Bush House farewells

I’m proud to have worked at Bush House for the BBC World Service in the 1980s.


The BBC English Service has the sad honour of speaking the last broadcast from Bush House, which will be a bulletin of world news at 1100 UTC on Thursday 12 July. (Previously it was announced it would be the Urdu Service on 29 June to whom this milestone would fall).


Then the BBC World Service returns a couple of miles north-west across London to Broadcasting House, albeit a new extended version of Broadcasting House, after being away since World War II bombed them out in the first place.


Other mentions on leaving were the news programmes this morning from 0500 UTC including a lovely montage and affectionate tribute. Bush House nights by Emma Crowe is at http://soundcloud.com/emma_crowe8/bush-house-nights  


The World Today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002vsn9  


Go to Twitter too and type #BushHouse for lots of photos and thoughts such as this Brian Eno quote inside the building “If the world’s media collapsed tonight, the list of things I’d miss would be really short. The BBC World Service would be right at the top.” https://twitter.com/GabrielORorke/status/217690796386828288/photo/1  


And the Roman head (found when the building was created in the 1920s, I think...) is in safe keeping: https://twitter.com/oursoo/status/215759968761163776/photo/1


See also the BBC WS 80th anniversary page from February 2012 at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/institutional/bbc_world_service_80.shtml 


Why shortwave remains a lifeline for millions:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17155441


and regular readers of this blog will have seen my reminisces of working there in the 1980s at: http://dxinternational.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/tales-from-bush-house.html

 

BBC World Service: A summer of sport 1975

I know, every summer is a summer of sport on the BBC, and 2012 even more so with Euro football and London Olympics.  

But let's jump in my time machine and go back to London Calling for July 1975, where Peter Bond and Fred Perry presented the Wimbledon round up programme; The British Open Golf tournament was at Carnoustie, Scotland; celebrity golf was taking off too;  even the Henley Regatta was covered by the BBC World Service and the Australians' cricket tour was in full flow with Lillee and Thomson at full pace.

Plus a fascinating look back at the Alternatives for Africa programmes.

Voice of Vietnam

Jumping for joy at a 2012 Voice of Vietnam QSL card

Try the Voice of Vietnam on 9730kHz and 7280kHz at 1900 to 1930 UTC and 2030 to 2100 UTC.

You can contact them by email vovworld@org.vn

Or by snail mail to Voice of Vietnam Overseas Service, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam.

Radio Moldova International- tune in online today

A 1990s QSL card from Radio Moldova International

Radio Moldova International in Chisinau are celebrating their 20th anniversary. I enjoy their weekday online English broadcasts and more of us really should make an effort to listen, and contact them too, at moldovainternational@gmail.com  Their interval signal, sign on and sign off alone are stunning. The programmes wrapped around are good as well!

Radio Moldova International broadcasts via http://www.trm.md/ro/radiointernational from Mondays to Fridays. Its schedule covers news and 30 minutes programmes in English, French, Spanish, Romanian and Russian. It makes for an interesting view of a fine country. The Republic of Moldova go to the effort of broadcasting to the world- albeit only online,  and more people should embrace the opportunity to hear what Moldovans think and how they live.

They are running a contest until 16th July 2012, in various sections.

“The first concerns the history and the present of the Republic of Moldova. The second is related to the history of Radio Moldova International, as well as Moldovan culture. And finally the third question will be based on reports and stories you will hear within RMI programs. Questions will be asked on Monday and on Thursday and will be posted on our web page http://www.trm.md/ . You can send us answers by e-mail at moldovainternational@gmail.com ".

Just do it!

Bradford Community Broadcasting

Bradford Community Broadcasting (106.6MHz) is a community radio station at: www.bcbradio.co.uk

I was put onto this one a while back by a Radio User reader whose girlfriend presents the Buffet Show. This is a refreshing break from much of the usual safe radio programming fare and sees Bloody Nora, EB3 and Jenny Jet providing an hour of interesting indie music and chat once a month. They also used to do a regular club night and have started doing Silent Discos, which are quite a thing.

