On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 10:11 am, Lance Storm posted
to rec.radio.shortwave: %MM

Why did Radio Deutsche Welle stop transmitting on SW in English?

Two weeks ago, I heard that Swiss Radio International was going to do the
same.

What will become of the shorwave bands?


You can get DW in English still but not directed to N America. Rebroadcast
late at night, only catch it if having insomnia.

Steve wrote:

"Mike Terry" wrote in message
...
"Lance Storm" wrote in message
news:0sLld.96248$R05.40249@attbi_s53...

What will become of the shorwave bands?


Lance,

Its sad but it does allow weaker power dx stations to be heard on sw. The
internet is fast taking over from sw radio. That's progress I suppose...

Mike

Good point...it does allow weaker stations to be heard, which is a
good thing.

Broadcasters will come and go, whether they broadcast over shortwave
or any other medium. I for one see no grounds for pessimism here.

Sometimes I have the sense that when people talk about the "future of
shortwave", what they really mean is the future of whatever large
broadcast stations they listen to on a regular basis--not the future
of the shortwave bands themselves. I see some reasons to be
pessimistic about (some of) the former (depending on their goals and
program content). I see no reason to be pessimistic about the latter.

Steve

I'll tell everybody what I honestly see happening to shortwave. There
will be 4-5 Big Boys, major stations that broadcast in every major
language and can be heard almost anywhere, like Radio China and Radio
Netherlands. Then there will be a zillion Little Guys, small regional
stations that broadcast only to a relatively local audience and almost
none of which will be in English-but in local languages and dialects.
This will mean the death of QSLing, since Big Boys will have paid
monitors and Little Guys won't have the money or language skills to
answer their reception reports. But if you're not a QSL hog, it will
mean wonderful opportunities for DX, since a lot of the blowtorch
stations that characterized the Cold War will be gone or on the air
under different names and reduced power (think Radio Kiev, which is now
Ukraine Radio International and is hard to hear, or Radio Tirana, which
used to be infamous for its bizarre rants but is now almost inaudible)
opening up opportunities to hear signals that during the Cold War were
blanked by the blowtorches. I've never sent for a QSL in my life, so I'm
not concerned about reception reports, but I'll be listening for the
small Sam Neua station in Laos that Passport talked about in the 2005
edition as long as their transmitter doesn't burn the station down. Most
of the world's population can't afford internet access or satellite
radio and will not be able to in the foreseeable future. A lot of those
people live outside the range of existing AM and FM stations. So
shortwave radio will be around for a while, just not in the form that it
was during the Cold War.



----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups
---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

Why should ANYONE broadcast in any language that they are attempting to
phase out?

well, all those foreigners are complaining that us Americans arew only
listening to news from American sources and aren't listening to their news
sources. (despite the fact that many Americans have and listen to shortwave
radios.

If they phase out their English language services, then we Americans will
indeed be limited to hearing news only from American sources. Not everyone has
a computer. And most people still don't. And a lot can't afford a computer,
either.

Like the BBC, DW management thinks SW is out of
date and is concentrating on the internet and satellite.

And that's their big mistake.

I know a lot of people who would not pay for a computer, internet access, or
satellite radio, even if they can afford it.

And then, there's also all those people who can't afford any of that, evven if
they wanted it.

bug wrote:

On 14 Nov 2004 19:10:21 -0600, Dan wrote:

You can, however, hear all of these and more, free of static and
fading, on the net.

True, but we still have to contend with internet broadcasting's lack
of charm compared to SW broadcasting AND net congestion -- even with a
*broadband* connection!

You get "net congestion" even with *broadband*? I was listening on
dialup and the "net congestion" would cause the broadcast to cut out
abruptly and unpredictably. SW may fade, but it doesn't stop in
midsentence as web radio does. And then there's the signal degradation,
which eventually results in so many missed packets that the broadcast
becomes nearly impossible to listen to. Add in the fact that most of the
world's population doesn't even have a computer much less net access and
web radio has a long way to go before it can be viable. Apparently the
morons at DW and BBC haven't figured that out yet.



----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups
---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

"Lance Storm" wrote in message
news:0sLld.96248$R05.40249@attbi_s53...
Why did Radio Deutsche Welle stop transmitting on SW in English?

