Re: [Swprograms] RN gives in on Spanish; why not English?

[Glenn Hauser <wghauser@xxxxxxxxx>]

Re: You assume there is a massive number of HF RN listeners in NA. That has
never been known. Also, broadband is a much rarer bird below the Rio Grande, making HF more viable there (Scott Royall, Conch Republic, swprograms via DXLD)

No, I don`t make any such assumption. I am merely outpointing that RNW was open to listener persuasion in another instance. I bet a large proportion of the people pushing for the resumption of Spanish made their case known by e-mail, ergo could get RNW online too. Why be so defeatist?

Tnx to Rich for reviewing the well-known rationale for RNW cutting off its SWBCs in English to us. Here`s a letter just sent to RNW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Please resume SW English to North America!

Since the change to the summer schedule at the end of March, it has been difficult to hear Radio Netherlands on shortwave here in eastern North America. Shortwave is my platform of choice; I find it inconvenient to listen online, and Radio Netherlands is not carried by any local FM stations in Buffalo, New York. The broadcasts to Africa in my local afternoon via Bonaire on 17810 kHz were very well heard here, but 25 meters via Issoudun does not propagate here nearly as well at solar minimum.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who misses hearing you.  Lately I've been listening to Deutsche Welle due to their good signal quality, but I really enjoy your wide variety of programs (especially your documentaries).  It would be wonderful to have just one hour in my local evening (between 0000 and 0200 UTC would be good for the entire continent), via Bonaire or French Guiana, again.  With the international situation in flux and information sources consolidating (and becoming fewer) many Americans, in particular, turn to international broadcasters for news they don't get from their domestic media.  I hope you can find room in your budget to resume an English broadcast on shortwave to North America.

Sincerely (from a loyal, longtime listener), (Anne Fanelli, Elma, New York 14059, USA, to letters @ rnw.nl and cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST)

I didn`t repro it before but a letter from Adrian Korol to RNW has been appearing on the condiglist yg, with the implication that it made the difference. Like Anne, he admits that he has unlimited internet access, but he prefers to listen to radio stations on the RADIO. It`s long and in Spanish so I won`t include it here, but in the next DXLD 9-044

73, Glenn Hauser

--- On Wed, 5/27/09, Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> When RNW gave up on shortwave in
> English to North America, I was told
> by RNW that RNW would look much more favorably on using SW
> to reach
> Spanish speaking listeners in the Americas.
> 
> This was because there was a clear preference for shortwave
> as the
> preferred method of hearing RNW broadcasts and these
> listeners did not
> have alternative methods of receiving or interacting with
> RNW at their
> disposal.
> 
> RNW actively solicited listener input from North American
> listeners
> over a two-year period prior to leaving SW for English, and
> they found
> that those NA-based listeners who took the time to respond
> were more
> flexible -- they had a greater number of methods to obtain
> info from
> RNW at their disposal.  English language listeners
> would read content
> at the RNW website as well as stream audio and seek out
> WRN.
> 
> Further, RNW considered Africa a more important English
> language
> target than North America, because North American
> English-language
> media is much more diverse than African English-language
> media in most
> countries.
> 
> This process followed the earlier RNW process where they
> solicited
> input from North Americans regarding the morning broadcasts
> that were
> sent our way starting in July 2001 (when the BBCWS stopped
> using SW
> for English to NA).  While these broadcasts were
> originally received
> with great enthusiasm, in later years very few people
> indicated they
> found those morning broadcasts useful.
> 
> So...am I saying that North American listeners shouldn't
> contact RNW
> encouraging a reinstatement of SW?  No, but the
> decisions taken by RNW
> over the past couple of years suggests RNW is not likely to
> shift
> funding back towards SW for NA in English.
> 
> Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA  USA
> 
> On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 8:39 PM, Scott Royall <royall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> > You assume there is a massive number of HF RN
> listeners in NA. That has
> > never been known. Also, broadband is a much rarer bird
> below the Rio Grande,
> > making HF more viable there.
> _______________________________________________
> Swprograms mailing list


      

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