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International broadcasting is broadcasting deliberately aimed at a foreign, rather than a domestic, audience. It usually is broadcast by means of longwave, mediumwave, or shortwave radio, but in recent years has used direct satellite broadcasting and the Internet as means of reaching audiences.
Although radio and television programs do travel outside national borders, in many cases reception by foreigners is accidental. However, for purposes of propaganda, transmitting religious beliefs, keeping in touch with colonies or expatriates, education, improving trade, or increasing national prestige, broadcasting services have operated external services since the 1920s.
The early years 1914-1939
The Dutch started regular international broadcasting on short-wave in 1927, following experiments in Eindhoven in 1925. This was followed by the BBC with the BBC Empire Service in 1932.
Other notable early international broadcasters included Vatican Radio (February 12, 1931), Radio Moscow, the official service of the Soviet Union which began broadcasting on long-wave in 1923 (this has since been renamed the Voice of Russia, following the collapse of the Soviet Union).
Broadcasting in South Asia was launched in 1925 in Ceylon - Radio Ceylon, now the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation is the oldest in the region.
In the 1930s, international broadcasting was a key means of promoting Nazi Germany foreign policy. German propaganda was organized under Joseph Goebbels, and played a key role in the German occupation of Austria and the Munich Crisis of 1938.
During the Second World War, Russian, German, British, and Italian international broadcasting services expanded and in 1942 the United States initiated its international broadcasting service, the Voice of America. In the Pacific theater, General Douglas MacArthur used shortwave radio to keep in touch with the citizens of the Japanese-occupied Philippine Islands.
Clarence W. Jones started transmiting on Christmas Day, 1931 from Missionary Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador.
World War II -- modern international broadcasting begins
Shortwave programming was a low priority in the Weimar Republic. Once Hitler assumed power in 1933, shortwave, under the Rundfunk Ausland (Foreign Radio Section), was regarded as a vital element of Nazi propaganda. German shortwave hours were increased from two hours a day to 18 per day, and eventually twelve languages were broadcast on a 24 hour basis, including English. A 100 kilowatt transmitter and antenna complex was built at Zeesen, near Berlin. Specialty target programming to the United States began in 1933, to South Africa, South America, and East Asia in 1934, and South Asia and Central America in 1938.
Mediumwave transmitters on the periphery of the Third Reich provided specialty programs to listeners in neighbouring countries. Nevertheless, the Germans always had a problem staffing their foreign services with announcers who were both technically competent and loyal to Nazi ideas.
Several announcers who became well-known in their countries included British Union of Fascists member William Joyce, who was one of the two "Lord Haw-Haw"s; Frenchmen Paul Ferdonnet and Andre Olbrecht, called "the traitors of * Stuttgart"; and Americans Frederick William Kaltenbach, "Lord Hee-Haw", and Mildred Gillars, one of the two announcers called "Axis Sally". Listeners to German programs often tuned in for curiosity's sake--at one time, German radio had half a million listeners in the U.S.--but they lost interest.
For details of German propaganda themes, see propaganda.
The British launched Radio SEAC from Colombo, Ceylon during World War II. The station broadcast radio programs to the allied armed forces across the region from their headquarters in Ceylon.
Following the war and German partition, each Germany developed its own international broadcasting station: Deutsche Welle, using studios in Cologne, West Germany, and Radio Berlin International (RBI) in East Germany. RBI's broadcasts ceased shortly before the reunification of Germany on October 2, 1990, and Deutsche Welle took over its transmitters and frequencies.
The Cold War Era (1945-1991): modern practices, modern technology
The Cold War led to increased international broadcasting, as Communist and non-Communist states attempted to influence each other's domestic population. Some of the most prominent Western broadcasters were the Voice of America, the BBC World Service, and the (covertly) CIA-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The Soviet Union's most prominent service was Radio Moscow (now the Voice of Russia) and China used Radio Peking (then Radio Beijing, now China Radio International). In addition to the U.S.-Soviet cold war, the Chinese-Russian border dispute led to an increase of the numbers of transmitters aimed at the two nations, and the development of new techniques such as playing tapes backwards for reel-to-reel recorders.
In addition to the superpower states, international broadcast services grew in Europe and the Middle East. Under the presidency of Gamal Nasser, Egyptian transmitters covered the Arab world; Israel's service, Kol Israel, served both to present the Israeli point of view to the world and to serve the Jewish diaspora, particularly behind the Iron Curtain.
Ironically, the isolationist Albania under Enver Hoxha, virtually a hermit kingdom, became one of the most prolific international broadcasters during the latter decades of the Cold War, with Radio Tirana one of the top five broadcasters in terms of hours of programming produced.
At the end of the Cold War, many international broadcasters cut back on hours and foreign languages broadcast, or reemphasized other language services. For example, in 1984, Radio Canada International broadcast in English, French, German, Spanish, Czech/Slovak, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian. In 2005, Canada broadcast in English, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, and Spanish There is a trend towards more TV (e.g. BBC World, NHK World, CCTV-9), and news websites. Some services, such as Swiss Radio International, left shortwave altogether and exist in Internet form. In addition, new standards, such as Digital Radio Mondiale, are being introduced, as well as sending programs over the Web to be played back later, as "podcasts."
