On CH1's VREMYA (1700 gmt) presenter Yekaterina Andreyeva said that "Russia is not alone in saying that terrorists should not be allowed to speak on TV". She quoted the president of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Centre, Claude Moniquet, as saying that getting air time is a primary aim for terrorists and that ABC was taking on great responsibility in presenting Basayev as a political figure. Moniquet did not appear on the screen. Sources: Channel One TV, RTR Russia TV, NTV, and REN TV in Russian 25- 31 Jul 05 (BBC Monitoring August 1 via DXLD) RUSSIA WILL NOT RENEW ACCREDITATION FOR ABC FOLLOWING BASAYEV INTERVIEW | Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Moscow, 2 August: Accreditation for ABC staff in Russia will not be renewed when their current accreditation expires, a commentary by the Russian Foreign Ministry's information and press department received by RIA-Novosti today says. On 28 July the American ABC TV company screened an interview with Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev. "Taking account of all the circumstances of the screening of this interview, featuring Shamil Basayev, internationally acknowledged as a terrorist, and taking account of the obvious fact of abetting propaganda of terrorism and of direct appeals which were heard calling for acts of violence against the citizens of Russia, the Russian side has decided that as accreditation of that company's staff expires, it will not be renewed," stressed the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Foreign Ministry also said it was undesirable that any Russian state organizations or departments should have contacts with the TV company. Moscow has drawn attention to the fact that the interview with the terrorist was conducted by Andrey Babitskiy, a member of the permanent staff of Radio Liberty, in contravention of Russian laws and without appropriate accreditation for this, the Foreign Ministry said. "The circumstances in which this interview was organized and obtained must still be clarified with his employers," the ministry's statement says. Source: RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1507 gmt 2 Aug 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) RUSSIAN EXPERT SAYS MEDIA WILL LEARN LESSON FROM ABC'S ACCREDITATION LOSS | Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Moscow, 2 August: The mass media will draw a lesson from the consequences of the American TV company ABC's showing of an interview with [Chechen] terrorist [leader] Shamil Basayev, a Russian expert believes. "They don't need such unpleasantness. Is it worth it? The interview with Basayev is not something you can be proud of. I don't think that other television companies or radio stations will repeat such a `feat'," Aleksandr Konovalov, the leader of the Institute of Strategic Assessments and Analysis, told RIA-Novosti. After the broadcast of the interview with Basayev by ABC, the Russian Foreign Ministry decided not to continue accreditation for the company's employees. Konovalov believes that as a whole this will not influence cooperation between Russia and the USA. The expert supposes that ABC has not been deprived of the opportunity to work in Russia for ever. "Never say never [these three words given in English, with Russian translation]," Konovalov said. "I think ways will be found (to return accreditation to ABC)." Source: RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1624 gmt 2 Aug 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) US EMBASSY IN MOSCOW APPEALS AGAINST ACCREDITATION BAN FOR ABC | Text of report by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 2 August: The US government has stated that it does not have the right to stop the American television company ABC from broadcasting the interview with Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev and has called on the Russian Federation's government to maintain contacts with all representatives of the mass media. "Although we do not support mass media giving access to terrorists, the USA's government does not have the right in law to force the ABC television company not to use its constitutional right to release this material on air," a statement by the press attache at the US embassy in Moscow passed to Interfax news agency on Tuesday evening [2 August] says. This statement has been circulated in connection with the Russian Foreign Ministry's decision not to prolong accreditation for employees of ABC, which broadcast an interview with Shamil Basayev. "We call on the Russian Federation's government to preserve all possible contacts with all representatives of the mass media," the representative of the American diplomatic mission stressed. ["The American side has familiarized itself with reports in the press on this decision and is trying to establish all the facts accurately," the press attache's statement also said, according to another Interfax report at 1814 gmt. "If the reports correspond with reality, then we regret this decision," the attache's statement said. "We understand the Kremlin's sensitivity to these issues," it stressed.] Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1809 gmt 2 Aug 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA good on 9870 Aug 1 at 2222 in Arabic with chants. Usually talk on this channel. Moderate // 9555. Qur'an on 11915, moderate. Good // 11820. Nor trace of 11740 under presumed WYFR. 1 August. External service hard to hear nowadays --- I remember English and Turkish. No luck on Turkish lately (Liz Cameron, MI, UT Aug 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. August 2 at 1610, 15205 noted with two signals at about equal level, Holy Qur`an by a tenor (surely not a soprano), and uncertain language, confirmed to be VOA when a brief English ID was inserted at 1629. This is when VOA is scheduled to switch from Oromo to Tigre, via Morocco, 250 kW, 108 degrees, per HFCC and the other is Riyadh, 500 kW, 320 degrees. If the collision is so bad over here, what can it be like in Africa and Europe? FWIW, 15205 is a traditional VOA frequency going back sesquidecades, now also used by DW later in the UT day. If we`re such great friends with royal Sa`udi Arabia, why can`t we get our SW frequencies coördinated with them? