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Communications World Script:
2 June 2001 RealAudio and mp3 audio files of this program are available at http://wrn.org/ondemand/communicationsworld.html. Segment A OPENERS TAPE: CUT 1 (in full to :28 then fade under to Kim and lose) KIM: Welcome to Communications World for the weekend of June second, 2001. The Kerbango Internet Radio was going to make listening to Internet audio similar to listening to a radio. But the product was canceled before it came to market. A company headquartered here in Washington nevertheless continues with its plans to manufacture a similar appliance. I have an interview coming up, along with more comments abut the BBC and shortwave. First, media news. Last weekend, the directors of two international broadcasting organizations appeared on their own radio stations to talk about changes. On Radio Canada International's Maple Leaf Mailbag, RCI executive director Robert O'Reilly described the programming cuts taking place at his station. The most dramatic of these is the elimination of news and live programming by RCI broadcasters in all of the station's seven languages. Mr. O'Reilly explained that the cuts are partly because RCI received five million Canadian dollars in capital funding during the past three years, but starting this year must make do with only its 15.5 million dollar annual operating budget. Mr. O'Reilly suggested that RCI might start to make programs focusing on, and perhaps for the ears of, decision makers in Canada who could influence RCI's future budgets. AUDIO KIM: And Mr. O'Reilly said that programs produced by RCI might be heard on the domestic Canadian Broadcasting Corporation networks. On weekends, RCI will continue to relay news in English and French from the domestic CBC and Radio-Canada networks. But former RCI program director Allan Familiant told the Montreal Gazette that RCI produced news and features are preferable. He said, to quote, "It's not enough to understand English or French if the story hasn't been put into context, if you haven't told the listener who Stockwell Day is or where to find Regina." I have a link to the Montreal Gazette story on the script for today's program at the Communications World Web site. Go to the VOA home page, www dot voa dot gov, then click on Communications World. [Details of the RCI cuts, from the RCI Web site are at the bottom of this script. See also the RCI Action Committee site.] BBC World Service director Mark Byford was on the World Service Write On program last weekend to talk about his station's plans to cut shortwave to the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as of July first. The presenter asked the question that has been on the mind of many BBC listeners in the four affected countries. AUDIO KIM The BBC's decision to cut back on shortwave is now getting attention in the British press, including an article on May 26th in the Daily Telegraph. I have a link on the script. It is also getting the attention of British diplomatic missions. Shortwave listener Maryanne Kehoe said that an employee of the British Consulate in Atlanta, Georgia, told her that she has never seen anything like the amount of calls she has received from Americans concerned about the BBC's plans to drop shortwave. A thorough review of the BBC's decision, and reaction to it, has been compiled by Rich Cuff in his Easy Listening column for the North American Short Wave Association. I have a link to that, as well. And discussion from listeners, coming up later in this program. [See also BBC's explanation of the shortwave changes. And the Los Angeles Times on May 31 had a review of portable shortwave receivers which mentions the BBC's plans to drop shortwave to the United States.] CD: KIM: A third international broadcasting director was on the radio this past week, according to the Media Network Web site. Radio Netherlands director general Lodewijk Bouwens told Dutch domestic radio that his station remains committed to its shortwave audience. He said there are 800 million radios in the world capable of receiving shortwave, and that Radio Netherlands is actively involved in the development of digital shortwave broadcasting. Bosnia-Hercegovina could have a shortwave broadcast voice in the future, if a proposal from Radio Yugoslavia is pursued. Radio Yugoslavia's director Milena Jokic said that it would be more useful and cheaper if Bosnia joins in using the recently reactivated Radio Yugoslavia shortwave transmitting site near Bijeljina, in the Srpska Republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina. This according to the SRNA news agency in Bijeljina via BBC Monitoring. According the CTK News Agency in Prague, via BBC Monitoring, the Czech Council for Radio and TV Broadcasting has decided to monitor the Radio Free Europe Czech Service to ensure that it conforms with the Czech Republic's broadcast content