RADIO JOYSTICK on 4th of July

RADIO JOYSTICK on 4th of July features an interview with famous TV-presenter, writer and Journalist Nina Ruge,who is "Touristic Ambassador" for the Republic of Malta since April. Listen to the show on the 4th of July 2009 on 9510 kHz (from Slovakia) at 08:00 Hours UTC/GMT!

--

RADIO JOYSTICK, Postfach 23 31, 55512 Bad Kreuznach; ALLEMAGNE; http://www.radiojoystick.de

--

Listen to RADIO JOYSTICK every 1st Saturday of each month on 9510 kHz (from Slovakia) at 08:00 h UTC/GMT.

(Charlie Prince via hcdx list)

Radio goes digital in Sydney

Digital radio has finally launched in Sydney - more than 10 years after it was first proposed. Sydney's commercial radio stations switched to digital last week. ABC and SBS services are set to follow on 1 July, brisbanetimes.com.au reports. Digital broadcasts will continue at a lower power for the next six weeks before being increased to their full capacity in time for a national metropolitan launch on 6 August.

Read the full report here :

http://www.abu.org.my/abu/index.cfm/elementid/53022/Sydney-radio-goes-digital

Persian radio in Holland gives Iranians news

By ARTHUR MAX , 06.25.09, 09:32 AM EDT

AMSTERDAM -- Until the Iranian election this month, Holland's Radio Zamaneh was more interested in underground music, alternative literature and interviews with Iranian cultural figures than in politics. Now it is one of the few Persian-language sources of unfiltered information for Iranians whose access to news has been strictly controlled by the regime since mass protests erupted over the alleged rigging of June 12 presidential elections. Since its launch in 2006, Radio Zamaneh has targeted young urban Iranians inhabiting the blogosphere; the postelection crackdown prompted its reporters to step up its use of Facebook, Twitter, blogs and cell phones for information.

Full story at :

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/06/25/ap6586147.html

RFE/RL & VOA to Expand Reach into Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Region

Washington, DC, 06/25/2009

Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) will receive additional resources to expand critical radio broadcasts to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region as part of the $106 billion emergency war bill signed today. With the exception of VOA's Radio Deewa, little independent news and information is available in the volatile border region. Extremist radio stations have proliferated in recent months, and the new programs will bolster current U.S. efforts to provide an alternative source of independent news and information to the Pashto speaking people in Pakistan. The expanded programming of Radio Deewa, and new programming from RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, will feature a wide range of news, political, and cultural programs with call-in shows and content geared toward women and youth. Programs will be distributed via shortwave, FM and the Internet. "Radio is a powerful medium. Extremists encouraging violence understand this," said D. Jeffrey Hirschberg, of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) which oversees both VOA and RFE/RL. "Our broadcasts are an antidote to such extremism and we are grateful for the opportunity to expand our programs. They will be central to providing an alternate view, one based on accuracy and balance, which is generally absent from local media."About Deewa Radio Created in October 2006, Deewa Radio targets an estimated 35 million Pashto-speaking people in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, including the NWFP where some 2.5 million people have been displaced as Pakistani military battle Taliban fighters. Deewa also reaches Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Baluchistan.Earlier this month, Deewa Radio added three hours of programming in the morning to complement the six hours of evening news and information broadcasts. In addition to news, programs include information about health, shelter, social issues, education, science and culture. The program provides a lifeline to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in camps and elsewhere. Up to 300 people per day routinely call in to Deewa Radio programs. VOA also reaches millions of people daily through its popular radio and TV Ashna in Dari and Pashto, as well as its Urdu radio program Aap Ki Dunya and Beyond the Headlines Urdu television program. About Radio Azadi RFE/RL will launch a new radio program for the Pashto-speaking people of Pakistan, complementing VOA's existing programming to the volatile region. This expands RFE/RL's existing Afghan service, Radio Azadi, the most popular radio station in Afghanistan which reaches more than 50% of the adult population withprograms in Dari and Pashto. It was launched in 2001 as part of an effort to build a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan following the ouster of the Taliban.

(BBG Press Release)

HD Radio Alliance Launches New Marketing Campaign

HD Radio Alliance Launches New Marketing CampaignJune 25, 2009The HD Radio Alliance is rolling out its summer 2009 campaign to educate listeners about the benefits of HD radio. The light and funny commercials find "radio airwave explorer" Jean Luc Tuner discovering the beauty of upgrading to HD technology. The commercials explain, "If you don’t have an HD Radio, you’re not hearing HD Radio." Later in the year, the Alliance plans to advertise new HD radio portable devices when they hit retail stores.

Full story at :
http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=1386063

Community Radio Station to Start at Mahila SEWA Trust, Ahmedabad

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at Mahila SEWA Trust. Letter of Intent had been issued to the Institute after recommendations of Inter Ministerial Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. With this, the number of CRS will increase to 49 in the country.

SEWA started its community radio initiatives for building capacity of the women of the informal sector. The main objective of the activity is to provide information and education to the members in the remotest of the villages. The radio programmes are made on different subjects like health, water, agriculture, animal husbandry, national and international events etc. The programmes particularly emphasize community participation. The professional experts give the training to the women at grassroot level.

Mahila SEWA (Self Employed women association) was set up on 18th June 1975 under the Bombay Public Trust act. Mahila SEWA Trust’s main goals are to organize women workers for full employment and self reliance. Mahila SEWA Trust organizes women to ensure that they obtain full employment. Mahila SEWA Trust provides childcare, healthcare, insurance and conducts trainings and seminars. The Ministry encourages setting up of the Community Radio Stations as CRS promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, and empower the women. The main aim of starting the CRS is to provide different and useful information to the people in nearby villages.

(Public Information Bureau, Govt. of India)

Radio revolution will leave listeners in silence

Take-up of the costly and energy-guzzling DAB technology is so pathetic that we must fight for our beloved analog sets

Libby Purves
The word “digital” joins a long line of adjectives too exciting for their own good. Look back in the history of hype and you find its ancestors: “electropathic”, “atomic”, “computerised”, “turbo” or just “state-of-the art”. With Lord Carter of Barnes's report on Digital Britain, overstimulation peaked.