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Estimados amigos, reciban un cordial saludo. Tras el anunciado cierre de las emisiones de onda corta de R. Eslovaquia Internacional se produjeron muchas reacciones e incluso una carta del presidente de la república. Anoche, uno de Agosto, las emisiones continuaron; pude escuchar en 6055 desde las 1945 hasta el cierre, la emisión en frances de dicha emisora, y desde las 2000 hasta las 2015 la emisión en español, con su habitual boletín de noticias y el tema del día. Prosiguió con programas grabados y emitidos anteriormente; ningún comentario ni noticia al respecto de la situación de la emisora, tampoco en su página web. No pude estar hasta el final de la emisión en español por estar sumido en una fuerte tormenta, con gran aparato eléctrico que hacía molesto escuchar la radio. Atentamente: (José Miguel Romero. Sacañet (Castellón) España 73 y buen DX, shortwave yg via DXLD) ** SUDAN. SUDAN MEDIA BEHAVIOUR | Sudan TV continued to air highlights of Garang's political life in between bulletins. There was no martial music. The station also kept on re-running this morning's cabinet meeting and clips of foreign envoys condoling with President Bashir and being interviewed by the media. There was an unscheduled news bulletin at 1400 gmt, in Arabic, most of which was a repeat of the 1200 gmt one, except that the first item was on the Khartoum curfew. The 1500 gmt bulletin, which is normally in English, was instead read in Arabic and extended over the usual 10 minutes to half an hour. Again it was a repeat of the earlier one, as was the 1700 gmt bulletin, except there was the addition of an item on King Fahd. There was no video footage of the riots in Khartoum and Juba, and the first report that alluded to them was aired in the 1900 gmt bulletin. There were some pictures of the injured in hospital and street scenes, but none of the actual rioting. Re-runs of the earlier programming are currently being aired. EAU will have an Arabic monitor overnight who will continue to keep an open speaker watch. The television has announced that the next news bulletin will be at 2300 gmt. Source: Sudan TV, Omdurman, in Arabic 1 Aug 05 (BBCM via DXLD) Sudan radio On 2 August Sudan Radio continued to air a repeat of what was aired on 1 August, and regular programming seemed suspended for the day. Most of the news items were about Dr Garang's efforts on peace and his activities after being sworn in as first vice-president of Sudan. The radio also carried condolence messages from countries and leaders. It also reported the return of calm to Khartoum, as well as the death toll of skirmishes on 1 August. It also reported President Al-Bashir's visit to southern Juba town and arrival of South African delegation headed by foreign minister in the southern town of New Site. It also reported SPLM leaders in Khartoum receiving condolence messages from the members of the public. Some personalities were interviewed on the death of Dr John Garang and the peace process. Sudan TV As was the case yesterday, Sudan TV aired an unscheduled bulletin in Arabic at 1400 gmt, which was shorter in length than that of 1 August - 20 minutes - followed by a press review and later re-runs of tributes to Garang, condolence messages etc. The 1500 gmt bulletin was in English and lasted 13 minutes, followed by repeats; as was the case with the 1600 and 1700 gmt bulletins and what followed. Sources: as listed (BBC Monitoring August 2 via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. MADAGASAR: 12060, Radio Nile at 0429 with Auld Lange Syne. News, mentions of SPLA. Political commentary at 0440. All English tonight. At 0444 lovely sub Saharan chant. Excellent signal, slightly weaker // 15320. 73/ (Liz Cameron, MI, UT Aug 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Goodies from VOFC: see RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM ** THAILAND. AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THAILAND AND THE UNITED STATES ON RADIO TRANSMITTING FACILITIES Quote from Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: http://www.mfa.go.th/web/151.php : 1. Thai-US Agreement on Megawatt Station The Royal Thai Government and the Government of the United States of America concluded the Agreement on the establishment of a radio transmitting facility with a transmitting power of 1,000 Kilowatts on 11 August 1965. This Agreement, which lasted for 15 years from the first day of broadcasting, has been extended twice; once on 28 March 1983 for 15 years (until 27 March 1998), and again on 30 September 1993 for 20 years. Under the Agreement, both parties agreed on the establishment of: 1) Medium wave radio transmitting facility with the transmitting power of 1,000 Kilowatts or "1,000-Kilowatt Station" at Pachee, Phra Nakorn Sri Ayudhaya province, covering the total area of 325 acres to be the Voice of Free Asia radio which on 1 April 1998 has changed its name to "Radio Saranrom"; 2) Receiver Station at Ban Klang, Patumthani province, covering the area of 153.5 acres. After the second extension of the Agreement, the facility has been taken over by the Public Relations Department; 3) 100-Kilowatt transmitting facility which belongs to the Public Relations Department at Lumpoon. 2. Agreement on the Establishment and Operation of a Shortwave On 4 April 1984, the Royal Thai Government and the Government of the United States of America concluded the Agreement on the establishment of a shortwave transmitting facility at Bandung, Udornthani province, which would broadcast the Voice of America (VOA) station. The Agreement, lasted for 25 years, and could be extended twice for the period of 10 years each. According to this Agreement, the Government of the United States of America would arrange for the construction of the transmitting facility in Bandung, Uthaithani province, and the installation of 7 units of a 500-watt [sic] shortwave transmitting equipment over the area of 8,500 acres. The Royal Thai Government by the Public Relations Department has the right to share timeslot of and benefits from the station to broadcast Thai programmes in foreign languages. Moreover, the Royal Thai Government also has the right in sharing timeslot with the United Nations to broadcast its programmes. The Agreement, among others, stipulates that the two parties agree to consult each other on the establishment of a medium-wave transmitting facility to be located on the radio site covered by this agreement (via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DXLD) ** U K. AUDIO ON DEMAND - BBC OFFERS ITS FIRST LANGUAGE PODCAST IN PERSIAN The BBC Persian entertainment programme Rooze Haftom is the first BBC language programme to be available to audiences via a podcast. The podcast provides listeners with the flexibility to listen to a 15 minute highlight how and when they want to at http://bbcpersian.com Behzad Bolour, BBC presenter of Rooze Haftom said: ``It`s fantastic that listeners can stay across our arts and entertainment programme at their own leisure. People are leading busier lives and with diverse media choices it`s essential to give them the opportunity to tailor how they listen. This week they are in for a treat because Rooze Haftom will feature Iranian underground music and Iranian death metal!