Silicon Labs Bullish on Terrestrial Broadcasting

http://radiomagonline.com/digital_radio/hd_radio/silicon_labs_bullish_on_terrestrial_broadcasting_1128/

WWCR DRM Broadcast on December 10

by National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 7:02am

A special 30-minute edition of "Ask WWCR," hosted by Brady Murray and Jerry Plummer of NASB member WWCR in Nashville, will air at 1930 UTC Saturday, December 10 on 7590 kHz in DRM digital mode, beamed to Europe from a 100-kw transmitter in Armenia. The program is part of the weekly "DRM Mix" block sponsored by Spaceline of Bulgaria which runs from 1800-2100 UTC on the same frequency. In this special program, Brady and Jerry will present a profile of WWCR, its history, programming and personnel, as well as some information about other privately-owned shortwave stations in the United States.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/national-association-of-shortwave-broadcasters/wwcr-drm-broadcast-on-december-10/323429791020140

International Broadcasters Call For Action Over Jamming

International broadcasters - Voice of America (VOA), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Deutsche Welle (DW), Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France (AEF) and Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) – have condemned the deliberate interference of satellite broadcasting signals to silence independent media and prevent free access to information.
Meeting in London, the Directors General of these broadcasting organisations issued a statement, noting, "We have seen an escalation this year in the number of pressure tactics that have been used on the media being accessed by audiences in Iran and other countries.
In particular, they noted an increase in deliberate interference – known as "jamming" – of international satellite programming in Persian. Satellite operators indicate interference originates from Iran. According to the five international broadcasters it is intended to prevent Iranian audiences from seeing foreign broadcasts the Iranian government finds objectionable.
"We call upon the regulatory authorities to take action against those who deliberately cause interference to satellite signals on the grounds that this is contrary to international conventions for the use of satellites. We specifically ask national telecommunications authorities to take up the issue at an upcoming meeting of the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva. "We also call upon satellite operators and service providers to recognise the importance of the role they play in ensuring the free flow of information."
The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent federal agency, supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international broadcasting, whose mission is inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. BBG broadcasts reach an audience of 187 million in more than 100 countries. BBG networks 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 Martí).

(BBG Press Release)

FM Logs 7th Dec 2011

07 Dec 2011 (Wed)
0300 - 0400 UTC

90.4 ......Weak unid (probably one of the local CRS)
91.9 xxxx Radio Mantra Bareilly Uttar Pradesh (with RDS)
98.6 0.5 kW Radio Bheri, Birendranagar, Surkhet
99.4 1 kW Shuklaphanta FM Kanchanpur, Mahendranagar Nepal
100.2 6 kW All India Radio Patiala Punjab
100.4 6 kW All India Radio Bareilly Uttar Pradesh
100.7 6 kW All India Radio Lucknow Uttar Pradesh
101.3 6 kW All India Radio Aligarh Uttar Pradesh
101.4 6 kW All India Radio Kurukshetra Haryana
102.1 10 kW All India Radio Mussoorie Uttarkhand
103.0 1 kW Radio Nepal Buditola
103.1 6 kW All India Radio Alwar
103.5 1 kW All India Radio Rohtak Haryana
103.7 10 kW All India Radio Shimla Himachal Pradesh
107.2 10 kW All India Radio Kasauli Himachal Pradesh
107.4 0.05 kW Radio Noida Noida Uttar Pradesh

Audio Files

Radio Nepal 103.0 http://tinyurl.com/6uddmdf

Radio Bheri 98.6 http://tinyurl.com/7pfggr6

AIR Alwar 103.1 http://tinyurl.com/78qs9ek

Tropo ducting forecast http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_mid.html

(Sony XDR-F1HD + Triax 5 Element Yagi Hor)

FRS-Holland Seasonal Broadcast December 18th

Dear FRS & Radio Friends,

Sunday December 18th FRS-Holland will be on air with its annual special December broadcast. The broadcast will be on 7600//5800 between 07:52- 14:00 UTC/ 08:52- 15:00 CET. More info follows next week. That day we will feature a wide variety of quality pop music from the past 45 years along with several radio related programme items.