The easy answer is they stopped broadcasting in English to save money.

International broadcasting is a form of public diplomacy. Whether
international broadcasting from one first world country to another actually
works as public diplomacy is an important question. I don't think it makes
much difference. Certainly few Americans listen to SW radio. I can't think
of any US election in which international broadcasting played any role. I
don't remember any significant public pressure put on Congress by SWLs.

I can't blame the Germans, or anyone else, if they want to spend their
limited resources somewhere else.

There is still DW English programming in the US. The local college public
TV station runs some DW programming, and it may be also available on
college/public radio stations.


Two weeks ago, I heard that Swiss Radio International was going to do the
same.

What will become of the shorwave bands?


They will become more interesting. There will be a higher percentage of the
hidden knowledge crowd, evangelists and pirates.

Frank Dresser

I'll tell everybody what I honestly see happening to shortwave. There
will be 4-5 Big Boys, major stations that broadcast in every major
language and can be heard almost anywhere, like Radio China and Radio
Netherlands. Then there will be a zillion Little Guys, small regional
stations that broadcast only to a relatively local audience and almost
none of which will be in English-but in local languages and dialects.
This will mean the death of QSLing, since Big Boys will have paid
monitors and Little Guys won't have the money or language skills to
answer their reception reports. But if you're not a QSL hog, it will
mean wonderful opportunities for DX, since a lot of the blowtorch
stations that characterized the Cold War will be gone or on the air
under different names and reduced power (think Radio Kiev, which is now
Ukraine Radio International and is hard to hear, or Radio Tirana, which
used to be infamous for its bizarre rants but is now almost inaudible)
opening up opportunities to hear signals that during the Cold War were
blanked by the blowtorches. I've never sent for a QSL in my life, so I'm
not concerned about reception reports, but I'll be listening for the
small Sam Neua station in Laos that Passport talked about in the 2005
edition as long as their transmitter doesn't burn the station down. Most
of the world's population can't afford internet access or satellite
radio and will not be able to in the foreseeable future. A lot of those
people live outside the range of existing AM and FM stations. So
shortwave radio will be around for a while, just not in the form that it
was during the Cold War.


Interesting. I agree with much of this, but I think there will be more
major broadcasters. I wasn't at all surprised when the Swiss pulled
out because of the nature of their programming. My sense was that
their programs were designed to prop up their tourism industry and, if
so, that's something they can do more efficiently via the internet.
However, if a country, group or institution has a real message to get
out, I don't think the internet, all by itself, is enough. In other
words, I don't think they'll be content to put up a website and wait
for people to stumble across it. They'll want to take a more proactive
approach to securing an international audience. Satellite radio is a
possibility, but so is shortwave, depending on the nature of the
audience they hope to reach.

But maybe I'm missing something. I'm not used to being the 'optimist'
in connection with any issue, but I appear to be just that where the
future of shortwave is concerned.

Steve

"Steve" wrote in message
om...

I'll tell everybody what I honestly see happening to shortwave.
There
will be 4-5 Big Boys, major stations that broadcast in every major
language and can be heard almost anywhere, like Radio China and
Radio
Netherlands. Then there will be a zillion Little Guys, small
regional
stations that broadcast only to a relatively local audience and
almost
none of which will be in English-but in local languages and
dialects.
This will mean the death of QSLing, since Big Boys will have paid
monitors and Little Guys won't have the money or language skills
to
answer their reception reports. But if you're not a QSL hog, it
will
mean wonderful opportunities for DX, since a lot of the blowtorch
stations that characterized the Cold War will be gone or on the
air
under different names and reduced power (think Radio Kiev, which
is now
Ukraine Radio International and is hard to hear, or Radio Tirana,
which
used to be infamous for its bizarre rants but is now almost
inaudible)
opening up opportunities to hear signals that during the Cold War
were
blanked by the blowtorches. I've never sent for a QSL in my life,
so I'm
not concerned about reception reports, but I'll be listening for
the
small Sam Neua station in Laos that Passport talked about in the
2005
edition as long as their transmitter doesn't burn the station
down. Most
of the world's population can't afford internet access or
satellite
radio and will not be able to in the foreseeable future. A lot of
those
people live outside the range of existing AM and FM stations. So
shortwave radio will be around for a while, just not in the form
that it
was during the Cold War.