Daily developments are followed in Radio Netherlands' Media Network blog *.
Transmitter power increased during this period to guarantee better reception.
- 1950s : 100 kW
- 1960s : 200 kW, early 1960s (2 x 100 kW 'twinned')
- 1970s : 300 kW, but many 250 kW transmitters sold
- 1980s : 500 kW
- 1980s-Present: 600 kW single, 1200 kW from twinned transmitters
Means
Most radio receivers in the world receive the mediumwave band (535 kHz to 1700 kHz), which at night is capable of reliable reception from 150 to 2,500 km distance from a transmitter. In addition, many receivers used in Europe, Africa, and Asia can receive the longwave broadcast band (150 to 300 kHz), which provides reliable long-distance communications over continental distances.
Yet other receivers are capable of receiving shortwave transmissions (2,000 to 30,000 kHz or 2 to 30 MHz). Depending on time of day, season of year, solar weather and Earth's geomagnetic field, a signal might reach around the world.
An international broadcaster has several options for reaching a foreign audience:
- If the foreign audience is near the broadcaster, high-power longwave and mediumwave stations can provide reliable coverage.
- If the foreign audience is more than 1,000 kilometers away from the broadcaster, shortwave radio is reliable, but subject to interruption by adverse solar/geomagnetic conditions.
- An international broadcaster may use a local mediumwave or FM radio or television relay station in the target country or countries.
- An international broadcaster may use a local shortwave broadcaster as a relay station.
- Neighbouring states, such as Israel and Jordan, may broadcast television programs to each other's viewing public.
An international broadcaster such as the BBC, Radio France International or Germany's Deutsche Welle, may use all the above methods. Several international broadcasters, such as Swiss Radio International,have abandoned shortwave broadcasting altogether, relying on Internet transmissions only. Others, such as the BBC World Service, have abandoned shortwave transmissions to North America, relying on local relays, the Internet, and satellite transmissions.
Listeners
An international broadcaster may have the technical means of reaching a foreign audience, but unless the foreign audience has a reason to listen, the effectiveness of the broadcaster is in question.
One of the most common foreign audiences consists of expatriates, who cannot listen to radio or watch television programs from home. Another common audience is radio hobbyists, who attempt to listen as many countries as possible and obtain verification cards or letters (QSLs). A third audience consists of journalists, government officials, and key business persons, who exert a disproportionate influence on a state's foreign or economic policy.
A fourth, but less publicized audience, consists of intelligence officers and agents who monitor broadcasts for both open-source intelligence clues to the broadcasting state's policies and for hidden messages to foreign agents operating in the receiving country. The BBC started its monitoring service in Caversham, Reading in 1936 (now BBC Monitoring). In the United States, the DNI Open Source Center (formerly the Central Intelligence Agency's Foreign Broadcast Information Service) provides the same service. Copies of OSC/FBIS reports can be found in many U.S. libraries that serve as government depositories. In addition, a number of hobbyists listen and report "spook" transmissions.
Without these four audiences, international broadcasters face difficulty in getting funding. In 2001, for example, the BBC World Service stopped transmitting shortwave broadcasts to North America, and other international broadcasters, such as YLE Radio Finland, stopped certain foreign-language programs.
However, international broadcasting has been successful when a country does not provide programming wanted by a wide segment of the population. In the 1960s, when there was no BBC service playing rock and roll, Radio Television Luxembourg (RTL) broadcast rock and roll, including bands such as the Beatles, into the United Kingdom. Similar programming came from an unlicensed, or "pirate" station, Radio Caroline, which broadcast from a ship in the international waters of the North Sea.
Restricting reception
In many cases, governments do not want their citizens listening to international broadcasters. In Nazi Germany, a major propaganda campaign, backed by law and prison sentences, attempted to discourage Germans from listening to such stations. In addition, the German government sold a cheap "People's Receiver" that could not pick up distant signals well. In North Korea, all receivers are sold with fixed frequencies, tuned to local stations.
The most common method of preventing reception is jamming, or broadcasting a signal on the same frequencies as the international broadcaster. Germany jammed the BBC European service during the Second World War. Russian and Eastern European jammers were aimed against Radio Free Europe, other Western broadcasters, and against Chinese broadcasters during the nadir of Sino-Soviet relations. In 2002, the Cuban government jammed the Voice of America's Radio Marti program and the Chinese government jammed broadcasts made by adherents of Falun Gong.
Yet another method of preventing reception involves moving a domestic station to the frequency used by the international broadcaster. During the Batista government of Cuba, and during the Castro years, Cuban medium-wave stations broadcast on the frequencies of popular South Florida stations. In October 2002 Iraq changed frequencies of two stations to block the Voice of America's Radio Sawa program.
Jamming can be defeated by using very powerful transmitting antennas, carefully choosing the transmitted frequency, changing transmitted frequency often, using Single Sideband, and properly aiming the receiving antenna.
