Cabinet cuts shortwave radio protection

[dmehus]

from The Canadian Press, http://ca.news.yahoo.com/cabinet-cuts-s ... 05907.html:

"OTTAWA - The Conservative cabinet has quietly changed a rule that could have prevented the CBC from following through on its plan to cut its international shortwave radio service.
Supporters of Radio Canada International, which faces a near fatal 80-per-cent budget cut from the CBC, say that amounts to the government essentially ending all uncensored Canadian broadcasts to places like China and Russia.

Heritage Minister James Moore recommended an order in council, approved on June 7, that deleted a requirement for RCI to maintain a shortwave service.

That change removed an obstacle to the steep cuts the CBC had announced for RCI in April — $10 million of $12.3 million budget will disappear along with at least three-quarters of its work force.

RCI had planned to file an injunction this past week to prevent CBC from shutting down its shortwave broadcasting facilities, but the new order thwarted their lawyers.

The CBC defended the cuts to RCI as a necessary measure in light of the last federal budget, which reduced the broadcaster's subsidy by 10 per cent over the next three years, to about $115 million."

The previous Liberal government basically killed Newsworld International when they sold it to the Al Gore-led consortium in what became Current TV. Now the Conservatives are basically killing Radio Canada International, which I initially thought as Radio Canada but later learned it's just a offshoot of sorts, but wouldn't surprise me if Radio Canada was hard hit as well.

Is there any non-profit organization that might pick-up RCI's signal and rebroadcast it on a shortwave frequency, thereby keeping it 'on the air' in such countries like China and Russia? The U.S. has its Voice of America radio service, it's a shame the Conservatives are doing this, but I guess not surprising.

Cheers,
Doug

[gwp]

Radio Canada International will be distributed on the Internet rather than as a through the air service.

Here is the actual Order in Council

2012-0775 2012-06-07 CH
Act Broadcasting Act
Subject Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Precis Order (1) repealing Order in Council P.C. 2003-358 of March 21, 2003; and (2) authorizing the CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION to adjust its international service to current broadcast realities by focusing on the Internet as a means of distribution.

Or in its long form.

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, pursuant to subsection 46(2) of the Broadcasting Act,
(a) repeals Order in Council P.C. 2003-358 of March 21, 2003; and
(b) directs the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, when providing an international service under subsection 46(2) of the Broadcasting Act within the conditions of licences issued to it by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and subject to any applicable regulations of the Commission,
(i) to name that service “Radio Canada International”,
(ii) to provide that service through the Internet and, as appropriate, through other means of distribution,
(iii) to produce and distribute programming targeted at international audiences to increase awareness of Canada, its values and its social, economic and cultural activities,
(iv) to establish objectives for that service on an annual basis, and
(v) to report the results with respect to meeting those objectives in the annual report required under section 71 of the Broadcasting Act.

[Tape Splicer]

Several of the European international broadcasters use the internet to stream their signals to North America, having discontinued short-wave broadcasting several years ago. BBC World service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Netherlands to name just three. I am not sure about Radio France International or The Voice of America.

Radio Australia and Radio New Zealand International still have pacific region broadcasts that can be heard in North America. Radio Cuba is also available. There are still several Spanish language stations on the short-wave bands

I miss DXing the short-wave bands; listening to these services on the web isn't the same it's too easy. There is no challenge.

[Anotherwpgguy]

Yes, listening to shortwave is pretty bland now.

During the Cold War, it was one bit of excitement and intrigue after another as I would monitor Radio Peking for their "unbiased coverage" of the Viet Nam War, or be "educated" by Radio Moscow as they described how Igor Ivanovitch was actually the inventor of the light bulb, not Thomas Edison .... but poor Igor had made the mistake of writing to Edison ..... and the Capitalist Pig exploiter of the working class had stolen Igor's idea and used it as a tool in their imperialistic plan to subjugate the proletariat worldwide .... and if it hadn't been for the glorious hero of the revolution, Karl Marx, the world would not have been saved from those greed-driven CEOs taking all the marbles, putting them in a big hockey sock, and going home to count his ill-gotten booty.