Read the full story here :

http://tinyurl.com/l4xp53

Websites of AIR Regional Stations

Here are links to some of the websites of All India Radio regional stations :

All India Radio - Agartala (Tripura) www.airagartala.org
All India Radio - Ahmedabad,Gujarat www.airahmedabad.in
All India Radio - Bhawanipatna, Orissa www.airbpn.org
All India Radio - Cuttack,Orissa www.airctc.com
All India Radio - Imphal http://cicmanipur.nic.in/html/air_imp.htm
All India Radio - HPT Malad, Mumbai www.airhptmalad.com
All India Radio - Panaji www.airpanaji.gov.in
All India Radio - Rohtak www.rohtakakashvani.com
All India Radio - Rampur http://rampur.nic.in/air.htm
All India Radio - Shillong www.airshillong.org
All India Radio - Thiruvananthapuram www.airtvm.com
All India Radio - Vividh Bharati (Temp) http://vividhbharati.weebly.com/index.html
All India Radio - Kolkata (Unofficial) www.freewebs.com/airkolkata/

Swedish Radio to drop Belarusian service

Swedish Radio has decided to discontinue the service in Belarusian, from September 1, 2009.The broadcasts on medium and shortwave began on a test basis in 2004. Elle-Kari Höjeberg, responsible for Swedish Radio’s broadcasts in foreign languages, says that since then “there has been an explosion in other platforms that medium and shortwave”. She adds that Swedish Radio will look for new ways to reach an audience in other parts of the world. Ingemar Löfgren, head of SR International, which also includes Radio Sweden, says his ambition is to strengthen and prioritize other areas within the department. He points out that SR International will continue to broadcast in Russian, a language that is also understood in Belarus.

(Source : Radio Sweden)

Ham radio helps combat Cyclone "Aila"

On the 25th of May 2009, a deep depression coiled over Bay of Bengal became Cyclonic formation “Aila” which struck the coastal districts of West Bengal with wind speeds over 90 kmph causing immense devastation in the region. The river banks breached at several locations as incessant rains caused river waters raise to unprecedented levels inundating farm lands, submerged houses in hundreds of villages resulting in hundreds of casualties and rendering millions of people homeless.

Read the full story here :

http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/special-reports/ham-radio-helps-combat-cyclone-aila

(Thanks to Jose Jacob, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad for the report & to radioandmusic.com for publishing the same)

Full report with pictures in pdf format can be downloaded from here :

Amateur Radio in Cyclone Aila :

http://www.niar.org/Aila%20Report.pdf

BBC chief Sir Michael Lyons declares war on plans for licence fee sharing

Sir Michael Lyons, Chairman of the BBC Trust, began a fightback against plans to slice off part of the BBC’s £3.6 billion licence fee as hopes grew that the scheme could be overturned with the help of unhappy Labour MPs.

Full story at :

http://tinyurl.com/lsgvtd

AU to Start Radio in Somalia

Risdel Kasasira 24 June 2009 Kampala — The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia will soon start a radio station in Mogadishu.The Defence/Army Spokesperson, Maj Felix Kulayigye yesterday told Daily Monitor that African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) has already procured the radio equipment.

Full story at :
http://allafrica.com/stories/200906240241.html

Rwanda: BBC Kinyarwanda Back On Air

Rwanda: BBC Kinyarwanda Back On Air

Gilbert Ndikubwayezu
24 June 2009
Kigali — After two consecutive months being off air due to a controversial program it broadcast, the contentious Gahuzamiryango programme aired by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), was expected back on air last evening. Information Minister Louise Mushikiwabo, told The New Times that they had written to the BBC management authorising them to resume broadcasting.

Full story at :
http://allafrica.com/stories/200906240068.html

Broadcasting Board of Governors Battles Signal Interference by Multiplying Broadcasts of Persian Programs to Iran

Washington, DC, 06/22/2009

The Broadcasting Board of Governors increased television, radio and Internet transmissions of the Persian-language programs of the Voice of America (VOA)'s Persian News Network and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Radio Farda to fight jamming and signal interference in Iran. "Despite accusations about foreign media, our broadcasters are simply reporting the news, increasingly by drawing upon the eye-witness accounts of Iranians themselves," said D. Jeffrey Hirschberg of the Broadcasting Board of Governors which oversees both VOA and RFE/RL. "This Iranian interference with our television and radio signals is against international agreements and, most importantly, an injustice to the Iranian people. "Jamming of satellite television broadcasts has increased in recent weeks beginning in May and twice in June including interference with BBG and other broadcasters' satellite uplink and downlink signals. To combat this censorship, VOA's Persian News Network (PNN) television programs are now beamed through five satellites with six different distribution channels. Shortwave transmissions of Radio Farda were increased beginning June 21 as part of an effort to counteract jamming by the Iranian government. With the recent shortwave additions, the most popular morning and early-to-mid evening hours have at least five simultaneous transmissions and ten at peak times. The shortwave jamming of international broadcasters began on June 14. As well reported, use of the Internet new media has been an information lifeline for many Iranians during the aftermath of the elections. Visits to VOA's PNN website and RFE/RL's Radio Farda website the weekend of June 20 were both over 400% more than at the start of the month. Iranian government censorship of external news sites has increased. VOA's PNN and RFE/RL's Radio Farda have seen a 200% growth in use of proxy servers and web censorship circumvention software from the day before the Friday election to three days later. Over the weekend, the response to the VOA and RFE/RL Persian-language Web sites has been so great that our proxy service reached full capacity, resulting in some visitors not reaching the site. We are adding additional infrastructure to handle this increased traffic. To better serve their audiences in Iran with breaking news of events as they unfold, VOA and RFE/RL implemented a number of program expansions in the last week including:

- VOA added a one-hour morning satellite TV news program and replaced two hours of its normal evening program line up with a two-hour Special Report on the latest developments inside Iran following the disputed Presidential election.

- RFE/RL extended its evening and midnight news magazine shows from 30 to 90 minutes, and is interrupting non-news programming as necessary with breaking updates.

- VOA established a new Twitter account in Persian, which attracted over 3,500 followers in less than a week. PNN's main Web site, plus its YouTube, related blogs and Facebook pages all increased their postings of news, video and viewer comments. PNN has received, verified and broadcast hundreds of user-generated videos from inside Iran.

- RFE/RL posted a special blog to follow the election and aftermath, which is updated with photos, videos and comments from inside Iran. Radio Farda is also providing instant updates and analysis on its website, and Twitter.

VOA Persian News Network: Reaching nearly 30% of adults each week, VOA broadcasts seven hours of original TV programming daily, including a new one-hour breakfast show added to cover the aftermath of the election, repeated for a full 24 hours on satellite and streamed online. VOA simulcasts four hours of TV programs on medium wave and shortwave radio and produces a one-hour daily radio program.

RFE/RL Radio Farda: Broadcasts 24 hours a day on shortwave, medium wave and satellite, and streams online. Seventeen hours is live news, including evening and midnight magazine shows, and seven hours (off-peak) is music.

More than 30% of Iranians tune in to BBG broadcasts at least once a week. The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent federal agency, supervising all U.S. government-supported, non-military international broadcasting, whose mission is to promote freedom and democracy and to enhance understanding through multimedia communication of accurate, objective, and balanced news, information, and other programming about America and the world to audiences overseas. BBG broadcasting organizations include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti). BBG broadcasts reach over 175 million people worldwide on a weekly basis.

