::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: SWEDEN CALLING DXERS :: :: from Radio Sweden :: :: Number 2123--Jan. 8, 1991 :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Shortwave and other electronic media news from Radio Sweden. This week's bulletin was written by George Wood. Packet Radio BID SCDX2123 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a very special edition of Sweden Calling DXers, looking back at the major radio and TV news and developments of 1990, and taking a look into the future. The year saw many changes, especially in Eastern Europe, and because of the crisis in the Gulf. Satellite radio and TV took a step forward in Europe, as well. CANADA--The year also almost saw the disappearance of Radio Canada International. The Canadian government forced major cutbacks on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and in November the CBC board was considering dropping the external service RCI completely. At the 11th hour the Canadian parliament stepped in and promised to fund an external service itself. But no one knows what that future Radio Canada International will look like. EASTERN EUROPE--Meanwhile, following the dramatic events of 1989, Eastern European radio was undergoing major changes in 1990. The first commercial music station in the Soviet Union, Europe-Plus-Moscow was inaugurated in June. A Soviet-French joint venture, it broadcasts on FM and medium wave to the Moscow area. Besides a number of new private stations, there are also a growing number of pirate broadcasters in the USSR. Most of them use frequencies around 1700 kHz, just above the medium wave band. On the other hand, opponents of glasnost in the Soviet Union have started their own stations, especially in the nationalistic Baltic republics. A pro- union station called Soviet Lithuania appeared on medium wave in June. Anti- independence supporters in Estonia have a station called Radio Hope, which operates from a military base near Tallinn. There have been many changes in the former Socialist republics of Eastern Europe. In Poland, a number of private stations have appeared, and the home service has been reorganized, adding 12 hours a day of regional programs. In April, Radio Bucharest changed its name to Radio Romania International. Later in the year, Romanian domestic radio reorganized. A new FM youth service was added, along with a special service for tourists, and a multi- lingual FM station in Bucharest itself. Several semi-official stations have also gone on the air. In Czechoslavakia, listeners have been able to hear live broadcasts of Catholic religious services. 49 non-governmental organizations have applied for private radio licenses. Radio Bridge, the first privately owned English language commercial station in Eastern Europe, went on the air in Hungary in March. In June Hungarian Radio's commercial program, Radio Danubius, switched from mainly German broadcasts to 24 hours a day in Hungarian. At the same time, a new joint program in German from Radio Danubius and Antenna Austria went on the air. French companies were instrumental in setting up private stations in several countries, including Czechoslavakia, Poland, and Romania. Meanwhile, Western broadcasters are now being relayed in many Eastern European countries. Polish Radio now carries an hour of the BBC Polish service and 15 minutes from Vatican Radio daily. Voice of America programs in Polish and English are also being relayed, as is Radio France International. Radio Canada International is now being broadcast locally in Poland, Czechoslavakia, and Hungary. The BBC World Service and Radio France International have also been given permission to broadcast in Czechoslavakia. A major symbol of the Cold War, Radio Free Europe ended its shortwave broadcasts in Czech and Slovak in October, and is now broadcasting over medium wave transmitters within Czechoslovakia. Radio Berlin International disappeared from the airwaves when the two Germanies reunited on October 3rd. RBI's frequenices were taken over by Deutsche Welle, who also took over 21 of the 250 people on the staff at Radio Berlin. RBI's last English broadcast ended with the song "The End" by the Doors. THE GULF--Another station that disappeared during 1990 was Radio Kuwait. The year's biggest news story was the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Radio Kuwait vanished from the air, and Iraq took over the Kuwaiti transmitters for its own radio services. Paralleling the political and military reaction to the Iraqi occupation, there were major changes in broadcasting to and within the Middle East. Many countries added or expanded programming in Arabic, and reorganized their services to add broadcasts to their own citizens being held hostage by the Iraqis. When American soldiers arrived in the Saudi desert, Radio Baghdad found a new target group. Radio Baghdad's Voice of Peace has been dubbed Baghdad Betty by the American soldiers in Saudi Arabia. They also received their own American Forces station, who's opening broadcast was inspired by Robin William's performance in the film "Good Morning Vietnam". The Desert Shield network has had an effect on conservative Saudi Arabia. Information is tightly controlled in the country, where censors tear offending pages from foreign newspapers before they go on sale. While Desert Shield's own programs are tailored to avoid offending local susceptibilities, other programs are broadcast directly from the United States 14 hours a day, and reflect a liberal society far different from Saudi Arabia. CABLE AND SATELLITE-TV--I was away from Sweden for the first half of 1990, and when I returned I discovered that cable television had brought 20 new channels into my living room. A survey during the year indicated that satellite television in Europe doubled its viewership from the year before, mainly because of the expansion of cable networks in Germany and Sweden. 