FRS-Holland offers you the opportunity to send in your December greetings to radio friends and relatives. Your contributions are highly appreciated and will add something special to our programmes! You can easily produce a little (written) message and send it to [frs@frsholland.nl]. It only takes a few minutes of your spare time.... We raffle a radio DVD among those who participate in our December broadcast with their Seasonal greetings.
We'd like to ask you to do it as soon as possible as some shows will already be recorded this upcoming weekend. Don't hesitate but just do it!
If you have the opportunity to send in an audio (mp3) clip you are more than welcome!

The staff of FRS-Holland hopes to hear from you...

73s, Peter Verbruggen on behalf of the staff

a Balance between Music & Information joined to one Format....

FRS-Holland
POBox 2702
6049 ZG Herten
The Netherlands

e-mail: frs.holland@hccnet.nl
e-mail: frs@frsholland.nl

More 10m QSL's

More 10m e-qsl's for 42 logs uploaded on 4th Dec logged at 0930-1020 UTC.....

AIR Observations - 5th Dec

All India Radio - Observations on 05 Dec 2011 ( Monday)

At 2030 IST following AIR stations were carrying running commentary of 3rd One Day International cricket match between India vs West Indies at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

4810 - Bhopal missing on this freq, off air ? ( Still missing at 0815 IST on 6th Dec 2011)
4880 - Lucknow
4910 - Jaipur
5010 - T'puram, strong hum in background
5040 - Jeypore missing ( was back on air when I rechecked at 2200 IST)

Also :

4965 Shimla - Strong carrier, no audio. ( Checked at 0815 IST, 6th Dec 2011, audio was back)

BBC's Arabic service wins huge audiences

People across the Middle East have increasingly turned to the BBC during the Arab revolts, prompting a record rise in audiences.

Independent research published today shows that overall audiences to the BBC's Arabic services have risen by more than 50% to a record high of 33.4m adults weekly - up from 21.6m before the "Arab spring.'

Full story at :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/dec/05/bbc-world-service-arab-and-middle-east-protests

Will Voice of America's Persian Service Survive?Michael Rubin | @mrubin1971

Over the past several months, I have criticized Voice of America's Persian Service which, even at the best of times, has been aimless and ill managed.

Full story at :
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/12/05/voice-of-america-persian-service-end/

Launch of Radio Chisinau

December 1st, Romania’s National Day, saw the official opening of Radio Chisinau, the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation’s first branch station in the Republic of Moldova, offering high-standard programming to the local people. Radio Chisinau is a quality broadcaster, powered by a team of young professionals. This new station offers insight on cultural life, as well as modern news and entertainment programs. Vlad Turcanu, editor-in-chief with Radio Chisinau, talked about the circumstances in which this station was born.

Vlad Turcanu: “The concept of public institution in the Republic of Moldova failed in the early 2000s, after having gained significant shape in the 90s. We had to limit ourselves to what private stations offered. These had poorly structured programs, without the editorial effort to satisfy the needs of listeners with a rich culture and a thirst for knowledge. I hope that bringing the Romanian public radio network to Chisinau will reconfigure the market and will boost its development.”

Radio Chisinau broadcasts on number of frequencies covering most of Moldova. In Chisinau, the station can be heard on the FM band on 89.6 MHz, as well as online. A series of cultural events were held to celebrate the launch of Radio Chisinau. These included a special concert in the city’s Central Square, with a number of Romanian and Moldovan performers.

This project is part of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation’s strategy to offer programming to listeners in the Republic of Moldova. Radio Romania hopes that expanding the network for Romanian-speaking listeners across the Prut River, on the airwaves or online, will provide a direct, fair, balanced and impartial source of information, while promoting Romanian cultural, artistic and linguistic values.

http://www.rri.ro/art.shtml?lang=1&sec=5&art=196772

(Source : Radio Romania International)

Digital radio switchover 'will not be complete until 2019'

Head of expert group says digital take-up has been slower than many in the industry hoped.....

Read the full story here :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/nov/30/digital-radio-switchover

China Radio International celebrates 70th founding anniversary

BEIJING, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- A ceremony was held here on Saturday to celebrate the 70th founding anniversary of the state-run China Radio International (CRI), the country's only radio with world service.
The event was attended by more than 700 people, including the country's major publicity officials, leaders of top news organizations, foreign diplomats and representatives of overseas listeners.
Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, praised CRI's 70 years of service in a congratulation letter, urging the station to build a world first-rate broadcaster with increasing global influence.

