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[HCDX] Israel Radio cutting AM broadcasts, possibly harming English News
Israel Radio cutting AM broadcasts, possibly harming English News
Mar. 7, 2009
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1236269366914&pagename=JPo
st%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
Greer Fay Cashman , THE JERUSALEM POST
The Israel Broadcasting Authority is gradually eliminating AM (medium-
wave) broadcasts, a cost-cutting measure that will seriously harm Israel
Radio's news in English and a dozen other foreign languages, The
Jerusalem Post has learned.
A date for closing the AM service completely has not been announced, but
insiders indicated that the move was imminent.
Until recently, anyone wishing to ascertain the frequencies used by the IBA
for its radio news could find details of both AM and FM transmitters on its
Web site. The AM listings have, however, disappeared without any
explanation.
Asked about the development, the IBA spokesperson confirmed that AM
broadcasts were being cut. The spokesperson said the annual cost of
maintaining an AM transmitter is NIS 20 million, a sum the IBA, in its current
financial situation, can no longer afford.
Informed sources voiced particular concern about the future of REKA, the
foreign-language network that serves immigrants, the diplomatic community
and anyone else whose Hebrew is insufficient to follow regular broadcasts.
They said that FM reception for REKA is poor or non-existent in many parts
of the country due to the location and limited power of IBA transmitters. This
includes many areas of Jerusalem.
Besides its three daily English news broadcasts, REKA features around-the-
clock news and programming in a dozen languages, including Russian,
Amharic, French, Spanish, Hungarian, Ladino and Yiddish.
REKA will continue to be broadcast over FM transmitters and the Internet,
but industry sources claim that both suffer from technical limitations that will
result in a severe drop in listenership.
The IBA's response was that REKA had been given five FM transmitters to
ensure that its broadcasts could be received throughout the country.
The decision to phase out AM transmissions was made by the IBA's board
of directors, with a caveat that FM transmitters first had to be installed and
tested for all geographical areas to be affected, the IBA spokesperson said.
The IBA said that existing AM transmitters were becoming obsolete, but
recognizing that such transmitters should be available for emergencies
meant they would not be done away with altogether. Therefore, it has asked
the Prime Minister's Office to allocate a special budget for this purpose and
has notified the Defense Ministry and Home Front Command that AM
transmissions are being phased out. In addition, it will maintain AM
transmitters where there is no FM alternative.
Meanwhile, according to the spokesperson, the IBA is doing all it can to
improve FM reception and strongly believes that efforts to this effect
throughout 2009 will help increase rather than decrease listenership.
Because they are broadcast on AM - which is more powerful than FM -
Israel Radio's news programs in English and French are heard in
neighboring Arab countries.
"As they will no longer be available, this will deny Israel a voice in places
where it is much needed," one source said. "Removing the medium-wave
transmitters will just further diminish the ability of listeners to hear an already
decimated news service, damaged by salami-style [piece-meal] cuts over
many years. There are now growing demands for an inquiry into the way the
IBA management has treated its radio services in general and its hitherto
much-valued and respected English News," the source said.
A source familiar with the situation said that by reducing listenership, the
gradual replacement of AM transmitters could provide a pretext for the layoff
of some of the 800 IBA employees slated for dismissal within the framework
of broadcasting authority reforms.
When the IBA switched off its shortwave transmitters two years ago, it
promised that its Web site, iba.org.il, would provide better service. But
during Israel's recent assault on Hamas in Gaza, high listener demand -
especially for English news broadcasts - often made it impossible to log on.
Those responsible for the Web site evidently budgeted for a very limited
number of listeners; one estimate is that only 350 people could access the
live service at any given time - which an industry source called "woefully
inadequate."
Should the AM service be cut completely, there are fears that domestic
listeners unable to receive FM transmissions will turn to the Internet, which
would place even greater pressure on the already-limited service.
The IBA said in response that it was upgrading its Web site to facilitate
greater access.
Areas in which FM transmitters have already? taken over from AM include
Menda and Eitanim (FM 88.5), Safed (FM 94.4), Kochav Hayarden (FM
104.8), Acre, Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (FM 101.3), Netanya (93.7) and
Beersheba (FM 107.3).
Broadcast reception from these transmitters covers an appreciable expanse,
from Kiryat Shmona through the Golan Heights and the Galilee down to the
Beit She'an Valley, and farther south to Ashkelon, part of Modi'in, Kiryat Gat,
Kiryat Malachi and Sderot.
Reception was also fairly good to excellent in the central areas of Nahariya,
Nazareth, Haifa, Karmiel, Acre, Netanya, Tel Aviv, part of Hadera, Ashdod,
part of Ashkelon and Jerusalem, the IBA asserted.
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Zacharias Liangas , Thessaloniki Greece
greekdx @ otenet dot gr ---
Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75 , Lowe HF150 , Degen 1102,1103,108,
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Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop
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