regulations. The RSE [not RFE, because it's partly privatized] Czech Service is heard on medium wave in the Czech Republic. The head of the RSE Czech Service, Pavel Pechacek, told me the Council's decision to monitor the broadcasts reminds him of the media situation in the country before 1989. The U.S. actress and television personality Arlene Francis died Thursday in San Francisco. Most Americans know her as a regular panelist on the long-running television quiz show "What's My Line." I and some of you remember her as host of the weekend VOA program "New York, New York," in the 1970s. Miss Francis was 92. [See http://www.arlenefrancis.com, although it does not mention her work at VOA.] Segment B CD: KIM: This is Communications World on the Voice of America. I'm Kim Elliott in Washington. After July first, BBC World Service management expects listeners in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to switch from shortwave to Internet audio, if they wish to receive the complete "rich mix" of World Service programming throughout the day. But listening to audio via a personal computer lacks the portability and intimacy of shortwave. Appliances that would make Internet audio listening more like radio listening have been planned. These would fit on a bedside table or on a kitchen counter, like portable or clock radios do today. The most publicized and capitalized of these devices, the Kerbango Internet radio, was cancelled by 3Com Corporation in March, before it went to market. Most U.S. Internet users still do not have broadband Internet access, which would have been required for the Kerbango. Thus the indicators for Internet audio are negative, even as BBC World Service is requiring a transition to this medium. However, Penguin Radio, a Washington based company, continues with its plans to manufacture an Internet radio. Andrew Leyden, chief executive officer of Penguin Radio, came to the studio to tell me about his company's plans now that his competitor, Kerbango, is no more. AUDIO Andrew Leyden is chief executive officer of Penguin Radio. The Penguin Radio has a target price of 200 to 250 dollars. Information available at http://www.penguinradio.com. KIM: Segment C OMTAPE: CUT 9 (in full to :08 then open Kim's mic) KIM: I will try to return to general topics next week in this audience participation segment. But this week, the e-mails are again dominated by comments on the BBC's decision to end shortwave broadcasts to the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Krzysztof Rybus offers a perspective from Poland, where both BBC and VOA in Polish are no longer available by shortwave or transborder medium wave. TALENT: When I prefer shortwave, it's not about "romantics listening to the radio," to cite VOA Director Sandy Ungar. It's about the accessibility of the service in question. Take, for example, me, a longtime BBC Polish Service listener, in Warsaw, Poland: I am cut off for months from BBC Polish because it is broadcast only via FM stations elsewhere in Poland, but not in Warsaw, the capital! My disconnection is also due to high cost of local telephone connections in Poland, to access the Internet. The BBC managed finally to attain the result dreamed of by communists when they used their jamming facilities: Now I am finally cut off from the BBC Polish Service. The similar situation is barely avoided with the 15-minute VOA Polish broadcast, only due to the MP3 download possibility offered by VOA. As a user of a fast Internet connection in my workplace, I can download the program and listen to it in my car while driving home. KIM: Two weeks ago, after reporting on the BBC decision, I was taken to task by some listeners for not mentioning that VOA eliminated shortwave broadcasts to western Europe years ago. Paul Kocsis in Kecskemet, in the middle part of Hungary, points out that VOA does have English medium wave transmissions which are audible, at least in his part of Europe. These are on 1197 and 792 kilohertz via VOA's own relay transmitters, and on 1233 via Czech Radio 6. Going down under now. Chris Wright in Christchurch, New Zealand, says that the closest BBC rebroadcasters are 600 kilometers away from him. And he says his computer platform cannot handle RealAudio, only streaming mp3. What computer platform would that be, Chris? The free version of RealAudio player is available for Windows, Mac, and UNIX. Barry Hartley lives in Auckland, New Zealand, where a local five kilowatt medium wave outlet relays BBC World Service 24 hours a day. There's a twist, though, according to Barry. Each hour long block is delayed by two minutes at the top of the hour to make room for advertisements. Then the 60 minutes is sped up and compressed into 58 minutes, and the pitch changed, so that everything sounds normal. Barry says that, believe or not, it actually works. As for the Internet, Barry says it costs him only 11 dollars U.S. per month for