(BBG Press Release)

Special VOA newscasts keep Iranians informed

Washington, D.C., June 22, 2009 – As videos, pictures, e-mails and calls from Iran poured into the Voice of America (VOA), the U.S. international broadcaster introduced a two-hour Special Report to keep its millions of viewers informed. "With the Iranian government crackdown on media operating inside the country, the Persian News Network (PNN) has become a lifeline to our audience, allowing them to know the latest events unfolding there," said Alex Belida, acting director of PNN, which reaches nearly 30 percent of Iranian adults every week by satellite television. Special Report is preempting regularly scheduled programs, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Tehran time, at least for this week. PNN also recently introduced a daily breakfast show, The Morning Show, from 7:00-8:00 a.m. Tehran time. The programs examine events in Iran in the aftermath of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's declared victory, the ensuing protests and the global reaction to developments in Iran.VOA's coverage is drawing an overwhelming reaction from inside Iran. Direct visits to PNN's Internet site (http://www.voapnn.com) from inside the country increased over 800 percent since early June. Citizens of Iran have sent thousands of videos and pictures - over 300 videos in one 24-hour period - depicting events inside the country. Videos are shown on PNN after careful review. (You can see the latest videos from inside Iran by going to : http://www.VOANews.com/persian/_-electionprotests.cfm or by going directly to PNN's YouTube site: http://www.youtube.com/user/PNNVideo).PNN's viewers have also sent thousands of e-mails, and posted comments on PNN blogs, Facebook, a dedicated YouTube channel, Twitter and other social media sites. Callers have phoned in to various PNN shows.VOA's PNN has the largest combined radio and television audience of all international broadcasters in Iran, with nearly one in three adults in Iran watching or listening to PNN broadcasts at least weekly. Research indicates 96 percent of Iranians daily watch TV, which is the preferred medium for getting news and information.

(Voice of America Press Release)

Brazil’s Communications Ministry Considers Adopting Digital Radio Standards

Sources: Shortwave Central, Radio World, Microsoft Watch, The Inquirer, HCJB Global

Brazil’s announcement in late May that its Communications Ministry would seek input on a national digital radio broadcasting standard brings new encouragement for the growing adoption of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) standard in the AM, FM and international radio bands. Brazilian Communications Minister Helio Costa announced a 180-day public consultation period to select the best digital radio system for Brazil. In its blog site, Shortwave Central called the announcement a “major breakthrough” for the DRM Consortium that anticipates contributing to the dialogue.At the mid-May congress of the Associacão Brasileira de Emissoras de Radio y Telivisão (ABERT) in which Costa announced the 180-day consultation period, seven experts representing the DRM Consortium made presentations.In addition, ABERT conferees could listen to the latest generation of DRM receivers with live digital shortwave programming originating from Radio Station HCJB in Ecuador, CVC in Chile and Radio France International in French Guyana. All three broadcasters are part of the DRM Consortium of broadcasters and receiver and transmitter manufacturers.The National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters (NASB) reported earlier last month that getting DRM-compatible radio receivers onto store shelves is a priority. The association’s resolution applauded efforts to roll out digital receivers, but said many models are priced “beyond what the market can bear in Africa, Asia and other countries outside North America and Europe.”Allan McGuirl Jr. of Canada-based Galcom International said his company’s engineers are working to develop a low-cost, no-frills DRM receiver. Galcom manufactures fixed-tuned, solar-powered radio receivers for many religious broadcasters.The open global DRM standard was recently selected by the governments of India and Russia for the broadcasting bands in those countries. While it remains to be seen which digital radio standard authorities will embrace, Brazil’s government has been a vocal advocate of open source software. Mexico is also considering the adoption of DRM standards.HCJB Global and its partner ministries have been actively developing DRM transmitter and receiver technology for the past decade. The mission is also implementing the technology in its server and modulator development at the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., and in the upgrade to its HC100 (100,000-watt) shortwave transmitters. HCJB Global is working with a digital radio receiver project at LeTourneau University.In addition, brothers Marco and Stephan Schaa in Germany have developed the Pappradio RF front-end receiver. Marco, director of HCJB Global’s German World Office, says the office is distributing the inexpensive, cardboard-mounted device that works with a computer to receive DRM signals. For more information, visit the German-language website, www.pappradio.de

(Source : HCJB Global)

http://tinyurl.com/lyezem

All India Radio Delhi still on 7150 kHz

About 3 months have passed since All India Radio stations shifted from 7100-7200 kHz area. However AIR Delhi (Kingsway) is still noted daily on 7150 kHz at 0030-0040 UTC with news in Hindi and English. Their new frequency 7370 is occupied by FEBA to India at that time.

(Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad )

BBC Persian television combats broadcast interference from Iran

The BBC has increased the number of satellites that carry its BBC Persian television service for Farsi-speakers in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.This follows persistent interference of the Hotbird 6 satellite which carries the BBC's international television and radio services in various languages as well as services from other broadcasters. From now on, BBC Persian television will now be additionally available on the Eutelsat W2M satellite and continues un-interrupted on the Telstar 12 satellite. BBC Persian is also expected to be available on Nilesat soon. They will serve Farsi-speaking audiences across the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Since Friday 12 June the BBC Persian service, other BBC services, and the services of other broadcasters on Hotbird 6 have been subject to deliberate interference. BBC Arabic television and various language services have also been experiencing transmission problems including being off the air at various points. The satellite operator has traced the interference and has confirmed it is coming from within Iran. This interference is contrary to all international agreements for satellite usage to which Iran is a signatory. BBC Persian television has extended its broadcast hours. There are an extra five hours of programming at Iranian breakfast and lunchtime, in addition to its usual evening broadcasts. Radio broadcasts have also been extended. BBC World Service Director Peter Horrocks said: "This is an important time for Iran and many Iranians are turning to the BBC for impartial and independent news and information during this crisis. "We hope that by adding more ways to access BBC Persian television, Farsi-speaking audiences can get the high-quality news, analysis and debate they clearly desire. "We also hope this will lessen the impact on other broadcasters who have been affected by the interference."

BBC Persian will be available on:

1) Eutelsat W2M at 3.1° East (11. 473 GHz – vertical polarised). This is only 10º west of Hotbird

6 and can be found by making a small adjustment to the position of the satellite receiver dish. 2) Nilesat at 7° West, 10.757 GHz (vertically polarised)

3) Telstar T12, 15° West , 12.608 GHz (horizontally polarised)

