The three main unions representing BBC staff have been meeting today to discuss their response to an offer tabled by the BBC after all-night talks four days ago in a bid to end strike action over planned cuts and privatisation.
The unions say that although the offer contained concessions sufficient to justify consultative ballots in [...]
Posts from ‘May, 2005’
BBC unions call for further meeting with Director-General
New human rights radio station launches in St Petersburg
The St Petersburg Times reports that Free Voice, a new radio station in St Petersburg, Russia, focusing on human rights issues, was officially launched on Monday. The station broadcasts for one hour a day at 2100-2200 UTC on mediumwave 684 KHz. Archived radio programmes can be found, with a few days’ delay, on the station’s [...]
BBC gears up for coverage of Live 8 concert on 2 July
A who’s who of popular music including Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna and Prince are scheduled to perform on 2 July in a massive successor concert to the Live Aid charity event of 1985. The event was officially announced today in London by Irish pop star-turned development activist Sir Bob Geldof.
Although the [...]
FPC calls on UK and EU to fund pan-African TV channel
The Foreign Policy Centre (FPC), a European think tank launched under the patronage of British Prime Minister Tony Blair to develop a vision of a fair and rule-based world, today called on the UK and the EU to fund an ‘Al Jazeera for Africa’. A new pamphlet by Philip Fiske de Gouveia, director of the [...]
Univision Radio launches ‘La Kalle 105.9/92.7FM’ in New York
Univision Radio, the largest Spanish-language radio broadcaster in the United States, has launched “La Kalle 105.9/92.7 FM,” a new youth-targeted Spanish-language radio station that will cater to New York Hispanics in the highly sought-after 18-34 demographic.
La Kalle’s high-energy format will primarily feature Reggaeton and Latin Hip-Hop music. Reggaeton, a relatively new genre of dance [...]
Premiere to launch Turkish, Italian and Russian programmes
On September 1, German satellite broadcaster Premiere will launch a range of attractive subscription packages with foreign-language TV programming under the umbrella brand Premier International. In addition to Premiere’s standard programming, subscribers will be able to receive eight Turkish, four Italian and five Russian channels via satellite that are particularly popular in their countries of [...]
Educational Service of Afghanistan gets own radio and TV frequencies
Afghan broadcasting authorities have just reserved a TV and a radio FM frequency for Educational Radio and Television service to open a dedicated channel specialized in educational broadcasting. This concession was facilitated by UNESCO in the framework of a $2.5 million project funded by the Government of Italy for the upgrade and rehabilitation of distance [...]
Zimbabwe’s SW Radio Africa in crisis
Nick Grace writes: SW Radio Africa is in crisis, station founder Gerry Jackson tells Clandestine Radio Watch in this week’s edition of Global Crisis Watch. The lack of international funding is leading to the closure of the station’s shortwave frequencies on Tuesday 31 May. SW Radio Africa’s situation, she said, “is very dire at the [...]
Big L - Radio London off the air for a few hours
There seems to have been another technical problem today at the Dutch mediumwave transmitter on 1395 kHz which carries the programmes of Big L - Radio London. The transmitter was off the air for a few hours prior to scheduled closing at 1800 UTC. However, it was back on the air as normal at 2100 [...]
Lifetime licences for UK amateur radio users proposed
UK media regulator Ofcom has announced proposals to reduce the regulatory burden for amateur radio users by replacing the current paper-based system of licensing, renewed annually, with a new, low-cost electronic licence for life.
Ofcom is not proposing to remove the need for amateur radio users to hold a Wireless Telegraphy Act licence. Nor will [...]
Sales of shortwave radios up 50 percent in Burma
Reports from Burma indicate a big rise in sales of shortwave radios since the bomb blasts that rocked the country’s capital, Rangoon, earlier this month. The newspaper Kumudra says that sales have increased by 50 percent. The cheapest shortwave radios cost just US$4. There is no private broadcasting in Burma, and state-controlled media is not [...]
Extra $7.7 million allocated to fund US broadcasts to MidEast
Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives:
May 27, 2005
Dear Mr. Speaker:
I am notifying the Congress of my intent to reallocate funds previously transferred from the Emergency Response Fund (ERF).
To promote democracy and freedom, $7.7 million of ERF funds will be reallocated within the [...]
VOA’s Internet site scores high in user satisfaction
VOANews.com, the Voice of America’s (VOA) Internet site, ranks as high in user satisfaction as those of several leading US news organizations, according to a survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Survey (ACSI). ACSI’s baseline score for VOANews.com was 73 for mid-March through April 24. That ranks favorably compared to ABCNews.com (74), MSNBC.com (74), CNN.com [...]
UBM aims to sell Channel Five stake to RTL -paper
United Business Media is preparing to sell its 35 percent stake in UK broadcaster Channel Five to RTL Group for around 200 million pounds ($365.6 million), the Sunday Express reported. The newspaper said advisers for UBM and RTL, which owns the other 65 percent of Channel Five, were holding discussions. If a price was agreed, [...]
New series of DRM tests from Hörby, Sweden
A new series of tests in DRM mode from from Hörby in Sweden begins today. The power used is just 1kW. Tests are schedule as follows:
Monday 30 May – Friday 3 June
Monday 6 June – Friday 10 June
Monday 13 June – Friday 17 June
0800–1200 UTC on 5910kHz LP Antenna (30º) Directed towards Stockholm.
1630–1900 UTC on [...]