1990 was a good year for European satellite television. The French and German high-powered satellites TDF-2 and DFS Kopernikus-2 were launched in July, while in September Sweden's TV4 began broadcasts from the Tele-X direct broadcast satellite. But 1990 also saw what may be the beginning of the end of the direct broadcast satellites, which carry only three or four channels to be aimed at one country. They have been technically superceded by medium-powered satellites offering 12 or more channels to all of Europe. The first of this new generation from Eutelsat was launched in late August. A second is planned for launch later this month. Eutelsat is run by Western Europe's public telecommunications companies, but it will have a hard time competing with Luxembourg's private Astra. The first Astra satellite has been offering Europeans 16 TV channels. Astra 1-B is due to be launched in February. It will be positioned right next to the first satellite, and will provide 16 more channels to the owners of Astra receivers and antennas, which are inexpensive since they are aimed at just one spot in the sky. Astra has ordered a third satellite with another 16 channels to be launched in January 1993, and a fourth satellite capable of carrying high definition television in 1994. The biggest satellite news of the year was the merger between Sky Television, a major user of Astra, and British Satellite Broadcasting, which had relied on the direct broadcast satellite Marco Polo. The combined British Sky Broadcasting service, with five channels, will continue on Astra, which probably means the end for Marco Polo. Since France has cancelled its plans to build a new direct broadcast satellite, it seems the days of the DBS are numbered. SATELLITE-RADIO--Astra is also a radio pioneer, with many interesting radio stations, both new and old international broadcasters. There are music stations, such as Sky Radio, Radioropa, Radio Luxembourg, and Holland's Radio Tien. But Astra is also the new home for Deutsche Welle and Deutschlandfunk, two stations with long histories on short and medium wave. In December studio 4 at Broadcast House here in Stockholm was the was the scene of a very interesting evening sponsored by the Swedish section of Deutschlandfunk, devoted to satellite radio. Besides presenting some of the variety of satellite stations to the studio audience, there was also a panel discussion, including representatives of two major Swedish cable operators, Telecom and Stjaern-TV, and a live broadcast on DLF. Uwe Schoop, head of the Swedish Service at Deutschlandfunk, has a plan similar to something we've discussed here at Radio Sweden, which he calls time-sharing. What would happen is that several international broadcasters would book a series of satellite radio channels, one for English, one for French, one for German, etc. Then they would take turns, and cable operators in Britain, for example, could offer one channel with alternating programs, say from Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and so on. DIGITAL RADIO--Next on the radio horizon is digital radio. Japan is about to launch the world's first nationwide digital radio system. The broadcasts will use pulse code modulation, or PCM, matching the quality of compact disks, and free from the usual radio hissing noises. Tests have already been carried out via satellite, and full services are scheduled to begin in April. There are to be around 18 much such stations. A digital radio system called Eureka 147 DAB has been tested in Canada. American local stations are interested in the system, as is the Voice of America, which would like to transmit digital radio via satellite. The American government hopes that the 1992 World Radio Administrative Conference will allocate frequencies for direct satellite digital radio. Swedish Radio would also like to start a digital service, which could go on the air as early as 1996. However, Swedish Radio says it needs to use the currently unused section of the FM band between 104 and 108 MHz for digital transmissions. This seems to be an attempt by Swedish Radio to keep new private radio stations off those frequencies. Since digital radio would mean new receivers anyway, there's no reason why the current FM band should be wasted on digital transmissions. HDTV--The future of television is HDTV, High Definition Television, which has been mainly developed by Japan. Both Europe and the United States are working on alternative HDTV systems, which means the future may see three international systems, all incompatible with each other. HDTV was impressively demonstrated recently at the Vision 90 exhibition here in Stockholm. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweden Calling DXers is the world's oldest radio program for shortwave listeners. Radio Sweden has presented this round-up of radio news, features, and interviews since 1948. The program is now broadcast on the first and third Tuesday of each month. RS broadcasts to North America: 15:30 hrs on 17875 and 21500 kHz 02:00 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz 03:30 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz To Latin America: 23:30 hrs on 9695 and 11705 kHz To Europe, Africa, and the Middle East: 18:00 hrs on 1179, 6065, 9655, and 15270 kHz 19:30 hrs on 6065 and 7265 kHz 22:00 hrs on 1179 and 6065 kHz 23:30 hrs on 1179 kHz 01:00 hrs on 1179 kHz And to Asia and the Pacific: 12:30 hrs on 9765, 17740, and 21570 kHz 14:00 hrs on 9765 and 21610 kHz 01:00 hrs on 9770 kHz The Radio Sweden schedule to Europe in Swedish, English, German, French, and Spanish can be found on EuroSport (on cable and on the Astra and Eutelsat I- F4 satellites) Tele-Text page 496. Contributions can be sent to DX Editor George Wood to Swedish telex 11738, CompuServe (via the HamNet Forum or Easyplex 70247,3516), through the FidoNet system to 2:202/297 or to SM0IIN at the packet radio BBS SM0ETV. Reports can also be sent to: Radio Sweden S-105 10 Stockholm Sweden Contributions should be NEWS about electronic media--from shortwave to satellites--and not loggings of information already available from sources such as the "World Radio TV Handbook". Clubs and DX publications may reprint material as long as Sweden Calling DXers and the original contributor are acknowledged, with the exception of items from BBC Monitoring, which are copyright. We welcome comments and suggestions about the electronic edition, Sweden Calling DXers, and our programs in general. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to this week's contributors Good Listening!