BBC Persian's online services have been partially blocked in Iran since 2006. Despite the interference, bbcpersian.com has experienced a huge growth in usage since the current protests began. Compared to traffic in May, the number of daily page impressions increased seven-fold to more than 3.6 million page impressions earlier this week. The number of visitors to the website has seen a four-fold increase. Online users streaming BBC Persian television through bbcpersian.com have also increased. On Monday 15 June alone the stream was accessed nearly half a million times online – this is more video requests than the whole of last May. The BBC Persian YouTube channel showed an increase in usage until the Iranian authorities blocked the site to those within Iran last weekend. The huge growth in Iran's usage of the BBC's online services means Iran is now second only to the USA as the country which streams the most BBC World Service TV and radio services. BBC Persian has also been receiving user-generated content, such as videos and eye-witness accounts via email and phone, at a rate of up to eight per minute. BBC Persian is the BBC's integrated news and information service for Persian-speakers. It is available on air and on demand 24-hours a day, seven days a week. It is designed to reach audiences on radio, TV, the internet – on bbcpersian.com – mobile phones and handheld computers in whatever way best suits the audience. BBC Persian is one of the oldest of the BBC's non-English language services. Launched on 28 December 1940, it has evolved into the Persian-speaking world's leading international broadcaster, covering the political, social and cultural issues that matter to its diverse audiences in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and across the world. With its new TV presence, BBC Persian is bringing the world to Persian-speaking audiences, reporting the news wherever it leads. The latest news from BBC Persian is now available on mobile phones, PDAs and other wireless handheld devices. BBC World Service is an international multimedia broadcaster delivering 32 language and regional services, including: Albanian, Arabic, Azeri, Bengali, Burmese, Cantonese, English, English for Africa, English for the Caribbean, French for Africa , Hausa, Hindi, Indonesian, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mandarin, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese for Africa, Portuguese for Brazil, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish for Latin America, Swahili, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, and Vietnamese. It uses multiple platforms to reach 188 million users globally, including shortwave, AM, FM, digital satellite and cable channels. It has around 2,000 partner radio stations which take BBC content, and numerous partnerships supplying content to mobile phones and other wireless handheld devices. Its news sites include audio and video content and offer opportunities to join the global debate. For more information, visit bbcworldservice.com. To find out more about the BBC's English language offer and subscribe to a free e-newsletter, visit bbcworldservice.com/schedules

(BBC World Service Press Release)

Vozandes Media flies new flag

Ecuador (MNN) ― After 55 years, a German radio ministry is sailing under a new flag and a new name. Vozandes Media is the new name of the HCJB Global Voice German Language Service (GLS). It still broadcasts from Ecuador, but now it works under HCJB Global's World Office in Germany rather than under its Latin America region. In addition, Ecuador legally recognized Vozandes Media's status as a non-governmental organization at the beginning of June. The ministry is also enjoying new office space.

Read the full story here : http://www.mnnonline.org/article/12830

Happy Station Blog

Happy Station has launched its blog, you can follow the same here :

http://happystationshow.blogspot.com/

Running commentary of T20 cricket match on AIR

19th April 2009, 1700 UTC - All India Radio extended broadcasts noted with running commentary of T20 cricket match semi-final between West Indies &Srilanka in Hindi & English on foll freq's :

4810 - Bhopal

4880 - Lucknow

4910 - Jaipur

5010 - Thiruvanathapuram

5015 - Delhi (Kingsway)

5040 - Jeypore

Running commentary expected till 1940 UTC.

AIR Shillong launches new website

All India Radio Shillong has launched a brand new website, here's the link :
www.airshillong.org

Direct links :
All India Radio, Shillong : www.airshillong.org/air/
All India Radio - North Eastern service, Shillong : www.airshillong.org/ner/

Signals for radios' future are anything but clear

By Joanne Ostrow
Denver Post Television Critic
Posted: 06/17/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

http://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_12604583?source=commented-

Denmark plans for DAB and DAB+

Radio Today
15 June 2009

Denmark's government is to drop its plans to re-work the FM network, and instead concentrate on DAB as the future of broadcast radio, including a plan to make the transition from DAB to DAB+.

Details at http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.4842

(Mike Terry via DXLD)

Digital Britain: Analogue radio switch-off set for 2015

Government unveils ambitious targets for move to digital radio

John Plunkett

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 June 2009 16.28 BST

All the UK's national radio stations and many local services will stop broadcasting on analogue by the end of 2015, according to ambitious switch-off targets unveiled by the government today.

Read the full story here :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/16/digital-britain-analogue-radio-switchoff

BBC radio and television are being jammed from inside Iran

By Michael Cosgrove.

The BBC has announced today that its satellite TV and radio broadcasts to Iran and other parts of the Middle East and Europe are experiencing heavy electronic jamming by sources that BBC technicians have identified as being situated in Iran.

Read the full story here :

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/274139

New Broadcasting House inaugrated at Comilla, Bangladesh

Bangladesh Radio launches Comilla station

Sun, Jun 14th, 2009 12:11 am BdSTDhaka, June 13 (bdnews24.com) - Information minister Abul Kalam Azad launched a new Bangladesh Radio station in Comilla on Saturday.The Comilla station has been running its test programmes for an hour each day since May 15.Mohammad Mahbubul Alam, director general of Bangladesh Betar, presided over the launch of the station at Bangladesh Betar Bhaban in Comilla.

Read the full report here :http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=87191&cid=2

(Source : bdnews24)

Local radio in Ethiopia ordered to drop VOA programming

June 13th, 2009
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - The tribal junta regime in Ethiopia has ordered the Addis Ababa-based Sheger FM (102.1) private radio to stop all its re-broadcasts of Voice of America (VOA) programming effective immediately. Sheger FM had been carrying some of the VOA Amharic programs, mostly music and entertainment, through a contractual arrangement.

Read the full story here
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/10061

Radio Northsea International

The great sounds of RNI from the 1970s

RNI is on via the internet:

http://radionorthsea.hopto.org:9068/listen.pls

RNI website is: http://www.garrystevens.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rni/

Give it a listen
73s
Tom Taylor

Myanma Radio on new 729 kHz

Hello Friends,

I am just back from providing Cyclone Aila Emergency Ham communication by National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR) in West Bengal. I was stationed at Kalitala on an island in India -Bangladesh border.

http://www.thehindu.com/2009/06/08/stories/2009060860150500.htm

While there, I monitored the broadcast bands as usual. Of interest was Myanmar on unlisted MW 729 kHz noted sign on at 2300 UTC parallel to 594. The other MW frequency 576 was also heard then. This new 729 khz was heard in the evenings also (parallel to 5985 at 1330). Unlisted Bangladesh stations were also heard on 1116 & 1215 Khz (Images /harmonics?!). 7250 is also noted with Home Service at around 0700 UTC. Some weak audio was also at last heard of Nepal on 5005 kHz. Cyclone Aila also silenced AIR Kolkata for some days. By the way the officially unlisted low powered AIR Kolkata B transmission was noted only in the city limits on 97 MHz parallel to 1008 kHz. Alok Das Gupta informs that it’s a studio to transmitter link.

Jose Jacob, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India

SLBC revamps its website

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation has revamped its website with new look, new colors & new content. Have a look at the site here : http://www.slbc.lk/

Live audio streams are now available for following services :
- Sinhala National Service
- Tamil National Service
- Sinhala Commercial Service
- City FM
- Thendral

Sony receivers on rediff shopping

Sony ICF7600GR Receiver is now available for Rs. 10990 from rediff shopping http://tinyurl.com/lqzjug

SONY ICF-SW12 World Band Receiver Travel Clock Radio is available for Rs.5490
http://tinyurl.com/mbbqsw

Shortwave Radio May, In Fact, Be Dead

http://radioenthusiast.blogspot.com/2009/06/shortwave-radio-may-in-fact-be-dead.html

SABC Board Chairperson steps down

SABC Board Chairperson steps down.Johannesburg, 05 June 2009 - Following Board meeting on 4th June, Ms. Kanyi Mkhoza, SABC Board Chairperson has decided to step down from this position. She will however continue to be a member of the Board. She has decided to step down in the interest of the SABC. Board member Mr. Ashwin Trikamjee, will act in the position of Chairperson.