`` Kelly Shephard of BBC World Service New Media said: ``New technologies like podcasting provide an exciting way for our audiences to hear our content and we hope that this first ever trial of a BBC language programme via podcast will allow an even wider international audience to explore our programmes. It will revolutionise the listening experience." Other programmes available in the BBC podcasting trial are the weekly BBC World Service English language technology programme Go Digital and all documentaries. They are available at http://bbcworldservice.com/programmes For more information contact: Behzad Bolour, Producer, BBC Persian Service + 44 20 7557 1770; behzad.bolour @ bbc.co.uk Christine George, Assistant Publicist, BBC World Service +44(0) 207557 1142; christine.george @ bbc.co.uk Notes to Editors --- BBC Persian broadcasts nearly 50 hours of news and current affairs programmes a week to Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. Its online website http://bbcpersian.com provides coverage of news, current affairs, culture and sports. Persian speakers around the world can access the interactive content and listen to the audio of popular radio programmes (BBC press release Aug 2 via DXLD) ** U K. BBC MONITORING JOB CUTS --- The global listening service, BBC Monitoring, used by the government in its fight against terrorism, is axing at least 50 jobs. The cuts follow a Cabinet Office review of its funding. Jobs will go in the unit's headquarters in Caversham, near Reading, and across its six international bureau. The BBC will look for voluntary redundancies at first, but then move on to compulsory cuts to meet the April 2007 deadline. The job cuts come after a new funding deal was agreed between its stakeholders the BBC, the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office. The review, led by Sir Quentin Thomas means the unit will now get approximately £1.8m a year on top of the £22.1m it already receives. It is understood that the job cuts are part of the efficiency savings to be made to secure the increased funding, which has been loaded into the first few years of the deal. The unit will get £24.6m per year in financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08, falling to £23.4m between then and 2011. In a statement the BBC said: "The BBC is pleased that Sir Quentin Thomas' review has unequivocally established the value of BBC Monitoring's products and services to its stakeholders and partner and has identified ways in which that value can be maximised. "Tight public sector funding is a fact of life for all public sector organisations. In order to serve our customers better and efficiently using new technology we will face tough choices. We will be talking to staff and unions about the implications for these changes. We will aim to deal with these issues with sensitivity while giving staff our full support." (Waveguide via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 5-127, NY VOLMET missing again: NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) says: A1648/05 - NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL VOLMET FREQS 3485/6604/10051/ AND 13270 KHZ U/S. 01 AUG 12:45 UNTIL UFN. U/S means "Unserviceable" in NOTAM-speak (Mike Cooper, GA, Aug 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWRB louder than ever on 6899.99 with Brother Stair. They're hardly on frequency and hardly without Bro Stair. 31 July (Liz Cameron, MI, UT Aug 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn: Re 5-127: We just heard from Dove Media (15250 & 5050) that they are not ready to start broadcasting due to various technical issues on their end. We will let you know when they start (Dave Frantz, WWRB, 1943 UT Aug 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. USA Headline News via shortwave? [Re: AFRTS ex-via-VOA] Wonder if there's also an audience for straight headline news from the USA on SWBC? Seems that paid programming and gospel stations fill the HF airwaves via the USA, and there's just not the interest to just report the news, and let the listeners develop the opinions. Such a station might just run various network newscasts, weather reports, and special programs from across the USA. I could imagine the creativity of a pirate station, but with an FCC license --- but regret there's no way to pay for it! What kind of sponsor could get their investment back from a commercial shortwave station? Until then, I think I will just explore the 6950 kHz range, and snag a pirate for original programming. 73 (KB7AQD Robert Homuth, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The news and info stream from NPR would make a wonderful addition to SWBC. But so far not a single NPR affiliate has had the vision to apply for a SW license. They all think small, serving their local constituency, with nothing but webcasting for outreach beyond that. BTW, I am amused by comments on some fora that there is a lack of webcasting of various popular music formats! US commercial radio, maybe, but there is a wealth of all kinds of music and NO commercials, just some commercial-like underwriting announcements, on public radio. Besides the major stations with classical and/or info formats there are countless community and student-run stations now, all accessible via http://www.publicradiofan.com --- But I digress. KUNM is one of the most eclectic: (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. REPORT TO THE KUNM COMMUNITY by Richard S. Towne, KUNM General Manager [Albuquerque] My deep thanks to you if you contacted our congressional delegation in Washington D. C. to voice your thoughts and concerns over federal support for public broadcasting via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. You have been heard (see details on p.4) and for that we are in your debt. Media reform and the media in general continue to need vigilance by citizens. These are our airwaves, you know? Not just the small slice of the