David wrote:
On 17 Mar 2006 06:10:02 -0800, "John S." wrote:


BBC is a regular on public radio and television and I find it to be a
good addition to the news programming already available on those
stations. Clearly it displaces other content, but whether local,
national or international programming that was displaced would be hard
to determine. British programming has been a regular on public radio
and television since the early days. I hope Pitts is not lamenting the
availability of high quality dramatic programming of non U.S. origins
as well. I see news from BBC as adding to the already wide range of
programming on public radio and television.

The World Service is not on television.

Not sure what you are talking about. I copied this from
WETA: 6:00 pm BBC World News

David wrote:
On 17 Mar 2006 06:30:55 -0800, "John S." wrote:

News about the world is available from so many sources now that I don't
understand the risk of having a non U.S. source of news on public
television. Actully if they would devote some air time to non-U.S.
news sources such as Radio Beijing, Al Jazeera I think we would be the
better for having that information.

I'll try not to get too carried away with this thought, but public
television and radio runs a real risk of being left behind if they
don't include news and programming from outside the U.S. Fortunately
they have chosen to do so for a long time.

NPR is pretty world class with their newscasts. The closest
domestically produced programs generally available in the USA, at any
rate.

PRI also does an excellent job, in partnership with WGBH and the BBC
on ''The World'', middays.

The unique value of public radio and television lies is the breadth of
the sources and depth of the coverage. And that comment extends
beyond news and analysis to documentaries and dramatic series as well.
I was literally spellbound by the Ken Burns Civil War series and
dramatic programs the quality of Upstairs Downstairs are common.

On 17 Mar 2006 07:50:31 -0800, "John S." wrote:


The World Service is not on television.

Not sure what you are talking about. I copied this from
WETA: 6:00 pm BBC World News

That's not the World Service. The BBCWS is a seperate entitiy with
what are regarded as much higher standards than the rest of the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/us/index.shtml

David wrote:
On 17 Mar 2006 07:50:31 -0800, "John S." wrote:


The World Service is not on television.

Not sure what you are talking about. I copied this from
WETA: 6:00 pm BBC World News

That's not the World Service. The BBCWS is a seperate entitiy with
what are regarded as much higher standards than the rest of the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/us/index.shtml

The distinction is not readily apparent to me in the programming I have
seen on public television or the broadcsts I've heard.

John,

Although I am not a cheerleader for Public Broadcasting, I agree with
you about having many news sources. It's a reason why I listen to World
Band.

But it's not the only one. I like messing about with antennas and
software to improve reception/dsp on my Ten-Tec Rx-320. If I did not
enjoy that, I'd be more than happy with podcasts via WRN.

When it comes to SWL, process is as important as product.

All best,

Ed

John S. wrote:
David wrote:
On 17 Mar 2006 06:30:55 -0800, "John S." wrote:

News about the world is available from so many sources now that I don't
understand the risk of having a non U.S. source of news on public
television. Actully if they would devote some air time to non-U.S.
news sources such as Radio Beijing, Al Jazeera I think we would be the
better for having that information.

I'll try not to get too carried away with this thought, but public
television and radio runs a real risk of being left behind if they
don't include news and programming from outside the U.S. Fortunately
they have chosen to do so for a long time.

NPR is pretty world class with their newscasts. The closest
domestically produced programs generally available in the USA, at any
rate.

PRI also does an excellent job, in partnership with WGBH and the BBC
on ''The World'', middays.

The unique value of public radio and television lies is the breadth of
the sources and depth of the coverage. And that comment extends
beyond news and analysis to documentaries and dramatic series as well.
I was literally spellbound by the Ken Burns Civil War series and
dramatic programs the quality of Upstairs Downstairs are common.

John S. wrote:

BBC is a regular on public radio and television and I find it to be a
good addition to the news programming already available on those
stations. Clearly it displaces other content, but whether local,
national or international programming that was displaced would be hard
to determine. British programming has been a regular on public radio
and television since the early days. I hope Pitts is not lamenting the
availability of high quality dramatic programming of non U.S. origins
as well. I see news from BBC as adding to the already wide range of
programming on public radio and television.