(SABC Press Release)

The Happy Station special show "Tribute To Dxers"

A must listen show as it features interesting interviews with Bill Whitacre of VOA-IBB on Chinese jamming, Mark of BDXC, Bob Zanotti of Swiss Merry Go Round, Ian McFarland of RCI/dxer.ca

Program can be downloaded from here :

http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/33539

Direct link (Right click to download)

http://tinyurl.com/lcwjdy

Just a word of caution that the download size is 50 mb.

Srilankan President praises the role of the national radio

President Mahinda Rajapakse appreciates the media role of the national radio in the humanitarian operation to defeat terrorism. The president points out the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation has rendered an immense service with a true feeling in performing its duties to enlighten the masses on all issues relating to the humanitarian mission. President Rajapakse adds that the responsibility in disseminating correct information regarding development programmes of the government for the people liberated from terrorists in the Northern Province is also entrusted upon the national radio. The president made these remarks when staff of the Tamil Service of the SLBC handed him over a CD disk containing songs of greetings at the Temple Trees this afternoon. The president was also presented with a CD disk of a Tamil translation of the speech made by the president at the opening of the parliamentary session.

(Source : Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation)

Review of Uniwave Di-wave 100 DRM Rx in RNZI Mailbox program

RNZI Frequency Manager Adrian Sainsbury reviews Uniwave Di-wave 100 DRM receiver in the 1st June edition of Mailbox program. Program is available for download from here :

http://www.rnzi.com/audio/mailbox.mp3

Community Radio Station to Start at Mananthvady, Kerala

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at Wayanad Social Service Society, Mananthvady, Kerala. The Community Radio Service in Mananthvady is named as ‘Community Radio Mattoli’ and the process of establishing the service has already been set in motion. Letter of Intent had been issued to the Institute after recommendations of Inter Ministerial Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement. The Ministry encourages setting up the Community Radio Stations that aim at the socio economic empowerment of tribals, women, small / marginal farmers in the area of operation through participatory / sustainable development means, and to promote self reliance through empowerment of the target group. Its mission is organizing / empowering the target groups consisting of small / marginal farmers, women, tribals and children for a participatory development process aimed at sustainable as well as integral development. Wayanad Social Service Society was established in 1974, to conduct, manage promote, maintain, equip, administer and coordinate Social Welfare Centre, Social Training Centres, Technical Schools, Social Institutes, Dispensaries, Hospitals, Clubs, Recreational centers, Reading Rooms, to give practical and technical Knowledge to the people and to conduct cooperative societies, Marketing organizations, Housing Projects, Plantation, Animal Husbandry, Agricultural Development and training projects, and other activities conducive to the realization of the objects.

(Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India)

Deutsche Welle to Launch Educational Radio Project in Afghanistan

Later this year, Deutsche Welle will launch an extensive educational radio program in Pashto and Dari for a younger target audience in Afghanistan. The interactive educational project “Learning by Ear for Afghanistan” will focus on topics like education, democratization and the country's rebuilding process. Erik Bettermann, Director General of Germany’s international broadcaster, announced the new development at the closing ceremony of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn. "We are building on the extremely positive experience we have had with this innovative concept since 2008 in Africa," he said. "The new series will help convey important educational content in an entertaining and informative way." Deutsche Welle will transmit the distance learning program by radio – the most important medium in Afghanistan – as well as having content available on the Internet. The Director General went on to say that the project is relevant to German foreign and development policies and would be funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. Bettermann said the project should "support the measures involved in the international reconstruction process in Afghanistan and contribute to the acceptance of a modern, democratic society." He added that first and foremost, it will address a young target audience in Afghanistan, as they form the majority of the Afghan society. "Learning by Ear for Afghanistan" consists of entertaining and informative radio modules. In the area of political education, it will cover subjects like democracy, human rights, civil society and good governance.In the modules "Women and Girls" and "Women at Work" the series will take up the issues of the prevailing deficiencies and prejudices. In the area of "Health", the project will cover elementary knowledge in the areas of hygiene, dealing with refuse, healthcare and family planning. Another module will be devoted to the many drug problems in Afghanistan, the economic consequences of the illegal drug trade, drug abuse and alternatives to producing and trading in opium.Bettermann said that Deutsche Welle will be working with Afghani authors on the production of "Learning by Ear for Afghanistan". As part of the project, they will be trained by the Deutsche Welle Akademie. Individual modules will be produced in Afghanistan with Afghani radio partners. This six-month production period will allow for the conveyance of the corresponding know-how. Listener reactions and questions will be integrated in the series in its further development. Deutsche Welle will broadcast "Learning by Ear for Afghanistan" via shortwave, satellite, FM in Kabul and partner stations in the various provinces of Afghanistan. Schools will also be able to access the texts and accompanying material and further information can be supplemented at any time. In addition, "Learning by Ear for Afghanistan" will be made available on CD. June 5, 2009

(Press Release)

Community Radio Station to Start at T. Pudupatty, Madurai District, Tamil

Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India has signed a Grant of Permission Agreement for establishing, maintaining and operating a Community Radio Station at T. Pudupatty, Thirumangalam Taluk, Madurai District, Tamil Nadu by People's Association for Rural Development (PARD). Letter of Intent had been issued to the Society after recommendations of Inter Ministerial Committee and seeking requisite clearances from various Ministries. The Community Radio Station is expected to be operational within three months as per the agreement.People's Association for Rural Development (PARD) is a registered Society registered under Societies Registrations Act 1975(Tamil Nadu Act 27 of 1975) on 28.11.1988. The main objective of the Society is to impart education in health, social awareness, agriculture, promote functional education, legal education and cultural development of the villages, environment and rural sanitation to the rural people, to undertake constructive activities for the welfare of socially and economically backward women, children and family on voluntary self help and democratic basis.The People's Association for Rural Development (PARD) had conducted a survey across 59 villages in four taluks of T. Pudupatty, Thirumangalam Taluk, Madurai District, Tamil Nadu about the need for setting up CRS and the requirements of targeted population. It was noted that out of 708 respondents, 83.05% of the population did not receive any newspaper. 61% of the respondents believe that radio can help them solve the major problems they are facing. 66.7% radio owners tuned to FM Channels. This pointed to the dire need of a Community Radio which employs local language and dialect to attract a new generation of listeners if a Radio revival is to be achieved. Besides the language and content, people feel that if they have the ownership of media, the possibility of the radio revival will increase enormously.The Ministry encourages setting up the Community Radio Stations as it promises to provide an opportunity to the local communities to express themselves, share their views and particularly empower the women, youth and the marginalized groups to take part in local self-governance and overall socio-economic and cultural development of the area. It will also better inform the society about the developmental initiatives of Government and promote transparency in the implementation of the scheme.