spectrum reserved for noncommercial broadcasting (increasingly occupied by religious – rather than educational – broadcasters). We the people own the airwaves. All of them. The airwaves are invisible, odorless, tasteless and feel like nothing to the touch. Without a receiver, you can’t hear them either. But you own them. I have been searching for the text of a speech by (then) Secretary of Commerce Woodrow Wilson who had a large hand in managing the governmental launch of radio in the United States way back before WWI. I know the text from broadcast history classes but am searching for his words so I am not always paraphrasing them. I have yet to find them, but found the gem below from President Wilson some years later. (And for my conspiracy theory friends I probably don`t have to remind you that Ronald Reagan`s middle name was Wilson). Anyway, before you skip to the Executive Order below, I`ll paraphrase the early Wilson speech in which he declared that the aether (radio spectrum) is as precious as any natural resource. Just like the public parks, and public lands, like the public forests and waterways, the radio airwaves are a public trust, are worthy of conservation, and must be used to serve the public. But, that was then, right? We now have concessionaires operating Yosemite and water is leased to the highest bidder. Public lands for the private good. Public airwaves for the maximum corporate profit, minimum of service, maximum distortion, and a free ride for crass commodification of culture. When the government loses sight of its responsibility to take care of our natural resources, it is our duty to remind the government of its obligations and to become shepherds of our natural resources. Stay engaged with media reform. We exercise our ownership of this resource or we lose it forever. Now, the nugget from a terrific site on broadcast history http://earlyradiohistory.us If you find the Wilson speech, please let me know --- actually maybe it was Hoover??? Executive Order No. 2042 [Taking Over High-Power Radio Station for Use of the Government.] THE WHITE HOUSE, September 5, 1914. Whereas an order has been issued by me, dated August 5, 1914, declaring that all radio stations within the jurisdiction of the United States of America were prohibited from transmitting or receiving for delivery messages of an unneutral nature and from in any way rendering to any one of the belligerents any unneutral service; and Whereas it is desirable to take precautions to insure the enforcement of said order insofar as it relates to the transmission of code and cipher messages by high-powered stations capable of trans- Atlantic communication; Now, Therefore, it is ordered by virtue of authority vested in me by the Radio Act of August 13, 1912, that one or more of the high-powered radio stations within the jurisdiction of the United States and capable of trans-Atlantic communication shall be taken over by the Government of the United States and used or controlled by it to the exclusion of any other control or use for the purpose of carrying on communication with land stations in Europe, including code and cipher messages. The enforcement of this order and the preparation of regulations therefor is hereby delegated to the Secretary of the Navy, who is authorized and directed to take such action in the premises as to him may appear necessary. This order shall take effect from and after this date. WOODROW WILSON CPB FUNDING MOSTLY RESTORED IN SENATE ACTION House-Senate Conference Committee Compromise Likely in September By Richard S. Towne, KUNM General Manager The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for funding CPB completed its recommendations on July 12, 2005. It approved $400 million in FY ’08 for CPB; $35 million in FY ’06 to assist public broadcasting’s transition to digital technology; $40 million for renewal of public television’s satellite interconnection system. The Senate Subcommittee also approved funding in FY ’06 for public television programming support with Ready to Teach to receive $11 million in FY ’06 and Ready to Learn to be funded at $25 million. In the context of a very difficult federal budget environment, and the fact that the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee had $1.2 billion less at its disposal, these are encouraging and positive funding recommendations from Sen. Specter and his subcommittee colleagues. If approved, these recommendations represent a three percent reduction in funding from current year levels. The full Senate Appropriations Committee met on Thursday, July 14, and unanimously approved the Subcommittee’s funding recommendations for public broadcasting. It is possible the full Senate will take action this month but more likely that the full Senate will approve these funding levels without changes in September following the traditional August recess. According to Michael Riksen, Vice President, Government Relations at NPR, the Senate and House will meet in conference during September to work on a compromise figure for CPB funding. Depending on other factors, this appropriations bill may become part of a larger, omnibus appropriations measure, or may be sent as a self-standing bill to the President for signature, again sometime in September. Eli Pariser, Executive Director of MoveOn.org reports that MoveOn.org members sent in more than 1 million comments and made more than 40,000 calls to Congress on cuts to public broadcasting. Over at http://www.freepress.net more than 100,000 people have signed the online petition calling for the resignation of CPB Chair Ken Tomlinson for actions which are now subject to investigation by CPB’s Office of the Inspector General. KUNM appreciates your participation in the funding debate. We encourage your continued vigilance and contact with New Mexico’s Congressional delegation on the importance of funding public broadcasting services in our state. Stay tuned! (KUNM Zounds, August, via DXLD) ** U S A. WI-FI TV PLANS TO LAUNCH NATIVE AMERICAN TV CHANNEL Speaking last week at the Federal Communications Commission-National Congress of American Indians Regional Workshop and Roundtable in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the CEO of Wi-Fi TV, Inc, Alex Kanakaris, officially launched Wi-Fi TV Inc's Native American Internet Development Plan. It includes setting up the first global television station devoted exclusively to topics of relevance to Native Americans. This will include features on tribal-owned tourist destinations such as casinos, hotels, and RV parks. The station will be available for viewing free over the Internet and will be viewable on laptop and desktop computers, as well as television screens. The channel will join over 200 channels from 50 countries currently airing at http://www.wi-fitv.com # posted by Andy @ 16:00 UT August 2 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A [non non]. Classical connection --- Good news for classical music fans in the Detroit-Windsor area, who have had to rely on CBC Stereo at 89.9 for their Bach, Beethoven and Bartók since the demise of Detroit's WQRS-FM Radio. CLASSICAL SOUNDS WILL BEAM FROM 90.9 --- Detroit News staff The sounds of Rimsky-Korsakov and other classical masters poured out of the 90.9 FM frequency Monday, as the switch of WRCJ (formerly the Detroit Public Schools' WDTR) to a classical and jazz format went through. The station, which DPT took over on July 1, will spin classical 5 a.m.