VOA/USAGM Cutbacks & A Shutdown

[SomeRadioGuy]

VOA and it's parent organization the USAGM has been quietly eliminating some stuff in the last month.

gone is the 15690 of R. Farda from Biblis.
Also gone is the VOA in French on 9885 at 0430 is gone.

And reportedly, the Sao Tome & Principe site has been shut down in entirely. No word on if any of those broadcasts have moved elsewhere, but one casualty is the high powered 1530khz broadcast of the VOA that isn't going to be moving elsewhere, as far as I know.

 

[bigdonho]

The twits at the USAGM (and Industrial Magic) have been shutting down relay stations for years. The only active one left in the US is the Greenville NC B site. After all, everyone in the world has high speed Internet (which any government can block) or satellite TV. The first thing the State Department asks when something goes south in the world is "Where are the aircraft carriers?" The second thing they ask is "What kind of shortwave can you put into the area?"

The shortwave station in Rota Spain, which put a first rate signal into Pakistan, Afghanistan and the other "Icky-stans", shut down just before 911.

Maintaining these relay stations is just a cost of doing business and loose change in the sofa of the Federal budget.

 

[Mediafrog+]

And reportedly, the Sao Tome & Principe site has been shut down in entirely.

Supposedly July 27 was the last day of operation for the São Tomé site.

The Tinian site is apparently still going, but with a greatly reduced schedule ahead of its impending closure. No word if that shutdown plan includes the transmitters on nearby Saipan.

The fate of the Botswana site is still unknown.

Supposedly more info about all these cutbacks will be released in the near future, but I suspect we won’t know the full extent until the B-24 schedules go into effect on October 27.

 

[Mediafrog+]

After all, everyone in the world has high speed Internet (which any government can block) or satellite TV.

But how many people still have shortwave radios? You can’t assume that media consumption is the same as decades ago.

In many Third World countries the number of smartphones far exceeds that of radios.

You are likely “fighting the last war” with very few exceptions.

The shortwave station in Rota Spain, which put a first rate signal into Pakistan, Afghanistan and the other "Icky-stans", shut down just before 911.

You are thinking of the Playa de Pals facility which was used for Radio Liberty broadcasts to the Soviet Union.

Maintaining these relay stations is just a cost of doing business and loose change in the sofa of the Federal budget.

They are a waste of money if there is little to no audience.

I’ve been a shortwave listener for almost 60 years, but I understand the reasons for the platform’s demise.

 

[davideduardo]

The twits at the USAGM (and Industrial Magic) have been shutting down relay stations for years. The only active one left in the US is the Greenville NC B site. After all, everyone in the world has high speed Internet (which any government can block) or satellite TV. The first thing the State Department asks when something goes south in the world is "Where are the aircraft carriers?" The second thing they ask is "What kind of shortwave can you put into the area?"

The problem is that next to nobody has a SW radio today.

A few months ago… to answer another discussion… I asked my daughter in Ecuador to check the major retailers to see if they sold any kind of short wave radio. None of them did.

60 years ago, the tropical bands were full of local service SW stations. I even owned one once (but turned in the license). Today, everyone listens to FM or streams on their phone.

The shortwave station in Rota Spain, which put a first rate signal into Pakistan, Afghanistan and the other "Icky-stans", shut down just before 911.

Probably because they knew that nobody in those nations had receivers.

Maintaining these relay stations is just a cost of doing business and loose change in the sofa of the Federal budget.

But totally unnecessary.

 

[boombox4]

VOA is a projection of 'soft power' (a.k.a. propaganda) where it doesn't take a significant number of consumers to influence a country or society. Even a small number of people can influence governments. There have been products (like books) removed from stores due to a very small number of complaints. Sometimes all it takes is a few people to influence changes, politically. 'Soft power' works similarly.

It's why CRI broadcasts to the EU and why RT had a radio station broadcasting its programming in or near DC. it's the same reason China ran full page, paid ads (feature stories on China -- not too dissimilar to what one can hear on China Radio International) in the NY Times in the 2010's. Not many people in the US were reading the NY Times print edition at the time, statistically, but the Chinese government understands 'soft power', and with 'soft power' there isn't always an easily discerned return of investment.

As for radio sales, they don't have to be sold in stores. Even in third world countries, people shop online. Latin America, for example, had $270 Billion in e-commerce last year, and Mexico and Brazil's online retail sales are apparently growing in double digits annually. Not that they're all buying radios, but the fact that there are no radios in stores doesn't mean there are none being bought.

And, either way, chances are probably pretty high that the SW radio audience for VOA is larger than the online audience for their broadcasts. Who in Mali, for example, is going to stream VOA instead of an African music and news streaming channel, or station? If VOA has FM outlets in the area, they may be listening to those.

 

[bigdonho]

After the devastating earthquake in Haiti a number of years ago, the International Broadcasting Bureau (it was still IBB back then) used Radio Marti's shortwave and medium wave to send life saving health and safety information to that country. When Russia invaded Ukraine both the BBC and VOA had to scramble to find shortwave and medium wave outlets to Ukraine.

Once these relay station are gone, they are gone. The investment to build them is huge. The cost of keeping them operating, not so much.

 

[Kelly A]

And, either way, chances are probably pretty high that the SW radio audience for VOA is larger than the online audience for their broadcasts. Who in Mali, for example, is going to stream VOA instead of an African music and news streaming channel, or station? If VOA has FM outlets in the area, they may be listening to those.

