"American Insurgent" wrote in message
oups.com...

All of the Americas have been going to FM transmitters. In South
America, shortwave is declining as FM transmitters fed by satellite
uplinks have become increasingly commonplace.

Microwave linked national FM networks were common by the mid-70's, and
actually began in the early 60's in countries like Colombia where CARACOL,
TOdelar and RCN had extensive microwave networks to feed AM stations.

In the 70's, most audience moved to FM in Latin America, and the links were
still microwave until well into the 80's, when satellites were in place to
do big domestic feeds.

With the declining cost
of FM/satellite transmitting, there is really no reason for
governments and private groups to maintain shortwave transmitters and
deal with such things as erratic solar weather and the thunderstorm
activity that wipes out huge chunks of the tropical bands (widely used
in SAm) for months at a time.

SW started declining nearly 40 years ago as Ams and then FMs were built in
increasingly rural areas and with greater power and coverage.

Canadian domestic SW served much the
same purpose, but FM relays are much more efficient.

FM as a link (88-107 MHz) was pretty much prohibited in Latin America by
around 1970.

US domestics have always been a joke, except in the first few years
after legalization in the early 80s when bold ideas like WRNO were
being tried. Those ideas fell away after failing to make any money,
and US domestic SW was surrendered to loony religious groups, hate
groups, and political conspiracy theorists, with the lines between
them blurry and shifting.

Domestic SW broadcasting is illegal. US SW stations may clandestinely serve
the home audience, but are licensed to serve international audiences.

South American SW is becoming increasingly
dominated by religious groups as well, although down there government
rules prohibit pay for play radio, thus preventing the free for all
seen in the US.

Actually, paid programming has been legal in nearly every country since the
60's or more. Hell, you could rent an entire station if you wanted to, in
most places.

The only places that shortwave still lives is in Africa, where eternal
chaos prevents the formation of FM networks,

There are dpozens of FM networks all over Africa, even in places as remote
as Burkina Faso.

and Asia, where the
population is often very diffuse and hard to cover with FM.

Wrong again. Just takes more transmitters. Even Indonesia, which is spreead
out and divided into many pesky islands has done it.

The Middle
East has been shifting to FM,

In most places, most listening has been on FM for a long, long time.

Surprisingly, I am sure you will find, broadcasting outside the US is often
at a par or more advanced than it is here in America.