-7 p.m. and traditional jazz 7 p.m.-5 a.m. [EDT = UT - 4] weekdays. Programming is by three public radio satellite services; Classical 24, JazzWorks and Jazz Satellite Networks, but soon WRCJ will have local hosts (Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very good, but one could do a lot worse than have CBC Radio 2 to listen to locally. I wish we could (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi, Glenn, Just a note to let you know that WRCJ-FM 90.9 Detroit, MI has changed formats as of 1200 EDT [UT -4 = 1600] on Monday 1 August 2005. Dropping its R&B/Rap/Disco format it's had the past year or so (And had only been on the air Monday-Friday 0700-1700 ET,) they are now running a hybrid format of Classical from 0500-1900, and Jazz from 1900-0500 ET. Today's Free Press notes that their Classical programming is from PRI's "Classical 24," while their jazz programming features Tony Mowod (From Pittsburgh) from 1900-2300, and Bob Parlocha (From Chicago's WFMT) from 2300 to 0500. Take care, (Eric Berger, Detroit, MI, August 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 90.9 WRCJ-FM BRINGS CLASSICAL MUSIC BACK TO DETROIT http://www.detroitpublictv.org/whatsnew/wrcj.shtml At 12 p.m. on August 1, 2005, 90.9 WRCJ-FM switched to a classical and jazz music format, marking the return of a locally operated classical music service to Detroit airwaves which has been unavailable since the demise of WQRS-FM in 1997. 90.9 FM will play classical music from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. and traditional jazz from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. weekdays. The announcement was made by Robert Scott, station manager for WRCJ. Scott was formerly vice president of programming and education for WTVS Detroit Public Television, which recently earned a contract to operate the non-profit educational station that remains licensed to Detroit Public Schools. "Classical music is back in the Detroit market and it has sorely been missed. This new station will serve the community by responding to its needs," said Scott. Initially, WRCJ programming will originate from three public radio satellite services, Classical 24, JazzWorks and Jazz Satellite Network, as well as from other sources, but eventually, the station will offer locally based programming throughout the day. Weekend programming will eventually be a mix of classical, jazz, gospel and community affairs. Once technical facilities are completed, the station will be located in the Detroit School of Arts, the Detroit Public High School located in Detroit's Cultural Center. Students will gain hands-on radio production experience at the radio station as part of their communications curriculum. 90.9 was the first educational FM radio station in Michigan when it began broadcasting in January, 1948, as WDTR. The call letters were changed in 2004. WTVS Detroit Public Television assumed operation of WRCJ on July 1, 2005, as part of its mission to educate, entertain and inspire, in partnership with the community. Major funding for the operation of WRCJ has been provided by a grant from The Kresge Foundation (via gh, DXLD) I can`t find an actual website for WRCJ itself, nor for the former, WDTR, nor is either listed as webcasting on http://www.publicradiofan.com (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The PIG has finally waddled in... ... in case anybody hasn't noticed, 1510 has finally made the switch sometime this afternoon. [Don't know exactly when -- I lost my KPIG net feed at the lab around 4 for some unknown reason, so I don't know if they announced it.] Anyhow -- welcome to the East Bay, guys! (Pete Goodeve, Berkeley, via Joel Rubin, DXLD) KPIG, in Freedom near Sta. Cruz, CA (KPIG.COM, 107-oink-one) and San Luis Obispo now has an outlet licensed to Piedmont, CA (a rich town surrounded by Oakland) on 1510 kHz for the old hippies in the San Francisco Bay area who remember the much mourned KFAT (see KFAT.COM). I just heard the 1510 outlet mentioned in their ID on shoutcast.com web radio (Joel Rubin, ibid.) ** U S A. KABL/92.1 - Walnut Creek has been a Bay Area fixture on AM since 1958 (960 in Oakland), and then 92.1 after KABL-AM renamed to KQKE and switched to Air America format. As of today, KABL is no more. It is now KKDV and is playing adult contemporary (Michael Hawkins, Aug 2, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Denver's new rimshots --- TWO NEW RADIO STATIONS ARE HEADING DENVER'S WAY --- By Dick Kreck http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_2906072 Denver would seem an unlikely place to launch not one but two radio stations. The fact that there already are more than 40 stations in the market hasn't discouraged Los Angeles-based investor Luis G. Nogales or his spokesman/operating partner Steve Keeney. For the bargain-basement price of $29.5 million, Nogales, one-time CEO of United Press International and former president of the Spanish- language network Univisión, is in the process of purchasing KSIR 107.1-FM in Bennett and KBRU 101.5-FM in Fort Morgan with the intention of beaming them into the Denver market. Nogales, a graduate of Stanford Law and a White House Fellow, where his roommate was Colin Powell, has been a member of numerous of business and charitable boards. But he is not a radio man, which is why he has Keeney, whose experience in Denver radio stretches back to 1970. Keeney and Nogales crossed paths in Portland, Ore., where Keeney managed Nogales' only other station for 3 1/2 years. "It was a good working