(Press Information Bureau, Govt of India)]

VOA Expands broadcasting to war-torn Pakistan border region

Washington, D.C., June 3, 2009 – Deewa Radio, the Voice of America’s (VOA) popular Pashto service broadcast to the war-torn Pakistan- Afghanistan border region, is expanding to nine hours daily starting Saturday, June 6, 2009. “The time is right to add three more hours to Deewa’s original programming,” said Steve Redisch, VOA’s executive editor. “Deewa is often the only source of accurate news and information for the millions of people living in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and elsewhere. They rely on us daily for basic information.” Created in October 2006, Deewa is aimed at an estimated 40 million Pashto-speaking people in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, including the NWFP where some 2.5 million people have been displaced as Pakistani military battle Taliban fighters. Deewa also reaches Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan.Along with news, Deewa provides information about health, shelter, food, social issues, education, science and culture. The program reaches people in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and elsewhere. Up to 300 people routinely call in to Deewa during shows.“Deewa is full of information,” said Syed Inam Rahman of the Centre for Media and Communications, International Islamic University of Islamabad, Pakistan. Rahman estimated the majority of people in Charsadda and Peshawar districts listened to Deewa regularly. The newest block of programs will focus on news and current affairs, including regional and international news, reports from a network of more than 20 local free-lance journalists, segments on Muslims in America and on youth, a world press round-up and interviews with significant personalities. The second hour will be a topical call-in show featuring a wide variety of issues affecting those in the targeted region. The final hour will be a repeat of the previous day’s morning call-in show, until July 4, when it will become a live news and current affairs program. Deewa Radio is distributed on shortwave, FM, and by the Internet at www.VOANews.com/Deewa.

(VOA Press Release)

Frequencies :

VOA DEEWA Radio in Pashtun:

1200-1300 9780 IRA 340

1200-1300 9380 UDO 311

1200-1230 9310 KWT 070

1200-1300 7495 IRA 340

1230-1300 9310 UDO 300

1300-1500 9780 IRA 340

1300-1800 9380 UDO 311

1300-1700 9310 IRA 334

1300-1800 7495 IRA 340

1500-1700 9780 UDO 300

1700-1800 9780 WER 090

1700-1800 9310 KWT 078

ADDITIONAL transmissions from UTC June 7 :

0000-0230 12015 KWT 078

0000-0100 11535 KWT 078

0000-0230 9380 IRA 334

0100-0200 11535 IRA 332

0200-0300 11535 UDO 300

0230-0300 12015 UDO 297

0230-0300 9380 IRA 332

(Dragan Lekic via DXLD)

Winners of RRI “Gold of the Apuseni Mountains” Contest

And now here comes the long awaited announcement: “and the winners are..” RRI (Rado Romania International) has offered 124 smaller prizes. 21 of them have been won by listeners to the English language Service of RRI. Here they are:

Riaz Ahmad Khan of Pakistan,

Richard Chen of Trinidad &Tobago,

H. Poortvliet of Zeist, the Netherlands,

Hans Verner Lollike of Denmark,

Satadal Ghosh of Kharagpur, India,

Kelvin Lee of Johor, Malaysia,

Prasanta Kumar Padmapati of Assam, India,

Serge Tremblay of Ontario, Canada,

Amin Najmi of Hay Tarik, Morocco,

Abu Mostofa Byuia of Abador, Bangladesh,

Heath Hall of New Mexico, the US,

Kamlesha A Gautam, of Haryana, India,

Asghar Shah of Karachi, Pakistan,

Takeshi Murakami, Japan,

Rabisankar Bosu of West Bengal, India,

Mohammad Aslam of Azamgarh, U.P. India,

Syed Ali Akbar of Karachi, Pakistan,

Ali Ahmad Hussein of Sweileh, Jordan,

Riaz Ahmad Khan of Sheikhupura, pakistan and

Zahoor Ahmed Solangi of Islamabad, Pakistan.

Of a total number of 66 third prizes, 11 of them were won by listeners of the English language programs of RRI. And the winners of the 3rd prizes are:

Krzystof Borski of Poznan, Poland,

Stephen Wara of Paris, France,

Halim Chahed of Tunis, Tunisia,

A Ragu of Vedereniam, India,

Catherine O. Agboola of Ekiti State, Nigeria,

Jim Drexler of Wallingford, the US,

Surendra Kumar of Delhi, India,

Brian Kendall of Kent, Great Britain,

jason Nugent of New Brunswick, Canada,

Jonathan Murphy of mallow, Cork, Ireland and

Roberto Carlos Alvarez Galosso of Florida, the US.

Of the 34 second prizes, 3 have been won by listeners to our English programmes:

Chadrick Bulinda of Kenya,

Umesh Kumar Yadav of Mumbai, India and

Michael Whing of Norfolk, Great Britain.

18 first prizes have been offered by our sponsors to:

Zhang Shifeng, Han Keqin, Li Meng, Wang Jiangyang, Xie Yujing ( all of them from China),

Yong Cher Leong of Malaysia,

Giovanni Lupoli of Italy,

Abdel-Kader Khalil of Algeria,

Abdel-karim Ahmad Al-Mabrouk of Lybia,

Alastair Pamphion of Warwickshire, the United Kingdom,

Iulia Stepanova and Vladimir Ignatiev of Russia,

Friedrich Andorf of Germany,

Amady Faye of Senegal,

Rene Pigeard of France,

Irina Halaiciuk of Ukraine,

Antonio-Angel Morilla Rios of Spain and

to our co-naitonal Brandusa massion, now living in Germany.

The 11 Special Prizes have been offered by the Alba and Bihor branches of the Fine Artists’s Union. They were 6 and 5 paintings, respectively. These valuable prizes go to:

our co-national Camelia Himcinschi of Germnay,

Olexandr Havrysh of the Ukraine,

Juan Carlos Gil Mongio of Spain,

Leny Boulay of France,

Serghei Lobatzeev of Russia,

Khalil Bourazzan of the US,

Alesia Porreca of Italy,

Wu Xuan and Wang Qiuling of China,

Chen Nanlu of Taiwan and

Mark Ludlow of Rochestown, Ireland.

And now the long-awaited moment…They participated in our contest, provided correct answers and won a stay in the Apuseni Mountains between August the 1st and 11th 2009…………………Martin Prochazka and Romanian-born Eva Duica of Graz, Austria. Asked whether or not he accepts the Grand Prize, Mr Prochazka wrote:” Of course I will come on the trip to Romania. I thank you very much for the prize. For years now I have been dreaming about visiting Romania again, but my dream could not come true for financial reasons and time constraints. I am extremely happy that you give me this chance. I was really surprised to hear the news, as I have never been lucky or won any contests. Thanks once again and please send my best regards to all staff of RRI.”