International Broadcasters
Radio
Europe
- Ceased shortwave and satellite operations 30 October 2004
- Ceased 1 January 2002
North & South America
| Country | Name of Radio Service | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | Radio Canada International | * |
| United States of America | Voice of America | * |
| United States of America | Radio Disney | * |
| Cuba | Radio Habana Cuba | * |
| Brazil | Rádio Nacional do Brasil | * |
| Ecuador | HCJB | * |
| Argentina | Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior | * |
It is possible to listen to Canadian MW radio in the US. Canada is saturated with US MW stations at night.
Asia
Oceania
| Country | Name of Radio Service | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Radio Australia | * |
| New Zealand | Radio New Zealand International | * |
- Some RNZ MW frequency reception is possible in NSW, Victoria & Tasmania with longwire (150m +) MW antennas.
- Some ABC, and private MW broadcasters cross into NZ seasonally as well.
Africa
| Country | Name of Radio Service | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Morocco (with France) | MEDI 1 (Radio Méditerranée Internationale) | * |
| Tunisia | Radio Tunis | * |
| Tunisia (Private) | Mosaique FM | * |
| Algeria | Radio Algérienne | |
| Libya | Voice of Africa | * |
| Equatorial Guinea | Radio Africa | * |
| Equatorial Guinea | Radio Africa #2 | * |
| Equatorial Guinea | Radio East Africa | * |
| Kenya | Kenya Broadcasting Coporation | * |
| Nigeria | Voice of Nigeria | * |
| South Africa | Channel Africa | * |
Television
Europe
| Country of Origin | Name of Television Service | Free-to-air/encrypted | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | BBC World | Free-to-air | * |
| United Kingdom | BBC Prime | Encrypted | * |
| An alliance of broadcasters of 5 countries 1 | TV5 | Free-to-air in Europe, Encrypted elsewhere | * |
| Germany | DW-TV | Free-to-air | * |
| Belgium (Wallonia) | RTBF Sat | Free-to-air | * |
| the Netherlands & Belgium (Flanders) | BVN Beste van Nederland en Vlaanderen | Free-to-air | * |
| Spain | TVE Internacional | Free-to-air in Europe, Encrypted elsewhere | * |
| Portugal | RTP Internacional | Free-to-air | * |
| Poland | TVP Polonia | Free-to-air/encrypted | * |
| Norway | Democratic Voice of Burma | Free-to-air | * |
| Sweden | SVT Europa | Encrypted (Free-to-air in Finland and Åland) | * |
| Finland | TV Finland | Encrypted (Free-to-air in Finnish-speaking areas of Sweden) | * |
| Croatia | Picture of Croatia (North America only) | Encrypted (2 hours free-to-air) | |
| Serbia & Montenegro | RTS Satelit | Free-to-air | * |
| Romania: | TVR INTERNATIONAL | Free-to-air | * |
| Bulgaria | ТВ България (TV Bulgaria) | * | |
| Greece (& Cyprus) | ERT World | Free-to-air (in Europe), Encrypted (in N.America) | * |
| Turkey | TRTİNT | Free-to-air? | * |
| Russia | РТР-Планета (RTR Planet) | Free-to-air and encrypted | * |
| Russia | Russia Today TV | Free-to-air | * |
- An alliance of France Télévisions & Arte in France, RTBF in Wallonia, Belgium, Radio-Canada , Télé-Québec and TVA in Canada, TSR in Switzerland & RFO in Overseas France.
North & South America
| Country of Origin | Name of Television Service | Free-to-air/encrypted | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States of America | Worldnet | Free-to-air 1 | * |
| Cuba | Cubavisión Internacional | Free-to-Air | * |
| An alliance of 4Latin American countries 2 | teleSUR | Free-to-air | * |
| Brazil | TV Brasil |
- Worldnet Television is restricted by law to non-Americans
- The countries are Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, and Uruguay.
Asia
| Country of Origin | Name of Television Service | Free-to-air/encrypted | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | CCTV-4, CCTV-9 | Free-to-air/encrypted | * |
| South Korea | KBS WORLD | Free-to-air | * |
| South Korea | Arirang TV | Free-to-air | * |
| Japan | NHK World TV | Free-to-air | * |
| Japan | NHK World Premium (TV Japan) | Encrypted | * |
| Myanmar | MRTV-3 | Free-to-air | * |
| Vietnam | VTV4 | Free-to-air | * |
Oceania
| Country of Origin | Name of Television Service | Free-to-air/encrypted | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | ABC Asia Pacific | Free-to-air | * |
Africa
| Country of Origin | Name of Television Service | Free-to-air/encrypted | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | SABC Africa | Encrypted | * |
Proposed Television Services
| Country of Origin | Name of Proposed Television Service | Free-to-air/encrypted | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | Chaîne d'Information Internationale | Free-to-air |
Related links
- Shortwave
- Shortwave bands
- Mediumwave - MW broadcasts generally don't travel as far as shortwave broadcasts, but MW is still used for international broadcasting, particularly to neighbouring countries
- SWL ¨Greg's Radio Site¨ - with general SWL information and radio antenna tips.
international broadcasting | Propaganda
International radiofoni | Kurzwellenrundfunk | 国際放送 | Truyền thông quốc tế
"International broadcasting"