Then there was Radio Havana Cuba ... always over-processed microphones with heavy, heavy reverb and a deeply accented voice telling the world of the evils of the Great Satan, President John F. Kennedy while extolling the virtues of the peace-loving revolutionary Che Guevara, failing to mention how many hundreds of people he personally executed by shooting them in the back of the head at graveside.

As far as radicalism, my favourite was always Radio Peking. As a young member of Army Cadets, I would always get a chuckle from being called a "Running dog lackey of the US military Industrialist complex." Meanwhile, the wonderful humanitarian Chairman Mao was murdering about 20 million of his countrymen for disagreeing with his opinions.

When my buddy Ron Able and I worked at CHNS in Halifax, I used to get a real kick out of also being heard on the 49 meter band through their 500 watt transmitter CHNX on 6130 Khz. ... (well, it was Kilo Cycles in those days.) As a former SWL, it was a treat to know that often, the Atlantic contingent of Canadian Navy was tuned to me and would have Halifax radio news and music piped through the ship's PA system. Getting a phone patch request from a sailor in the Caribbean dedicating a song to his wife ashore on their anniversary was quite a good demonstration of the power of radio technology. When the engineers would bring me a letter requesting a QSL card for someone in Europe or Africa that had heard me it really made my day.

Alas, that was almost 40 years ago, and things change.

The cuts to Radio Canada International were made by the CBC management themselves ... they are the ones who have decided to decrease that funding, but were limited by the requirement in legislation to operate an expensive black hole radio service. They have just followed the unfortunate way of the world with respect to serving the SWL. I sure would like to be able to hook up my ham radio equipment to their curtain array at Sackville, NB though ....

Now I'm just .... Another Winnipeg Guy

[Tape Splicer]

Here is a "what if";
There are rumblings in Europe and in the former iron curtain countries - and historical alliances are reforming ....
The European governments are at odds over the financial situation...
There is growing discontent between the power-house governments and the have-nots...
There are clashes between military forces and small countries are taken over.....

Two question:
With all the above going on, would/could governments order the telcos to block the internet from those countries involved in the conflict?
Could these countries re-establish their SW TX's to get their message out?

[isthisthingon]

Budgets and staff cuts aside --- the real point is that trading shortwave for internet broadcasts totally eliminates the audience that desperately needs Canadian-based honest information about what is happening in the free world the most. This includes the people living in dictatorships like China, N. Korea and Iran that censor, strictly limit or simply do not allow access to the internet.

[Mike Cleaver]

Shortwave and other non commercial radio frequencies such as those used by first responders will be the first line of communications when disaster strikes.
Land lines (telephone, cable, internet) will all go down as will cell phones because towers will fall, power will fail when backups run down or generators fail because of a lack of fuel.
There's been no word on whether the CBC short wave facilities will be demolished or simply mothballed.
Most radio and television stations no longer maintain alternate studios, transmitter sites or generators to provide power when the grid goes down.
And many have abandoned their private frequency radio networks in vehicles and handhelds because it's too expensive to maintain in this era of "cut the cost of everything."
You just have to look at the value of short wave during recent wars to realize this is something that should not be destroyed.

[pave]

Although, Mike, as I think you might agree, Radio has relinquished, if not completely abandoned, any responsibilities to the communities they are serving beyond using those communities only as sources of income.

[andysradio]

A very emotional end to RCI's The Link. The final show when out Jun 22. Listen here:

http://www.rcinet.ca/english/program/the-link/home/

[isthisthingon]

A very emotional end to RCI's The Link. The final show when out Jun 22. Listen here:

http://www.rcinet.ca/english/program/the-link/home/

Thanks for posting that. Emotional ending indeed. What a great Canadian song to go out on.