More at : http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-12/03/c_131286393.htm

RTI "Top 10" Taiwan, cross-strait, and international news stories contest

Radio Taiwan International is inviting listeners and web users all over the world to select this year's "Top 10" Taiwan, cross-strait, and international news stories. Participants will have a chance to win one of great prizes such as smartphones, tablet computers and more just by voting for the news story that they think is most important

Voting Date
From 10:00 am on 12/2/2011 till 09:30 am on 12/30/2011 (Taiwan Time or UTC+8)

How to participate
Click to select anywhere from three to ten stories from each category that you think were the most important this year.

Voting
Vote Now>> http://www.rti.org.tw/ajax/2011/2011_top10en/vote.aspx

Prizes
There are more than 100 prizes, such as smartphones, tablet computers, MP3 players, retro-style radios, CD cases, jade book marks, and more!

Notes
* Each participant is eligible for only one prize. Any individual found to be intentionally using software to vote an excess number of times will be barred from participating.
* The winners will be chosen at random by computer and then sent notification via email. Each prize winner must then send his or her personal information to the event organizer via email within ten days of receiving the notification. Failure to do so will result in the winner's disqualification from prize collection. Radio Taiwan International will ensure that winners' personal information will not be misused in anyway, in accordance with relevant laws.
* Each prize will be sent to the address provided by the relevant winner.
Any winner who sends incomplete or inaccurate personal information will forfeit their rights to collect the prize. Radio Taiwan International will not resend any prize for any reason.
* Prizes may not be exchanged, transferred, or redeemed for cash. The model and other specifics of each prize will be at Radio Taiwan International's discretion; said specifics will not be subject to the descriptions posted on the event's website.
* Radio Taiwan International has the right to terminate or modify this event, its prizes, and any related items at any time. In the event of any dispute or unaddressed item of business, any rules or interpretations offered by Radio Taiwan International will prevail.

List of winners
Winners will be selected at random within ten days of the last day of voting. The list of winners will be posted on the website.

http://www.rti.org.tw/ajax/2011/2011_top10en/index.aspx

(Source : Radio Taiwan International)

Now enjoy the AIR FM experience on Airtel digital TV

Introduces iRadio-a unique iTV application with 21 radio channels

•iRadio- a free entertainment application with 247 news, entertainment and music
•Available at no additional cost for all customers

New Delhi, November 29, 2011- Airtel digital TV, the DTH service by Bharti Airtel, today announced the launch of iRadio – a 24/7 entertainment application that has 21 Radio channels available to all its customers, at no additional cost. The introduction of the 21 channels on iRadio is consistent with Airtel digital TV's efforts of enabling customers to enjoy their entertainment experience in a language of their choice, wherever they go in India.

This latest addition to Airtel digital TV's portfolio caters to the growing demand by customers for entertainment in a language of choice. AIR Radio has been a favourite of listeners across the country its unique entertainment mix of Music, News, Talk Shows, Variety, Interviews, Current Affairs and documentaries. iRadio is yet another compelling reiteration of DTH's clear advantage over analogue systems in offering unique non-channel content across genres like education, music, movies, farming and lifestyle.

According to Mr. Shashi Arora, CEO- DTH/ Media, Bharti Airtel, "iRadio will provide yet another reason for customers to be on Airtel digital TV. The width and depth of our content together with the superior audio and video clarity on the back of our strong distribution and service delivery network has been one of the primary reasons for more customers opting for Airtel digital TV. Our non channel content has been very well received, one of the reasons we believe that the Radio application will find appeal across the hinterland of the country where radio is still considered the primary entertainment medium for many, who are only now being introduced to DTH and its advantages over legacy distribution systems."