As you know very well, this is not the only Grand Prize. The second Grand Prize, a stay between August the 15th and 24th 2009, goes to……………Yuan Jing of Guangdong, China and to …Jin Tao of Hubei, China. Congratulations dear friends and look forward to meeting you in Romania this summer.

(Source : RRI)

Extra Money for Swedish Public Broadcasting

Swedish Public Service broadcasters Swedish Radio, Swedish Television and the Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company are to be granted higher share of viewer licence fees next year.Writing in the daily Dagens Nyheter Thursday, Culture Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth says she wants to strengthen the important role that public broadcasting plays, especially for culture. In recent years, the public broadcasting budget has lagged behind inflation and staff salary increases.For Swedish Radio's part, this means a budget increase of 3.9 million dollars next year. The legislation has to be passed by the parliament before it goes into effect.

(Source : Radio Sweden)

List of Aila Cyclone Relief stations

List of Amateur stations operating for Cyclone Aila relief operations from West Bengal :

North 24 Parganas District :

Barasat District Magistrate Office : OM Ambarish, VU3JFA

Barasat Circuit House : YL Bhanu, VU2BL

Dhamakhlai : OM Subhodeep VU2CSB, OMBiswas, VU3BIS

Dulduli : OM Parag, VU3RUO

Sandeshkhali : OM Satyarup, VU3SCM, OM Swapan VU3JCR

Hingalgunj Block Dev. Office : YL Yamini, VU2YAM

Jogesganj : OM Mohan, VU2MYH

Kalitala : OM Jose, VU2JOS

South 24 Parganas District:

Rangabelia : OM Tanumay VU3SQY

Relay Stations:

Hyderabad : NIAR, VU2NRO

Kolkata : OM Sunil, VU2SYD

Belur, WB : OM Subash, VU3SUY

Kerala : OM Sangeet, VUCEO

Etc.

Frequencies: 7045, 7070, 14160, 145

(Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad)

Related News Report :

http://tinyurl.com/ppx4rr

HAM radio team tunes into relief work

1 Jun 2009, 0354 hrs IST, Suman Chakraborti, TNN

KOLKATA: A three-member team of the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR) will reach the city by Monday night with HAM radio equipment to help the state government in relief work. The team has been requested by the state government to set up makeshift radio stations in the flood-affected areas of South and North 24-Parganas.NIAR director Ram Mohan said they had received a letter from the North 24-Parganas district magistrate's office, asking them to send HAM radio equipment to the flood-affected areas of the district to help them in conducting relief and rescue work."We received a letter from the additional DM of North 24-Parganas to assist them in the flood-affected areas of the district. We are immediately sending a team to Kolkata with satellite radio equipment," said Ram Mohan.He added that since a week has passed since the storm Aila hit the state, they were not quite informed as to the present situation. "We have been informed that the situation in some of the flood-affected places of the district has improved a little. We are trying to keep in touch with the district administration to keep us informed on the present situation. Nevertheless, we are sending our team and equipment," Ram Mohan said.HAM radio expert Ambarish Nag Biswas, who has been selected as one of the coordinators to monitor the temporary radio stations, said they would help the government keep track of the present situation. "Apart from informing those who are engaged in rescue and relief work as to where people might still be stranded, we wouldbe able to keep track as to whether any outbreak of disease occurs or whether anybody goes missing. These problems occur when the water level starts receding. We would subsequently be able to inform the DM immediately so that they can take quick action. We have been asked to set up these temporary radio stations at Dhamakhali, Kultoli and Sandeshkhali and we would have to move on as per situation," Biswas said.Two others Parag Ranjan Das and Subhadip Chatterjee would also be in the team. The team will use VHF and HF frequency to keep track of the situation.

http://tinyurl.com/pvmbjx

Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum opens to 900 participants.

Deutsche Welle Director General Erik Bettermann argued for investing more in quality journalism worldwide at the opening of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum on June 3. “In the age of mass media, high-quality journalism isn’t a thing of the past,” said Bettermann in front of approximately 900 participants. “In the future, it will be required for civil society and peacemaking processes. Publishers and broadcaster must drastically assimilate to a changing media world in order to maintain journalism with quality and relevant content.”
Bettermann said that the growing number of people producing content in Web 2.0 is dividing the media landscape even more. He went on to state that following the initial euphoria felt by users and producers regarding the new possibilities, there is now a certain disillusionment and that users are looking more and more for quality and reliability. Although journalists may have lost their monopoly on reporting world issues, they are gaining a new function as scouts for the increasingly confusing media world. “Reliability and independent and balanced reporting will be valued even more in the future,” stated Bettermann with confidence. He went on to say that journalists are required to live up to their social responsibility and that “a return to distinctive journalistic ethics is necessary”.
“New media isn’t destroying journalism, but rather a media-encompassing, copy and past philosophy and digital content recycling,” said Bettermann. “High-speed journalism isn’t the only answer in the frenzy of new media.” The financial and economic crisis, which has heavily affected the media markets and structure, has reinforced these tendencies even more. The battered structures – like the shrinking local editorial departments and news agencies – will be hard to regenerate. “We must actively counteract the depletion of journalistic resources and the loss of pluralism,” said Bettermann.
He went on to say that the “reconciliation of traditional and new media” could lead to effective new formats and that the individual strengths have to be used and combined intelligently. This creates a possibility that didn’t exist before – to use journalism to leave an even more lasting impression on the public and thereby be economically successful as a media company.
The head of Germany’s international broadcaster referred to the importance of new media for restricted societies. Blogs and Twitter broke through the govern-mental monopoly on information in many countries. “Today, anyone can be a public watchdog,” said Bettermann. It is now even possible for people in isolated countries to receive first-hand information from around the globe. Democracy and the public outcry for human rights can’t be subdued. Worldwide the media is taking huge steps towards democracy. “When I look at China or Iran, it becomes clear to me: The foundation is in place.” In many developing and emerging countries there will be digital leaps that people never expected. The role of the western world is to support these efforts – for example with training and education for media professionals.
Along with the 50 individual events, the conference welcomed 900 participants from around the world. Co-host of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse in Bonn. The convention is also supported by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, the government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Bonn, DHL, The Economist, Intermedia, KD Deutsche Rheinschifffahrt AG and the dpa group companies news aktuell and picture alliance.