[hagopian]

Shortsighted move by Herr Harpie.
When the big one hits, as Mr. Cleaver points out - will any radio station be there?
The Country is falling apart - cutting Coast Guard stations, and we are now number 50 in the world rankings - for freedom of information.
Very discouraging.

[jon]

Gotta disagree on the value of shortwave to serve North Americans DIRECTLY in a crisis. Indirectly, yes, through amateur radio operators (Ham Radio). Because, if you exclude DX'ers, I cannot name anyone with a working shortwave receiver.

While I wasn't old enough to know how well provisioned the old (1950s) Civil Defense network was, with its transmitters on 640 and 1240 KHz, and positions marked on every radio sold, it at least had the right idea: a standard implementation across the U.S. and Canada.

Alberta has a good history with its CKUA-run Emergency Public Warning System. I am less clear on how its replacement, Alberta Emergency Alert, begun in October 2011, works, other than the claim that it replaced analogue with digital facilities. Nonetheless, the list of broadcasters, now both Radio and TV, who "signed on" to the program is impressive:

The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA)
Astral Media Inc.
Global Television
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
Clear Sky Radio Inc.
CKUA Radio Network
Corus Entertainment
CTV Television Network
Golden West Radio
Harvard Broadcasting
LA Radio Group Inc
Miracle Channel
Newcap Inc.
Jim Pattison Broadcast Group
Peace River Broadcasting
Rogers Broadcasting Ltd.
Rowlco Radio Ltd.
SHAW Cable
Touch Canada Broadcasting
University of Alberta
University of Calgary
VISTA Broadcasting Group (VISTA Radio)

As I say, I just wish there was a Canada/U.S. system, instead of the "whatever the province feels like" approach we have now.

[Toomas Losin]

The general public knows shortwave only vaguely as "something hams do". The only other person I've met who has listened to shortwave was not born or raised in North America. My guess is that even if the average North American has a radio that tunes it he would give up quickly because unlike "normal" radio or TV one can't just leave it tuned to one frequency for background sound.

Actually, that likely only applies to international broadcasts and people in the major cities. The CBC has some domestic shortwave services, like CKZU 6160, which must have listeners in remote areas. Will that disappear along with RCI?

If there's a crisis then it'll be the hams that will be using shortwave to communicate. Last year's embarrassing test of the Emergency Alert System in the US should give a hint as to how well emergency systems will work if they're not regularly tested.

[Dan Sys]

The CBC has some domestic shortwave services, like CKZU 6160, which must have listeners in remote areas. Will that disappear along with RCI?

Good question Toomas, anybody know? As far as I can tell there are only 4 domestic shortwave stations left in Canada:

CALGARY, AB - CFVP - 6030 - 100 watts - relays CKMX 1060
VANCOUVER, BC - CKZU - 6160 - 100 watts - relays CBU 690
GOOSE BAY, NF - CKZN - 6160 - 300 watts - relays CFGB 89.5 (CBC One in Goose Bay)
TORONTO, ON - CFRX - 6070 - 1,000 watts - relays CFRB 1010

[CKNF]

The CBC has some domestic shortwave services, like CKZU 6160, which must have listeners in remote areas. Will that disappear along with RCI?

Good question Toomas, anybody know? As far as I can tell there are only 4 domestic shortwave stations left in Canada:

CALGARY, AB - CFVP - 6030 - 100 watts - relays CKMX 1060
VANCOUVER, BC - CKZU - 6160 - 100 watts - relays CBU 690
GOOSE BAY, NF - CKZN - 6160 - 300 watts - relays CFGB 89.5 (CBC One in Goose Bay)
TORONTO, ON - CFRX - 6070 - 1,000 watts - relays CFRB 1010

CALGARY, AB - CFVP - 6030 - 100 watts - relays CKMX 1060

Is this signal even turned on anymore? I can never seem to catch it and I live here...

I'm not using an outdoor antenna, but being so close, I would have thought I'd get at least something with a portable?