More details and various links to social media at:
www.bcbradio.co.uk/details.php?details=174 and there is a useful listen again facility at the station website that I use. Buffet is now on “my must listen every month” list and knocks spots off of most of what I hear on air and online.

Other shows with a startling difference on Bradford Community Radio include Intoczekated on Sundays at 2000 BST which is “music, poetry, politics and comedy with Bradford's Nick Toczek - writer, entertainer, poet, ranter, magician, storyteller.” The hour preceding that sounds pretty good too. EuroRytm has news, the latest gossip, music and interviews for the Czech and Slovak communities.”

Win a trip to South Korea this autumn

An essay competition being run by KBS World Radio closes on 15 July. One Grand Prize winner will win an all expense paid six-day seven-night stay in Korea including a round trip airfare. Full details are at: http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/event/discoverkorea_2012/sub01.htm  

If you don’t fancy writing why not just tune to the station instead for news about the region and some intoxicating South Korean pop music, which may put a smile on your face. K-Pop at http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/program

Shortwave in English to Europe at 1800 on 7275kHz and 2100 UTC on 3955kHz. Also targeted to America, Asia, Australasia and Africa at other times in English and 10 other languages.

O Canada! Save Radio Canada International.

Dxers' first task for this month is to contact the powers that be in Canada, names to follow, plus the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), in order to stop them taking Radio Canada International off air at the end of June. An act of unprecedented Canadian cultural vandalism will occur, ironically by Canada Day (1st July), unless RCI is saved. Started in 1942, closure is no way to mark 70 years of quality broadcasting information to the world.

A reminder that you can read about and support the campaign to save RCI at:
http://rciaction.org/blog/what-you-can-do

More eloquent exmples of letters of protest than I could ever muster are at:
http://rciaction.org/blog/2012/05/30/rci-listeners-react-to-the-budget-cut/

My emails to these powerful Canadian personages who reside at the Parleiment in Ottawa, went as follows:

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird  john.baird@parl.gc.ca
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty  jim.flaherty@parl.gc.ca
Heritage Minister James Moore  james.moore@parl.gc.ca
"I am writing to draw to your attention to the folly of CBC cutting Radio Canada International’s English broadcasts on shortwave. I request that you use your powers to stop the CBC ending RCI broadcasts at the end of June.



RCI is the voice of Canada to the rest of the world and its reputation as a leading world power, a tourist destination, a wonderful country with much to give and teach the world, will be irreparably damaged if you allow the CBC to stop broadcasting. People in Africa, Asia, and Europe all tune in as well as those in the Americas, to hear perspectives on how Canada lives, the diversity of its people and landscapes. Programmes such as The Link are about as good as it gets in radio anywhere, and to make such sweeping cuts is not necessary.


People in the Third World do not all have easy access to the internet and rely on radio to get their news and information from beyond their own country. The internet is also at the mercy of the country’s government and can be switched off or blocked in ways that radio cannot. (see Libya, China, Egypt and others in the past year or so).


Even worse though is that CBC is not even going to continue with RCI as an online broadcaster. Canada will be silenced forever, while other countries’ broadcasters-large and small will continue to have their views and culture aired to a global audience in many languages. China, USA, India, Russia, Japan, Australia, Germany, the UK all use shortwave, MW, FM, and the internet to tell the world’s population about their view on global affairs, sharing their music and art, history and tourist destinations... Smaller, equally important countries such as New Zealand, Thailand, Romania, Iran, Egypt, Nigeria et al also continue to broadcast their news and information to the world.


Act now, please and ensure that RCI has a future. Rather than being prepared to dispose of its loyal audience the CBC should be funding RCI to build further audiences, to entertain and inform them for decades to come, just as it has done for so many decades past.


Are you really prepared to let RCI drift off air forever? You have the ability, and the civic responsibility, to step in and stop such an act of cultural vandalism.


Yours...."