I agree. Overall, I have been quite happy with WETA's shift to an all
news/talk format w/substantial portions consisting of BBC programming.
I gotta say, though, that, in my opinion, the World Have Your Say
program isn't really up to BBC standards.

I guess some classical music fans have been the main losers in WETA's
content overhaul. For classical fare, my tendency was always to tune
to WGMS, anyway. Admittedly, I miss the program of medieval &
classical liturgical music that used to air on WETA at 10pm on Sunday
nights. For me, that one program was the real loss...

Ed wrote:
Guys, this is only the beginning. The World Radio Network (
http://www.wrn.org/)is promoting other shortwave broadcasters as well.

I'm ok with this. It's fun to switch from the BEEB on World Band to the
BEEB on my local NPR station, hearing the same thing.

Ed



Right, WRN has some excellent program content from a wide variety of
international broadcasters. In fact, it was to a large degree Sirius's
inclusion of WRN in their channel line-up that swayed me from signing
on with XM. Months back, before doing a comparison of between the two,
I had simply thought I'd sign up with XM, since the E1 receiver was to
be XM ready. But as it is now, the XM section of my E1 lies
dormant...oh, well, with the much more versatile plug-n-play units so
cheap for both XM and Sirius, I really see no reason to use the E1 for
sat radio reception, anyway.

It would be nice if WRN had R. Bulgaria and AIR on board.

junius wrote:
John S. wrote:

BBC is a regular on public radio and television and I find it to be a
good addition to the news programming already available on those
stations. Clearly it displaces other content, but whether local,
national or international programming that was displaced would be hard
to determine. British programming has been a regular on public radio
and television since the early days. I hope Pitts is not lamenting the
availability of high quality dramatic programming of non U.S. origins
as well. I see news from BBC as adding to the already wide range of
programming on public radio and television.

I agree. Overall, I have been quite happy with WETA's shift to an all
news/talk format w/substantial portions consisting of BBC programming.
I gotta say, though, that, in my opinion, the World Have Your Say
program isn't really up to BBC standards.

I guess some classical music fans have been the main losers in WETA's
content overhaul. For classical fare, my tendency was always to tune
to WGMS, anyway. Admittedly, I miss the program of medieval &
classical liturgical music that used to air on WETA at 10pm on Sunday
nights. For me, that one program was the real loss...

Yes, there have been some notable losses on local public radio. I was
a long time fan of Dick Cerri, but his folk program was dropped quite a
while ago. Still glad to hear Hot Jazz Saturday Night and Thistle and
Shamrock. I certainly understand that a mix of programs from 20 years
ago may not attract as many listeners today and I'm willing to live
with the changes. Overall their programming is still top notch.

Ed wrote:
John,

Although I am not a cheerleader for Public Broadcasting, I agree with
you about having many news sources. It's a reason why I listen to World
Band.

But it's not the only one. I like messing about with antennas and
software to improve reception/dsp on my Ten-Tec Rx-320. If I did not
enjoy that, I'd be more than happy with podcasts via WRN.

When it comes to SWL, process is as important as product.


Me too. I'm an unrepentant knob twister....
But I do enjoy the programs on Radio Australia, Radio China and Radio
Havana and of course the Beeb.

David wrote:

NPR is pretty world class with their newscasts. The closest
domestically produced programs generally available in the USA, at any
rate.

PRI also does an excellent job, in partnership with WGBH and the BBC
on ''The World'', middays.

Agreed, "The World" is an excellent news product. NPR's
top-of-the-hour news briefings are well done, too. NPR's two flagship
programs, Morning Edition and All Things Considered, are okay, although
something of a mixed bag. I sometimes find myself tuning away when
they attempt the occasional folksy human interest stories (it's just
not something that NPR does well, in my opinion). Oh, and then there's
some Romanian guy (Codrescu) who attempts these humor spots on All
Things Considered....ughhh....I'd rather listen to nothing at all than
to endure that guy.