relationship," Keeney said. "He gave the staff a lot of autonomy." KSIR and KBRU are "move-ins," stations existing near a metro area that turn up the power to reach into bigger cities. Testing the new signals will begin in several weeks, and the hope is that they'll be up and running full-time by year's end. Keeney, who most recently labored as vice president with Infinity Broadcasting in Denver, said the stations' formats are still up in the air. The company will do research, looking for a hole in what's currently offered on the Denver airwaves. But given Nogales' past associations and heritage it is likely that at least one of the stations will be devoted to the rapidly expanding Spanish-language market. Denver already has three AM and two FM Latino stations. Keeney, operating partner of Denver Radio Co., is tickled to be back in the business. "I'm thrilled, especially because it's Denver, which is home," he said. "And I'm building something from scratch. If it doesn't work, it's my fault." Dick Kreck's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Ah, nostalgia. WORLD OF RADIO was on KSIR for a while, far from Denver, and wgh used to write the SHORTWAVES column for the Denver Post, and Dick Kreck was my editor (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA MAKES GAINS IN COLORADO http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/01/141706.php Posted by Balletshooz on August 01, 2005 02:17 PM The conservative echo-chamber believed Air America Radio would be dead quicker than George Bush`s Social Security privatization plan, but new recent data is proving otherwise. Barely a year after its formation, and contrary to conservative spin, Air America Radio is building an audience at a rate that any radio station would envy. In the Colorado market, which encompasses Denver and Boulder, KKZN 760-AM reached a milestone in its young life, gathering a 2.0 share in the spring 2005 Arbitron rankings. A year ago, the station's rating was a paltry 0.4. "The Al Franken / Ed Schultz duo in the middle of the day is kicking butt," said Jerry Bell, the station's program director. This marks yet another increase, in yet another market, for the newly formed and rapidly expanding liberal radio enterprise. In the previous quarter, KKZN received a 1.6 rating. Thus, KKZN has shown an increase of 25% in just 3 months. By contrast, KOA, which broadcasts conservative talkers such as Rush Limbaugh has registered a drop in the last 6 months from a 6.9 rating to a 5.5 rating. Thus, while conservative talkers are still at a structural advantage, the station¹s audience has dropped by over 20% in just 6 months. It has been a pretty consistent trend throughout the country that conservative talk radio and conservative news, such as Fox News, are losing viewers in droves. Part of the loss is a credibility problem from the conservative side. Moral values czars such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill Bennett have been caught with drug addictions and gambling addictions respectively. Bill O'Reilly was caught sexually harassing his employees. The pro-war, right wing cheerleaders like Sean Hannity have been exposed by and large for what they are, draft-dodging cowards who aside from talking tough in the safety of their studio, let others do their fighting for them. Thus, advertisers should stand up and begin taking notice, the public is losing interest in the less and less credible right-wing talk network, while the rapidly expanding liberal talk network is an untapped resource to reach highly motivated, highly educated, and highly consumer conscious Americans (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) It never ceases to amaze --- and amuse me --- how many people apparently don't use Google to verify the facts before writing or saying something that's totally false. It took me less than a minute to find this link: http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2004-07-25-media-mix_x.htm Money quote: "Recent attacks on Fox News Channel by liberals - most notably by the documentary Outfoxed - have actually helped ratings, according to the network. Fox's total viewer numbers are up 13% since July 8 over the same period last year; CNN is up 1%, with MSNBC down 9%." [rant]BTW, I'm not pro- or anti-Fox, nor pro-Republican or pro- Democrat. I'm just tired of people of any political stripe who don't take the time to get their facts straight before opening their big yaps.[/rant] (Harry Helms W5HLH, Wimberley, TX EM00 http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ ABDX via DXLD) This assumes Fox is telling the truth, ``according to the network``, which has every motivation to skew if not lie about this (gh, DXLD) Harry: It is obvious that the Air America report was designed to appear like a report of facts, when it is actually a product of a propaganda blog, balletshooz. So the issue is not failing to take the time to find out the facts, but rejecting the facts you don't like and creating look-like-facts fiction you do like. The above strategy is not attractive for any side, and I believe that Air America is doing okay some places and not others, and I believe that the conservative viewpoints are losing some popularity in some places and not others. Not nearly as exciting as the blog report which implies that educated and the better classes listen only to Air America. Regards, (Andy Ooms, Pine, AZ, ABDX via DXLD) Accusing Hannity of being a draft-dodger is also a lie. Hannity was born 12/30/61. The draft ended in '73. Hannity was 11 at the time. I suppose you could say he dodged the draft by craftily being born less than 12 years before it ended. I think we'd have been much better off without the last two paragraphs of the original post (Jay Heyl, ibid.) I listen to Air America because I fall down a little on the left side of center, kind of a slightly liberal Catholic. Though I do agree with all that is said about President Bush, the Republican Congress and useless and wasteful war in Iraq, I feel that most of the hosts act unprofessional on the air. They lie when it's unnecessary, have tantrums, seethe with anger and sneer and taunt like little bullies on the playground and it hurts their credibility. I'm one of those Christians (but not religious) that Kevin Redding mentioned recently. One of many offended by the endless attacks on Christianity and pushed away from the Democratic party as well as the Republican party. In my personal opinion the Air America network won't make it another year