[HCDX] [Press release] Coalition to Save the BBC World Service (fwd)

["Marie A. Lamb" <malamb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello!  I have been asked to forward the following message.
This is in regard to the BBC World Service cuts to North America
and Australia.

73--
Marie Lamb

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2001 13:34:09 -0400
From: Ralph Brandi <swprograms@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: swprograms@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [SW Programs] [Press release] Coalition to Save the BBC World
    Service
To: swprograms@xxxxxxxxxx

Coalition to Save the BBC World Service

www.savebbc.org

Press Release

(Contact Information at end.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2001

BBC TO CUT OFF 1.2 MILLION LISTENERS ON JULY 1.

Decision to End Shortwave Broadcasts to North America, Australia and New
Zealand Greatly Restricts Access to World Service.

Listener Coalition And Web Site Formed to Urge Reconsideration.

An international coalition of radio listeners has been formed to urge the
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to reconsider an announced
decision
to end shortwave radio broadcasts of the World Service to North America
and
the South Pacific on July 1.  The Coalition to Save the BBC World Service
disputes BBC claims that listeners are migrating in large numbers to
alternative media such as FM radio, the Internet and satellite to hear
the
World Service, and abandoning shortwave radio in the process. The
coalition's web site is at www.savebbc.org.

Shortwave broadcasts -- transmitted on frequencies above the standard AM
broadcast band, around the world -- are the only reliable way to avoid
political boundaries and problems of stations and satellites limiting
rebroadcast programs on domestic AM and FM frequencies.

The BBC's own research indicates that there are at least 1.2 million
listeners in North America who listen to the shortwave broadcasts of the
World Service every week.

While 228 FM stations in the US and 25 in Canada do carry some BBC World
Service content, most of these stations are low powered with limited
reach.
According to a survey of stations carrying BBC programming in the US and
Canada published by the Coalition on its web site, most of these stations
broadcast only a few short BBC news bulletins daily or carry a one hour
news magazine produced, only in part, by the BBC. The few stations that
air
a wider selection of programs do so only between midnight and 6 am, when
most listeners are asleep.  Huge gaps exist in the coverage, leaving
important locations like Florida south of Orlando and Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania in the US and Montreal in Canada with no coverage at all.
In
contrast, the shortwave broadcasts to be discontinued on July 1 are
easily
receivable on low cost portable radios everywhere on the continent.

"There certainly is an added value in having the World Service available
via FM, the Internet and eventually satellite," said a coalition
spokesman.
"However, right now, none of these--separately or together--provide the
extent, ease and affordability of access, or the portability, that
shortwave radio provides for many listeners. The equation that the BBC
apparently feels it has achieved in North America is a myth," said John
Figliozzi, a writer on international broadcasting and one of the
Coalition's members.

The Coalition asserts that the end result on July 1 will be greatly
reduced
availability of the World Service to all listeners in the affected areas.
"There will be almost a complete cutoff to the many listeners who cannot
receive FM stations rebroadcasting the World Service and the many who
still
do not have access to the Internet", said Sheldon Harvey, author of the
survey and host of a program about radio and communications for a local
station in Montreal.  "We understand the BBC's need to efficiently deploy
its resources," he added. "But this decision only hurts the World Service
and hurts its loyal listeners."

"The World Service is a truly unique international public radio station
that produces and broadcasts, around the clock, a huge range of programs
covering arts, science, music, sports, business, entertainment, culture,
and religion," explained Richard Cuff, also a writer on international
broadcasting and a Coalition member.  "They define excellence in
broadcasting. But none of these programs have an appreciable presence on
local stations and, for all intents and purposes, will be unavailable
once
shortwave broadcasts to North America cease."

The BBC claims listeners can hear them over the Internet after the
cutoff.
The Coalition feels this is inadequate. Ralph Brandi, Coalition webmaster
and a professional webmaster by day, explained. "The technical
infrastructure of the net as it stands today is ill-suited to serve the
kind of listenership that BBC World Service gets on shortwave. Listening
to
a radio station over the net requires an individual connection for each
listener. This limits the potential audience to mere thousands, or
perhaps
tens of thousands if you continue to throw money, hardware and bandwidth
at
the problem.  Furthermore, the Internet is relatively expensive for the
user and offers limited, if any, portability. Simply put, the Internet is
not radio. It does not serve as a suitable replacement."

The Coalition urges listeners and others concerned about the continued
accessibility of the BBC World Service to protest this decision by
writing
directly to the BBC World Service and to the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office of Her Majesty's Government in London, or to British Embassies,
Consulates and High Commissions in the affected regions.  The Coalition's
web site, which has continuously updated information and the names and
addresses of officials and contacts, can be found at
http://www.savebbc.org/.

For More Information Contact:

USA

John Figliozzi Phone-Days (0815-1730ET) +1 (518) 473-5264 (voice mail,
leave message) Phone-Night (1830-2200ET) +1 (518) 383-0796 (answering
machine) E-mail: jfiglio1@xxxxxxxxxxxx or jfiglio@xxxxxxxxxxx

Richard Cuff Phone: +1 (610) 509-2873 Fax: +1 (707) 313-2458 E-mail:
rdcuff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Canada

Sheldon Harvey, President, Canadian Int. DX Club Phone: +1 (450)
671-3773,
during business hours, 0900-1700 ET. E-mail: cidxclub@xxxxxxxxx


-30-
--
Ralph Brandi      ralph@xxxxxxxxxx     http://www.brandi.org/

"Shortwave will not be the same without BBC World Service.
BBC World Service will not be the same without shortwave." --Kim Elliott,
VOA




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