[IRCA] AFN Germany, 873Khz Hessen Knocked Off The Air

["Paul B. Walker, Jr." <walkerbroadcasting@xxxxxxxxx>]

Blast knocks AFN Germany off the air on 873 kHz April 3rd, 2008 - 8:35 UTC
by Andy <http://blogs.rnw.nl/strategie/Andy>

[image: AFN Europe logo]Armed Forces Network officials cannot definitively
say when its AM radio station [873 kHz] will be back on the air in the
German state of Hessen after an explosion at a transmitter site interrupted
programming on Tuesday. Three Germans were injured Tuesday around 12:30 p.m.
in an accident during a routine generator check at the Weiskirchen
transmitter site.

"Everyone's doing OK," AFN-Europe public affairs officer George Smith said,
adding that the two Department of Public Works employees and an AFN-Hessen
technician were taken to the hospital as a precaution. The three were
treated for minor shock, smoke inhalation and minor burns. They have all
been released and are doing fine, Smith said.

As for the AM radio programming, Mark Vagnerini, AFN-Europe's executive
officer, could only say that AFN hopes to have the signal up and running
sometime next week. "Somehow there was a minor explosion and small fire in
the power distribution panels," Vagnerini said. "The fire was extinguished
and emergency services came … but we cannot go in there to repair it until
the investigation is complete."

"The AM outage affects some 90,000 American military community members,
mainly in and around Wiesbaden", Smith said. AFN's AM 873 frequency carries
"Morning Newswatch," National Public Radio programming and the "Connections"
music program, according to a Wednesday AFN news release.

"Until service is restored, listeners can tune in AFN's Eagle Radio service,
a mix of contemporary music and top of the hour news on FM 98.7," the
release read.

Smith added that for listeners who also watch AFN television via a decoder
box, the AM programming can be listened to through their TV. Other AFN AM
frequencies throughout Germany are listed online at www.afneurope.net.
Listeners might be able to pick up the broadcast at 1107 AM from
Kaiserslautern or 1143 AM from Mannheim.



*From
http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/blast-knocks-afn-germany-off-the-air-on-873-khz
*

**
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