Operational costs and aging equipment given as reasons: https://twr.org/story/transition-for-twrs-guam-station
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Trans World Radio to close KTWR
- Thread starter Mediafrog+
- Start date
Is there another link? My virus protection keeps on saying it's an unsecure site. Just not worth the risk.
The site got flagged on my old iPad Air2, but came up okay on my current iPhone. Security certificate issue, perhaps.
Cut and paste of the relevant part (essentially a press release, so assume okay for fair use):
“As valuable as the Guam station has been to TWR’s ministry, we have faced many challenges there in recent years, from the high cost of living on the island to the unsustainable workload for overstretched staff members to the continual toll on equipment. Another pressing concern involves our aging transmitters, which are becoming more susceptible to unforeseen, catastrophic failures. We don’t believe raising the funds to replace this costly equipment would be wise stewardship of resources needed in other areas of ministry.
After months of intense prayer, study and discussion, TWR’s global leadership unanimously decided to wind down operations and end broadcasts on Guam by Oct. 31, 2025. It's important to emphasize two vital points regarding this tough but necessary course of action.
The decision to end TWR’s shortwave broadcasting from Guam was made to maintain operational sustainability, not to change ministry objectives in any way.
TWR is not abandoning its listeners in Asia, many of whom depend on the biblical programming for evangelism, encouragement and discipling. We have initiated processes to transition 100% of shortwave programming to other outlets in the region, such as ministry friends Reach Beyond Australia and Far East Broadcasting Co. (FEBC) as well as commercial providers. We’ll also explore other platforms, including FM and AM broadcasting and digital streaming. Listeners will be advised about where they’ll be able to find our programs well before the transition takes place.”
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Translation: we can't put up the cost of new transmitters because so few people today listen to shortwave any longer. We will try to get our message out in other, more effective and cheaper ways.
It sounds like TWR will lease time on other religious shortwave stations as well as commercial shortwave time brokered operations. Probably also got tired of dealing with damage from typhoons.
This is rather the opposite of what Adventist World Radio did recently with its shortwave output. AWR dumped most of its lease agreements and moved programming to the KSDA SW operation, also on Guam. There are still a few programs transmitted from Germany and Madagascar.
TWR still has its own shortwave operation in Eswatini (the former Swaziland) but anyone’s guess as to the future of that facility.
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It can sound kinda shifty at times.. nowhere near as bad as cuba, cairo or iran.. most of the time. 13800 usually sounds ok, has some kinda noise in the background but nothing too distracting. i think they also have 9655 from there.. and thats often under modulated like Cuba or close to it. 13800 at 1800 utc can regularly pile drive in here
That beam on 13800 is aimed at East Africa. If you follow the signal path from Eswatini you find it is aimed straight at you in Alaska. Beam goes near the North Pole ~85 degrees N and comes into McGrath from the NNW, a distance of around 9,900 miles.
Straight trans-equatorial path over the Atlantic for me in Houston, but due to the quirks of geography the signal distance is only 700 miles less, despite McGrath being 3,500 miles from my location.
WWCR closed one of its four transmitters at the beginning of this year. Airtime bookings reportedly down.
If the Overcomer cult decides to discontinue shortwave as a distribution platform, it could be a fatal blow to several U.S. private SW broadcasters.
What’s Overcomer? Never heard of it.
I’m amazed the Overcomer broadcasts are still going on shortwave. You would have thought the organization would have fizzled out after Stair’s death four years ago. It may eventually do so, but for now it appears there are plenty of fools willing to throw money at buying broadcast time.
Stair used to broadcast from a communal farm in South Carolina. He lived there in relative isolation with around 100 followers, growing their own food, building their own homes, and raising livestock (photos). He spent decades on AM, FM, international shortwave, and on various Ku-band FTA satellites throughout the world, insisting he was god's final prophet and that the world would end a handful of years following his death. Today, his farm still exists and the community is still living there. And the reason they're still buying gallons of airtime is because they still consider Stair "current." I.e., they're in a literal holding pattern now, waiting for the world to end.
There is a decent-sized Reddit thread about his farm and radio operation here:
Stair's daughter actually showed up in it, which was surprising. She wrote that while nobody was closer to him than she was, she considered the farm a cult, one that "absolutely" left her with an abnormal and unhappy childhood. Among other complaints.
It's not like fire-and-brimstone-the-end-is-nigh preachers aren't all over YouTube.
Yes, I know not everyone has access to the internet or computers, but it would be free to post one's sermons there and it would seem to be vastly more cost-effective than buying airtime on shortwave to pump out thousands of watts to an audience of dozens.
I’ve had the thought that in the not too distant future I will be tuning across the shortwave spectrum, finding it almost completely empty as broadcasters (and other services) have abandoned the platform. The stretches of silence will only be interrupted by a few frequencies where the by then long dead Brother Stair will still be ranting…and ranting…and ranting…and ranting…and ranting…………🤢🤮
I chuckle and then get a little frustrated when some complain about Stair or religion in general on SW, and won't understand that its that stuff thats keeping SW alive.. and affordable for the rest of us to buy time. If it werent for religion, I'd guarentee WRMI ($60/hr rate card rate) and WBCQ ($25 to $50)would charge double what they do. Places like Bulgaria are one of the lesser expensive of the bigger powered sites and they'd move into the two expensive if they had to raise rates. Wooferton, Issoudun are kinda expensive as is.
Say buh bye to hobbyist shows if religion leaves SW.
I have spent way way too much on SW out of my own pocket in the last decade just because I literally wanted to have fun and play music on SW, all the while every kvetches about what should be done but wont put their money where their mouth is
Say buh bye to hobbyist shows if religion leaves SW.
I have spent way way too much on SW out of my own pocket in the last decade just because I literally wanted to have fun and play music on SW, all the while every kvetches about what should be done but wont put their money where their mouth is
Good points. The religious shows on WRMI, WWCR, et al are what commercials are to music radio. And what commercials / ads are on YT -- they pay for the ability of the stations (or platform, in the case of YT) to have programming you want to hear
if Stair and his ilk are what is “keeping shortwave alive” perhaps it needs to die.
This is like the owner of an apartment complex renting out most of its units to the sketchiest of people, with the argument that it allows them to have a few units for nice, decent families.
These stations are barely scraping by. They likely need to increase their rates to cover operational costs and turn a reasonable profit. If clients “can’t afford it” they have failed business model.
Woofferton and Issoudun are serious, professional operations catering to serious, professional broadcasters.
When “hobbyist” shows are all that’s left on SW, then the medium is dead.
I was going to type a longer response, but the supposed news on another thread about the Overcomer cult possibly ending radio broadcasts could be a huge game changer. Let’s see if that turns out to be true.