The chairman of the board of Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP), Guilherme Costa, said on Tuesday that the company has “every reason” to suspend the shortwave transmissions of RDP Internacional. Mr Costa, quoted by the Lusa news agency, said such a platform is obsolete from the technical point of view, is generally poor quality in terms of reception, and is expensive, adding that discussions about shortwave began within the organisation in May 2009.
He said that RDP had received 190 messages on the suspension of shortwave broadcasts, and more than half came via email from people who can listen to broadcasts on the Internet. RTP announced in May that it would temporarily suspend the shortwave broadcasts of RDP Internacional from 1 June, citing the low number of listeners and the need to reduce costs.
(Source: tvi24)
on Aug 31st, 2011 at 21:39
Similar cuts are affecting part of the Greek shortwave services as well. In particular, the shortwave service of ERT3, based on Thessaloniki is about to cease operation, after a decision of the government, as part of the financial reform of the Public Broadcaster. [1]
In that case though, there has already been a response by the station\’s target group, a big organisation of the Greek Diaspora. In their statement [2], they argue that there is a big part of the audience, mainly old Greeks living abroad, that do not have the technological background to use multimedia and the internet, which are offered as a replacement.
[1] http://www.thegreekradio.com/node/2840
[2] http://www.thegreekradio.com/node/2849
on Sep 2nd, 2011 at 05:33
No surprise. RTP like many of these broadcasters of the same type don’t really use SW. It’s not exactly like they would be missed like VOA, RA, BBCWS, RFI and others of the same quality.
on Sep 2nd, 2011 at 14:27
Well, I will miss them. Already do. RDPi (along with VoG) was a great source for exotic music on shortwave evenings in North America. I know this was not its raison d’etre and a budget to provide me a little pleasurable music at night is indefensible domestically. I also know I can get this via the internet stream if I want. But it’s not quite the same thing and a little sad that there’s one more piece of evidence that a medium that served us all so well for so long is slipping into obscurity and antiquity.
on Sep 5th, 2011 at 11:27
Everytime news like that show up, I think that the opportunity for a digital switchover regarding shortwave is being lost. I just cannot accept that analog shortwave is being abandoned without a reasonable digital replacement being adopted.
I like shortwave because I can simply rely on turning on my receiver wherever I am, and know that I will get a bunch of information sources out of the box. Streaming over mobile internet on a smartphone would be the closest alternative for me, but I hate thinking about the charging (usually including roaming), plus the problem of 3G/GPRS coverage. On the other side, DRM with this 300$ receiver which one can buy no-where, has been really disappointing a solution.