All Airtel digital TV customers can access this application at a mere click of the iTV button on their remote. With a user friendly interface, the customers also have an option to select an AIR channel and play in the background. The 21 audio channels in iRadio include FM Gold, FM Gold Mumbai, FM Rainbow, FM Rainbow Bangalore, FM Rainbow Chennai, Radio Kashmir, Gyanvani Radio, AIR Hindi, AIR Punjabi, AIR Tamil, AIR Telugu, AIR Bangla, AIR Gujarati, AIR Urdu, AIR Marathi, AIR Kannada, AIR Oriya, AIR Malayalam, AIR Assamese, AIR Ragam, and AIR North-East.

iRadio is now available along with the other five attractions, iFasal, iGoodlife, iDarshan, iLearn and iAstro. To enjoy other iTV applications, the customers need to call 12150.

iFasal: provides farmers a real time access to crop prices, prevalent agri-input prices of say seeds, pesticides, weather information and localized farming advisory in Hindi

iGoodlife: provides rich and entertaining content on lifestyle, cooking, health, home and family

iDarshan: showcases live aartis every morning and evening, devotional songs, debates, discussions, pravachans, satsangs, discourses, travel episodes from shrines across the country and pilgrimage information, at your home

iLearn: interactive and fun tutorial for children ranging from classes 1 to 5

iAstro: provides detailed forecast for the day – both as per astrology and numerology

About Airtel digital TV
Airtel digital TV – the DTH service from Bharti Airtel – has over 6.8 million customers and is one of the leading national level DTH service in the country which offers its customers MPEG 4 with DVBS 2 – currently the most advanced digital broadcasting technologies available in the world after HD broadcasting. Additionally, Airtel digital TV was the first to bring many firsts to the DTH segment in India including a Universal Remote which operates both the Set Top Box and TV set, as well as several unique Interactive Applications. Airtel digital TV recorder was the first to offer the capability to record live television, anytime, anywhere. Airtel has also HD services to its portfolio. All this is backed by 24x7 customer care. Airtel digital TV launched its services in October 2008.

About Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. The company offers 3G voice & data services, fixed line, high speed broadband, IPTV, DTH, turnkey telecom solutions for enterprises and national & international long distance services to carriers globally. In rest of the geographies it offers mobile voice & high speed wireless internet. Bharti Airtel has been ranked among the six best performing technology companies in the world by BusinessWeek. Bharti Airtel had over 238 million customers across its operations at the end of October 2011. To know more please visit, www.airtel.in

(Press Release)

BBG Broadcasts Reach Record Audiences

Washington, D.C., Nov 15, 2011 -- U.S. government funded international broadcasters reached an estimated 187 million people every week in 2011, an increase of 22 million from last year's figure, according to new audience data being made public by the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

"We are pleased that people the world over are responding in unprecedented numbers to our high-quality journalism and active audience engagement," said BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson. "The ability of our broadcasters to inform, engage and connect audiences through traditional and social media alike lie behind these impressive results and will be essential to driving future audience reach and impact."
The record numbers, released in the BBG Performance and Accountability Report (PAR), measure the combined audience of the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio and TV Martí, Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa). The report details impact on audiences around the globe including people in the world's most repressive media and political environments.

The BBG's PAR follows on the heels of BBG's latest strategic plan, Impact through Innovation and Integration, which sets an over-arching objective of making BBG the world's leading international news agency working to foster freedom and democracy with the goal of reaching 216 million people weekly by 2016.
This year there were significant audience increases in Afghanistan, where RFE/RL and VOA together reach 75% of adults weekly; in Egypt, where Alhurra TV doubled its weekly audience to 15% in tandem with the Arab Spring; and in Indonesia, where VOA's aggressive affiliate strategy has boosted weekly audiences to some 38 million adults.
Audiences in many other strategically relevant countries held strong. In Nigeria, VOA retains its position as a news source of record with 23 million weekly listeners. In Burma, VOA and RFA reach 26% and 24% of adults, respectively, amounting to a weekly audience of 10 million.

Audience declines took place notably in Iran, where the government continues aggressive jamming of every BBG transmission platform, including satellite uplink jamming; and Pakistan, where the media market is increasingly fragmented and use of radio is declining.

While radio remains the BBG's number one media platform, reaching 106 million people per week, television's growth puts it at 97 million people. The Internet audience was approximately 10 million, with the largest online audiences measured in Iraq, Russia, Indonesia, Egypt and Iran.

(BBG Pres Release)