(Press Release)

BBC's international news services attract record global audience of 238 million

The BBC's Global News division attracts a record weekly global audience of 238 million people to its international news services including BBC World Service and the BBC World News television channel, according to independent surveys. Last year's audience totalled 233 million. BBC World Service attracted a record weekly audience of 188 million. This figure was boosted by its new BBC Arabic television channel but masked an overall decline in radio listening which was down five million to 177 million in 2008/9. However, despite this loss, BBC World Service remains the world's most popular international radio broadcaster. The largest overseas audiences for BBC news, across all platforms, are in Nigeria (26.0m), USA (24.1m) and India (22.2m). The biggest increases in the BBC's global audience estimate came from Arab-speaking countries like Saudi Arabia (+1.9m), Egypt (+1.3m), and Syria (+1.0m), and newly-surveyed markets like Niger (+2.4 million), Liberia (+1.1m) and Guinea (+1.4m). However, radio audiences in Iran dropped by 1.6 million due to a decline in shortwave listening there and the cutting of medium wave transmissions. BBC Persian launched a television channel last January to reflect changing media demands by Farsi-speaking audiences in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Sri Lankan radio audiences dropped by 1.5 million after the BBC withdrew FM broadcasts there following government interference with the BBC's FM broadcasts in the Sinhala and Tamil languages. There were also losses in Nigeria (-1.5m) due to increased local competition. UK listening to BBC World Service hit record numbers with 1.5 million weekly domestic listeners in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 9%. Radio audiences in the USA also grew to a record six million. Surveys of key Arabic-speaking markets indicated an audience of eight million weekly viewers for the new BBC Arabic television channel across those specific markets. A more comprehensive figure for the channel will be made available when other countries in the region are surveyed. BBC World News – the BBC's commercially-funded international English language news and information channel – can now be received in 292 million homes, attracting 74 million viewers a week.
Major development and enhancement of the BBC's international facing news sites and mobile phone offer was rewarded with a record 16 million unique online users, a 27% increase on last year. BBC Global News Director Richard Sambrook said: "In a year when international radio listening to the BBC actually went down marginally, record overall global audiences demonstrate the success of our multimedia strategy and investments. "People come to the BBC's international news services for journalism that is challenging and asks difficult questions, yet respects different points of view and actively encourages debate. "Increasingly, audiences want access at a time and place that suits them."
BBC Global News brings together BBC World Service – funded by grant-in-aid by the UK Government; the commercially-funded BBC World News television channel and the BBC's international facing online news services in English; BBC Monitoring – which is funded by stakeholders led by the Cabinet Office and a range of public and private clients; and BBC World Service Trust – the BBC's international development charity which uses donor funding. No licence fee funds are used in any of these operations. BBC World Service is an international multimedia broadcaster delivering 32 language and regional services, including: Albanian, Arabic, Azeri, Bengali, Burmese, Cantonese, English, English for Africa, English for the Caribbean, French for Africa , Hausa, Hindi, Indonesian, Kinyarwanda/Kirundi, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mandarin, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese for Africa, Portuguese for Brazil, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish for Latin America, Swahili, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, and Vietnamese. It uses multiple platforms to reach 188 million users globally, including shortwave, AM, FM, digital satellite and cable channels. It has around 2,000 partner radio stations which take BBC content, and numerous partnerships supplying content to mobile phones and other wireless handheld devices. Its news sites include audio and video content and offer opportunities to join the global debate. For more information, visit bbcworldservice.com. To find out more about the BBC's English language offer and subscribe to a free e-newsletter, visit bbcworldservice.com/schedules. BBC World News, the BBC's commercially-funded international 24-hour news and information channel, is owned and operated by BBC World News Ltd, a member of the BBC's commercial group of companies. BBC World News attracts 74 million viewers a week, is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and reaches 292 million households and more than 1.7 million hotel rooms. The channel's content is also available on 80 cruise ships, 42 airlines, 36 mobile phone networks and a number of major online platforms including bbc.com/news. For further information on how to receive BBC World News, download schedules or find out more about the channel, visit bbcworldnews.com. The new BBC World Service global audience estimate is derived from a comprehensive programme of independent audience research over a four-year cycle. This year's figure incorporates new data from 28 countries – some 53% of this year's audience. The BBC World News audience figure is compiled from multiple surveys (syndicated, omnibus and specifically commissioned) from over 100 countries. The surveys are carried out by independent market research groups and comply with international standards of audience research.

(Press Release)

HAM radio team tunes into relief work

1 Jun 2009, 0354 hrs IST, Suman Chakraborti, TNN KOLKATA:

A three-member team of the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR) will reach the city by Monday night with HAM radio equipment to help the state government in relief work. The team has been requested by the state government to set up makeshift radio stations in the flood-affected areas of South and North 24-Parganas.
Read the TOI report here :

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata-/HAM-radio-team-tunes-into-relief-work/articleshow/4601551.cms

IRF: DRM envisions new revenue streams for FM

By: Anita Iyer 30 May 09 15:04 IST
MUMBAI: The session by Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) at the India Radio Forum 2009 appraised India’s private broadcast industry about the benefits of conversion of traditional analog FM bands into digital arena.Addressed by DRM Chairman Distribution Interfaces and vice chairman DRM technical Committee Alexander Zink and DRM Project Director Vineeta Dwiwedi, the session highlighted the various incremental revenue streams for the FM sector through DRM.

Read the full report here :

http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/irf-drm-envisions-new-revenue-streams-fm

BBC World Service now on FM across Tobago with new relay launch

People in Tobago can now listen to BBC World Service in FM quality by tuning in to BBC 98.7 FM, with the launch of a dedicated FM transmitter on the island. Audiences will now have access to a wide range of BBC programming, including content tailored specifically for the Caribbean region. The new service joins three other 24-hour BBC FM stations in the Caribbean – BBC 89.1 FM Antigua, BBC 104 FM Jamaica and the BBC 98.7 FM service which has been available on the neighbouring island of Trinidad since late 2007. Key programming includes Caribbean Report, the BBC Caribbean's flagship programme. Broadcast in the morning and the evening drivetime slot, this offers news and current affairs across the Caribbean and reflects world news from a Caribbean perspective. The programmes seek to reflect the pan-Caribbean news agenda from a variety of viewpoints and attract high-profile guests, ranging from prime ministers of the region to the local man in the street. A team of experienced Caribbean journalists, based at BBC World Service in London, provide news and analysis, alongside a team of seasoned journalists based in regional capitals and across the Caribbean diaspora. The weekly Caribbean Magazine reflects the human side of the news as well as the blend of influences in Caribbean culture. Grammy Award-winning musician Ziggy Marley featured in a recent interview. Sports Caribbean programmes are part of the morning and evening drivetime offer, tailored for Caribbean audiences, tapping into BBC sports expertise and coverage of the world of sport. These programmes provide the very latest reports from BBC sports journalists and commentators at major events, including Test cricket, one-day tournaments and the English Premier League. Other BBC programmes available on BBC 98.7 FM include Newshour, which analyses the day's top news stories from the BBC's most respected correspondents; Outlook, featuring human interest stories from across the globe; and World Have Your Say, the daily interactive, phone-in programme, which encourages people across the world to debate global and local topics. Debbie Ransome, Head of BBC Caribbean, says: "I am delighted that listeners in Tobago will now be able to tap into this service which is delivering the wider Caribbean and the world in FM quality. Through the wide range of BBC World Service programming, the world is being brought to Tobago with crystal clarity."
(Press Release)