unlimited access, so it's cheap. But he finds listening to BBC online tedious compared to the radio. Barry adds that, outside of Auckland, only a few BBC programs are available via the public broadcaster Radio New Zealand. Paul Nelson writes from in Denmark, not the country, but the town, in West Australia, which is in the outback. He says that with the recent scaling back of many Australian Broadcasting Corporations services, he will miss any loss of BBC on shortwave. Yes, BBC may be available on FM in Australia, but, says Paul, "who can pick up FM out here?" In an e-mail with the subject "musings on shortwave," Rajiv Thind in Jalandhar City, India, takes inventory of recent setbacks for shortwave: the closure of the U.S. relay at Playa de Pals, Spain; Swiss Radio International's plans to leave shortwave completely; Radio Netherlands Media Network switching from shortwave to the Internet; Radio Australia off the air and back only to a limited extent via Darwin; Vatican Radio's shortwave under fire because of electrosmog accustations; Radio Canada International's program cuts; and now the BBC decision. Rajiv continues... RAVI: Shortwave radio is the best way of accessing the voices of the tiniest countries, and knowing about their culture. I have managed to receive signals from North Korea, Vietnam, Armenia , Slovakia , Slovenia , Uzbekistan, New Zealand, Swaziland, Kuwait, South Africa , Mongolia , Taiwan, Singapore, and many others. A guy from the USA mentioned that he would miss listening to BBC while fishing. Many people cannot understand this sentiment ,and thus undermine short wave broadcasting. Here in India, BBC can be received almost 24 hours a day on a variety of short wave frequencies. It is tiring to come across repeat transmissions of many programmes. Why doesn't BBC cuts transmissions here, save the money, and give North America and the Pacific their fair share? KIM: Now we hear from two listeners in the United States. Vincent Ponzio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is particularly dismayed by the BBC decision. He writes that he has been pounding Bush House with nasty but, he hastens to add, clean and tasteful e-mails. He says that in the Pittsburgh area, there was an AM station that relays World Service and World Radio Network, but now carries the programming of Radio Disney, which is aimed at children. Mark Henning in Buffalo, New York, writes: TALENT: All the arguments are good for removing the BBC World Service from short-wave to North American, Australia, and New Zealand. But the persons in charge at Bush House are missing an important element. As one who travels often around the United States, I find that a portable radio in a hotel will get the BBC news in every location. As I travel, I don't get the BBC on local FM or AM stations except in a few large cities. Living near Buffalo, New York, I can receive the BBC World Service on our local public radio station WNED-AM, but only overnight. KIM: An American who sees logic in the BBC decision is Don Forsling, a broadcaster at public radio station WOI, at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The AM outlet of WOI, on 640 kilohertz, carries BBC World Service from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. local time weekdays. In the rec.radio.shortwave newsgroup, Mr. Forsling wrote... TALENT: Operating as we must, with a directional array and reduced power at night, we don't cover even an entire state. Nonetheless, I strongly suspect that more people hear the BBC on WOI in a week than hear it in the entire state in two months on SW. When have I ever run across anyone but a fellow hobbyist who has listened to the BBC on shortwave during the last ten years? Never. Not once. KIM: Please write with your questions, suggestions, and observations about the media scene. My address is Communications World, Voice of America, Washington, D.C. 20237 USA. The postal code again is 20237. E-mail to c-w at v-o-a dot g-o-v. That's c-w for Communications World, at v-o-a for Voice of America, dot g-o-v for government. And please visit the Communications World web site. You can get there by way of the VOA home page, w-w-w dot v-o-a dot g-o-v. There you can find the script for this and previous programs. The updated Communications World schedule. And links to the program in RealAudio format. Thanks for listening. I'm Kim Elliott. Please join me again next week for Communications World. This is VOA, the Voice of America. Details of changes from the RCI Web site: Radio Canada International has modified its programming schedule Due to the current budgetary situation, Radio Canada International has modified its programming schedule as described below: RCI will: continue daily broadcasts in 7 languages. Tighten and concentrate its broadcasting day. Schedule production activities only during the week.
SCHEDULE OF CHANGES
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