R J Carpenter wrote:
But how about WorldSpace satellite radio? They
have a couple of dozen channels with coverage of
Africa and Asia and much of Europe. They even
carry different services on the various spot beams
from a single satellite. I gather they rent some
space to national broadcasters. Their receivers
aren't dirt cheap, but well within the means of
many people in the third world. I gather that they
are NOT doing well financially, however. They have
a web site www.worldspace.com . There was some
initial relationship between them and XM, but
WorldSpace's partial foreign ownership killed that
from what I heard..

I can see LEO satellites as a possible eventual replacement for shortwave.

But it's going to be pretty tough to get the costs low enough (both on
the transmitting side and the receiving side) to make it fly in poorer
countries. (I'm not familiar with WorldSpace's pricing) I've my doubts
that any scheme that involves monthly subscription charges will work.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com