because of the unprofessionalism. It will be too bad too, as we need a Liberal but sane and mature voice on the airwaves to counteract Hannity, Limbaugh and George W. 73 & GUD DX, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Plant City, FL, USA, ibid.) ** U S A. Re 5-127: I guess there are many websites about WLCY, but http://members.aol.com/jeff99500/wtsp.html has "some history" (Jari Savolainen, Finland, August 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The Longer View –-- August 02, 2005 --- Current Affair http://www.cjrdaily.org/archives/001716.asp Here's a simple fact: It's tough to be both earnest and cool. Consider Rock the Vote, http://www.rockthevote.org/ an organization designed to get young people interested in voting and political issues, which uses cool graphics, hip, multiracial youth, and slang like "Social Security: Don't Get Played!" Don't get played yourself, though: As a charter member of Rock the Vote's target demo myself, I can assure you that Rock the Vote ain't cool. All the bells and whistles can't obscure the fact that, deep down, the organization is about getting people to exercise their civic duty, and, while they're at it, pay attention to a bunch of rich, old white men. America would be a better place if such things were cool. But they aren't, and the flashiest of graphics will never change that. Which brings us to Current, Al Gore's new cable news-ish channel, which debuted yesterday. Current, which targets the 18-to-34 year old demographic, occupies the same space in the complicated calculus of cool as Rock the Vote, and it's fighting the same uphill battle. Consider one of the features from yesterday, an uplifting story -- or "pod," as it's called on Current -- about a Yale graduate who defends imprisoned youth, as well as activists' efforts to reform the California Youth Authority. A noble undertaking, to be sure. But is such a story really going to keep young people from another go at the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, with its nihilistic violence and gritty, amoral depiction of life? Probably not many. Amoral sells a lot better than earnest. That isn't to say Current, which structures its programming in small, 3-to-7 minute bites, can't succeed. Only that it isn't, and will never be, impactful enough to kick-start any revolutionary viewing habits. But that's OK: If the first day's programming is any indication, Current might at least come to successfully occupy a small place in the media universe -- and get a few young people to see the kinds of important stories they won't find on CNN. Though there was a lot of empty programming on day one, there were a few stories that deserve to be seen, most notably Adam Yamaguchi's pieces on suicide in Japan, which included an interview with a young man who overdosed on pills in middle school, a discussion of a bestselling book on how to commit suicide, and an investigation into the search for "suicide partners." Also worthwhile was a piece on Iranian young people in which they were shown at parties with scantily clad women and tablets of ecstasy, and asked if they thought there were gay people in their country. Both features replicated the experience of going to a foreign country, getting to know people, and discovering something you might otherwise not have. But, man, did I really need to see the feature on Deepak Chopra and spirituality (complete with rolling waves) three times in two hours? Or suffer through Justin Gunn's self-indulgent first-person feature on hacking? Much of Current's present offerings are pretty painful to stomach: I wish I could have back the time I spent enduring the ramblings of the narcissistic graphic artist in Austin, for example, not to mention the profile of the Abercrombie and Fitch model who is really -- can you believe it! -- just a regular guy. Other features, such as one on the difficulty of buying a house, another on the excitement of being new parents, and another on a female, 29-year-old Baptist minister in Wisconsin, were just kind of ... boring. But, hey, Current is just getting started, and there's plenty of room for improvement. The amateurish hosts have an endearing sincerity, and the mini-features, which have so far been busts, at least have potential. (One recurring mini-feature is "the top ten Google queries" about a particular word. Integrating the mysteries of Google into the programming is a great idea; squandering that opportunity on something as banal as the top ten Google searches containing the word "Current," not so much.) The challenge for Current will be to walk the delicate line between cool and worthwhile, something MTV, for one, largely gave up on long ago, pursuing cool (and deep-sixing worthwhile) in the quest for ratings. Current's policy of relying on "viewer-created content" could be its salvation -- if offerings along the lines of Yamaguchi's suicide pieces pour in from around the country. If that happens, Current could become consistently enlightening instead of only intermittently so -- although to get people to keep watching, the hosts will also have to stop referring to such content as "V.C. Squared" in an effort to seem cool. Not even "Zoom" http://pbskids.org/zoom/ is that lame (Brian Montopoli, CJR Daily August 2 via DXLD) See also CANADA for NWI, its antecedent (gh) ** U S A. ABC banned in RUSSIA: q.v. ** VENEZUELA [and non]. BAJA AUDIENCIA EN EL PRIMER DIA DE EMISION DE TELE SUR Numerosos analistas y expertos en comunicación coinciden en señalar que su excesivo carácter ``sectario`` e ``ideologizante`` llevará a la cadena al fracaso LUDMILA VINOGRADOFF CORRESPONSAL CARACAS. El estreno de TeleSur, cuya consigna es ``nuestro norte es el sur``, tuvo un bajo nivel de recepción, 4 por ciento de audiencia, el mismo que registran los otros canales del gobierno de Hugo Chávez en Venezuela, según afirmaron expertos en comunicación social. La señal, que en la inauguración del domingo fue transmitida por la estatal Venezolana de Televisión a cinco países: Venezuela y sus tres socios, Argentina, Cuba y Uruguay, y el invitado Brasil, puede verse en su propio canal en la red satelital de DirecTV de la Organización Cisneros, lo que supone que su radio de penetración se limita a los que estén abonados al cable, que en el país es una minoría. . . http://www.lanuevacuba.com/nuevacuba/notic-05-07-3002.htm (La Nueva Cuba [fuera] via Óscar de Céspedes, condiglist via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. DRM TRIALS BEGIN --- The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union reported on 30 July that the first trial of DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) over medium frequency (MF) in Vietnam took place on 28 July in Dong Hoi, the capital city of Quang Binh province. The trial presented new digital radio technology to Voice of Vietnam (VOV) technical experts and the Ministry of Science and Technology along with government advisers on broadcasting developments. The workshop's tutorial presentations were made by VOV's technical staff and experts from the Harris Corporation and VT Communications. VOV Director-General Vu Van Hien said that the VOV would use DRM to build on its successes in providing a wide range of radio programmes, not only to the people of Vietnam but to the rest of the world through shortwave transmissions. Tests continue to assess DRM's performance in the Dong Hoi MF service area together with reception at more distant locations. Source: BBC Monitoring research 31 Jul 05 (via DXLD) VOV could start DRM any time now via Sackville (gh, DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. ZNBC, 4910 at 0400 with music. Good signal. ZNBC has the best African music. 1 August (Liz Cameron, MI, UT Aug 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4739.1V, ???, presumible COLOMBIA. 2345-0110 Julio 30, transmision de la Misa. Luego de las 0000 en enlace con WEWN en // con 7425. Considero, debe tratarse de una emisora parroquial de las muchas que hay en mi país y que por lo general presentan problemas de ajustes en el transmisor. Debe ser el 3er armónico de aprox. 1580 kHz (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá, Colombia, condiglist via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DIGITAL BROADCASTING See ITALY, VIETNAM ++++++++++++++++++++ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ Re: IBOC receiver article in NYT You'd think someone from iBiquity would understand the basic concepts of radio. There are no pictures with radio. There is no reason for anyone listening to a station to be watching their radio, particularly not if all they're likely to see is text of an ad script. Or maybe they figure that's when people are punching buttons to change the channel and are more likely to notice text scrolling by. I think I prefer the time-honored method of simply changing the channel. If I'm going to "buy out" of anything related to terrestrial radio, it will be with my subscription to XM where I'm NEVER bothered by pledge drives (Jay Heyl, NRC-AM via DXLD) And this helps driving safety just how? If they outlaw cell phone use in cars, and video screens aren't supposed to be visible from the driver's seat, then why is this even being contemplated? Are these people complete morons? If I were to stare at my radio at home, just to watch the pretty text float by, then I hope someone would give me a swift kick in the slats as encouragement to get a life. On the other hand, it may be an aid in IDing distant HD stations, if anyone even bothers to try (Denny Bouchard, ibid.) STRANGE RADIO STATION GOODIES I'm curious to know what the oddest promotional gifts are that you've received from various radio stations. (Not things you've won in a contest.) I ask because I've written to Radio Prague twice in the past few months and received some, shall we say, "interesting" gifts: A 15-cm ruler with a small protractor on one end (actually useful for me since the markings are wearing off of both of my current rulers!), and, more interestingly, A Radio Prague *sponge*. No, I'm not making this up. It came in the envelope dry and pressed down into a fairly thin package (about 4 mm per the Radio Prague ruler!) and is shaped like an art deco letter S. I didn't know what it was supposed to be at first, since I saw the side that said, "Come and Ride the Waves" in all of Radio Prague's broadcast languages. Only when I turned it over did I see the inscription "For a perfect sponge just put in water". (To be honest, with all the humidity we've had, it's doing a good job become a sponge all on its own.) The only other item I've received that comes close to the Radio Prague sponge came several years ago -- a Voice of Free China manicure set! I know a lot of you have been listening to shortwave far longer than I have: so what's the strangest gift you've received from an international broadcaster? (Ted Schuerzinger, Swprograms mailing list, Aug 2, via DXLD) It`s a supermarket! (gh) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ HIGH NOON EFFECT Nick & Bob, Yes, indeed Chuck [Boehnke, Big Island Hawaii] got some pretty impressive DX during the day when conditions were right. Tahiti-738 and Vladivostok-1476 were fairly common in the mid day. We talked a lot through the years and he told me of FM openings to Korea, Japan, Australia. Hawaii is an interesting place to DX from, outside of Honolulu that is. The best daytime over water I have done is in the early 70s in mid Winter with a 600 foot longwire, I got a mix of KYAK/KORL on 650 weakly a couple of times. I wish I would have had the antennas I have today. You know the old adage --- "If you knew then......" Chuck was quite the DXer. He is missed. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, IRCA via DXLD) SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY OUTLOOK #05- 31 2005 August 02 at 11:24 a.m. MDT (2005 August 02 1724 UTC) **** SPACE WEATHER OUTLOOK **** Summary For July 25-31 Category R1 (minor) on 27, 28, and 31 July and category R3 (strong) on 30 July blackouts occurred due to solar flare activity from NOAA sunspot Region 792. Category G1 (minor) on 27 and 28 July geomagnetic storm periods were observed due to high speed solar winds from a coronal hole on the Sun. Outlook For August 3-9 Category R1 (minor) and category R2 (moderate) radio blackouts are possible due to solar flare activity from NOAA sunspot Region 792. For current space weather conditions please refer to: http://www.sec.noaa.gov/SWN/ http://www.sec.noaa.gov/alerts/ Data used to provide space weather services are contributed by NOAA, USAF, NASA, NSF, USGS, the International Space Environment Services and other observatories, universities, and institutions. More info is available at SEC's Web site http://sec.noaa.gov (SEC via DXLD) PROPAGATION OUTLOOK FROM BOULDER, AUGUST 2: not yet posted at presstime; see: http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/weekly/WKHF.txt http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/weekly/27DO.txt ###