I agree and at the same time, disagree with the statement. It comes down to a matter of context.
There are parts of the world where the general population is in the grip of hearing purely government forms of media that do not attempt to hear other outside sources. North Korea, comes to mind. With that reality, beaming some SW signal with .1mV/m coverage only at night over that region likely has no tangible impact. Anyone in those regions interested in outside media, traditional or social, will find access to the public Internet long before they would hang up a several hundred-foot long-wire antenna, let alone have a working SW receiver.
Along those same lines; older folks who have never had access to the public Internet or other forms of media, might still remember having to use SW or MW to get information from the outside, but likely those numbers have diminished purely due to age. The question there is how long does a foreign government like the U.S. pay hundreds of millions a year to provide news and what could be considered propaganda broadcasts to a diminished, or nonexistent population?

 

[JJSPC]

If a tree falls in the forest and no one has a shortwave radio to hear it...

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

If a tree falls in the forest and no one has a shortwave radio to hear it...

One than me and the intended listeners, i suspect few knew some of this was gone... i "spotted" (as it were, didnt hear) the 9885 and 15690 eliminations after 2 days of not hearing them, when the yhad been regular

 

[boombox4]

If a tree falls in the forest and no one has a shortwave radio to hear it...

That premise can also apply to internet media. There are only so many sites, social media threads, channels, etc. a consumer in any country can take in during a day. A lot of websites and channels have very, very few views or clicks. There are probably millions of websites that see maybe a handful of visits a month, or year. Lost in the vast internet static...

Point taken, though. SW, and radio tech in general, is old tech, and diminishing in importance.... In fact, it's 'ancient', probably by modern standards.

Even FM is almost 90 year old technology. When it was first introduced in the 1930's, airplanes were all propeller, rockets were experimental, transoceanic travel was via ocean liner, and most railroads were steam engine powered. In a way, it's amazing that FM has held up as long as it has.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Supposedly July 27 was the last day of operation for the São Tomé site.

The Tinian site is apparently still going, but with a greatly reduced schedule ahead of its impending closure. No word if that shutdown plan includes the transmitters on nearby Saipan.

The fate of the Botswana site is still unknown.

Supposedly more info about all these cutbacks will be released in the near future, but I suspect we won’t know the full extent until the B-24 schedules go into effect on October 27.

Update: The USAGM frequency and schedule registrations with the HFCC have been updated, and the Tinian and Saipan transmissions are now gone, along with those from São Tomé…so additional site closures. Some broadcasts have been moved elsewhere. Botswana facility still going.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Update: The USAGM frequency and schedule registrations with the HFCC have been updated, and the Tinian and Saipan transmissions are now gone, along with those from São Tomé…so additional site closures. Some broadcasts have been moved elsewhere. Botswana facility still going.

And what is labeled as 15460 zimbabewan to Zimbabewe via STP has mvoed somewhere else... HFCC data says "sna".. not sure what that language is, via Thailand... but its been english when ive heard it

 

[Mediafrog+]

More info: Voice of America station in CNMI announces closure

 

[KeithE4]

Point taken, though. SW, and radio tech in general, is old tech, and diminishing in importance.... In fact, it's 'ancient', probably by modern standards.

Even FM is almost 90 year old technology. When it was first introduced in the 1930's, airplanes were all propeller, rockets were experimental, transoceanic travel was via ocean liner, and most railroads were steam engine powered. In a way, it's amazing that FM has held up as long as it has.

And television was ending its Nipkow Disk-era, with electronic TV in development in the mid 1930s. But FM, at least on frequencies above 30 MHz, is still better for broadcasting than any other analog mode. That was proven in the 1940s, and is not going to change anytime soon.

 

[boombox4]

And television was ending its Nipkow Disk-era, with electronic TV in development in the mid 1930s. But FM, at least on frequencies above 30 MHz, is still better for broadcasting than any other analog mode. That was proven in the 1940s, and is not going to change anytime soon.

Yeah, I give it maybe another 20 years. The problem won't necessarily be the quality issue, it will be the receiver issue. As more people replace FM car listening with bluetoothing their stream off their phone, FM will also go away. The FM band will sound much like the 2 Meter band does now most of the time -- hiss.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Another article: VOA Is Shuttering Its Marianas Shortwave Site - Radio World

 

[Mediafrog+]

Thread bump: With Trump 2.0 gearing up to have Elon Musk oversee up to $2T in government spending cuts, could that spell the end for what is left of USAGM programming (VOA, Radio Free Asia, etc) especially on shortwave? I can easily see Musk deciding that SW is obsolete, ineffective technology, and that newer tech platforms such as his own Starlink are the future for international content distribution.

I somewhat doubt USAGM would be completely shut down, but I think its SW output is now on even shorter borrowed time.

Side note: Trump wanted to close WWV during his first administration, but was overridden by Congress.

 

[TheBigA]

I somewhat doubt USAGM would be completely shut down, but I think it’s SW output is now on even shorter borrowed time.

Under the first administration, he transformed VOA into more of a US-PR agency, rather than a news service.

Voice of America, affiliates in turmoil as controversial Trump pick takes over, clears house

Voice of America and other U.S. government-funded media outlets have been hit by waves of turmoil, uncertainty, and attacks since Michael Pack started his job.

abcnews.go.com