Interesting. I agree with much of this, but I think there will be
more
major broadcasters. I wasn't at all surprised when the Swiss pulled
out because of the nature of their programming. My sense was that
their programs were designed to prop up their tourism industry and,
if
so, that's something they can do more efficiently via the internet.
However, if a country, group or institution has a real message to
get
out, I don't think the internet, all by itself, is enough. In other
words, I don't think they'll be content to put up a website and wait
for people to stumble across it. They'll want to take a more
proactive
approach to securing an international audience. Satellite radio is a
possibility, but so is shortwave, depending on the nature of the
audience they hope to reach.

But maybe I'm missing something. I'm not used to being the
'optimist'
in connection with any issue, but I appear to be just that where the
future of shortwave is concerned.

There are several problems with relying on the
internet:

-If you are a broadcaster moving to the internet
only, you are abandoning the people who can't afford
to access the internet. If your target audience is
on the internet, then that makes sense. If it's not,
then you've lost that audience; permanently, most
likely. Someone will fill that void, but if that
new broadcaster has a differing point of view
than you...

-Unlike shortwave where a listener can randomly tune
the bands and can find something interesting, you
actually have to search to find Radio Swiss International.
The internet is a true equalizer, but if you are a
broadcaster and are used to people happening upon
your station, you're going to be sadly disapppointed.
People have to actively seek you out on the
internet, as there is simply so much there that
a broadcaster won't fall into an internet user's
lap..

-A corollary to #2 above is that the internet plays
a part in dividing people just as well as uniting
people. If you are on the net, you don't have to
be exposed to opposing points of view if you don't
want to, and you can choose to stay in your own
little world and believe anything you read if you
wish. You can do that with shortwave, too, but
if you get the shortwave "bug", by nature you'll
be exposed to different ideas by trying to listen
to various stations.

In it's own way, the print media is finding that
trying to get people to subscribe to their websites
(Washington Post comes to mind) when other items
are free is a big drawback, and that I'd imagine
that big shortwave broadcasters will find out the
same rather shortly.

--Mike L.

I think the reason why many international broadcasters are phasing out
their shortwave services is because they are catching on to the fact
that very few members of the public, aside from radio hobbyists, are
listening. It simply doesn't make financial sense for the governments
of these countries to continue pumping mega-money into these facilities
just so a radio hobbyist overseas can add another entry into their
logbooks. Most DX'ers could care less about the actual program content.
For them the fun is in capturing an elusive signal.
I realize there are still many places in the world that rely on SW due
to remote locations, local regulations, etc. Those places are the ones
the government SW broadcasters should focus on. In most urban areas in
most countries, local FM dominates the listening habits of the general
public. Here in the USA, in my neck of the woods, hardly anyone
listens to MW/AM any more. I remember a friend of mine being absolutely
astounded that my car radio could pick up WCBS-AM 880 in NYC. She
thought I had some kind of special supercharged radio. I would have
shown her how to get the BBC and really impressed her if I'd had my
shortwave reciever with me. But the BBC World Service is available on
local FM here, in stereo with no atmospheric interference, so why bother?
Like it or not, international shortwave broadcasting is slowly going
the way of the LP vinyl record. It is much more cost-effective to beam
programming overseas via satellite then rebroadcast it on local FM.
As broadband internet becomes more widely deployed, look for it to
become another similar medium.
Before you get out your flamethrowers, I want to state for the record
that I am an SW listener and I much prefer to use radios that glow in
the dark and get warm. But unfortunately we are in the minority there.
Watch for more international megawatt broadcasters to shut down as
this trend continues.

GTTyson

On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 12:04:28 -0500, Al Patrick
wrote:

We even have to put on our coffee cups - in four different
languages - "Caution Hot" so that invaders no longer have to learn
English - or learn that coffee is SUPPOSED to be HOT.

One word -- lawyers.

As for multiple languages, I once worked for an outfit that
had rolls of "GARBAGE" stickers to peel off and apply to boxes or bags
to be thrown out. The word for garbage was also written in about eight
other languages, including Spanish, Veitnamese, chinese, etc. Someone
once became offended that the word was in so many languages. I
explained to him, "The word GARBAGE is in English because that's the
only language you speak. The rest are because none of your kids will
apply for the job, Whitey."