Technical Note: Long text pages display properly with Internet Explorer and Opera - if you experience merged text on long pages with Mozilla Firefox select the tools section when viewing this page.  Click on IE tabs menu our url will show under sites filter in the url box at base - click add so that this site is included in the menu of sites - this overcomes this problem 

Click Here for daily updates of technology and entertainment news and fun items some not to do with radio  diversions.htm

4th July 2008

Waffler:

A lovely sunny day today, the English Summer can sometimes surprise us all.  Red Sands radio started its first day of transmission on 1278 Khz, from the North Sea.  So far an excellent station, which is audible in the afternoon in my part of North West London. Crush Radio, Hemel Hempstead University is also coming through on the same frequency but can be nulled out by rotating the receiver. Thankfully they both come from separate locations at different angles. I suppose Ofcom have calculated that the two stations will not cause interference to each other.  Redsands and Hemel are actually low power stations only intended for local reception, so it is a premium to us DX'ers that we can receive it on slightly more sophisticated radios. i will try on one of my inexpensive radios soon to see if they can "hear it".  The station has a wider playlist than an oldies station and the chat between the people on the fort is reminiscent of that on the offshore stations in the sixties. Top marks as ever to Bob Le Roi for getting the whole package together. There are now people on board broadcasting, quite a few of the shows last time were pre-recorded.  I am listening to the stream on line now, and it has a light whistle on it, so it must be monitored from land - quite an authentic sound to it!  The news story about Red Sands Radio is in the news below.

Return to Top

On Monday I took a ride on the bus to visit the radio town of Southall in Middlesex, and will be filing a report on the site in due course. Most impressed with all that I saw there, I was not able to get into see the studios but got some interesting photos and have some observations to make as well.  

I had a Sainsbury delivery this week, and the delivery chap said in a jovial fashion "oh my days!". I remarked I had not heard that expression said so well since Bashment Radio on a Sunday Morning.  The chap said that it was his brother that did the Sunday morning show on that station.  I warned him not to leave his van on the double line outside or else it would be a dilemma. I remember the presenter there using the expression dilemma when he did his problem chat spot when he asked people to phone in with their views.  I have also since been trying out some of the London stations to see if any play Reggae.  I knew that Roots Fm and Unique FM play it, and have also found Beat FM with some.  Vibes FM played a bit today.  I am told that Point Blank FM have a reggae show on a Sunday as well so I may try to see if it is on.

Return to Top

I have also just seen the Neil Diamond performance at Glastonbury.  I had written Neil off some years ago, but was most impressed by his music and energy on that show.   Not Radio but worth a comment.

Return to Top

I also thought that my portable mini disc recorder had gone wrong when I listened back to some recordings made on holiday a while back.  I had made the mistake of recording off a mono output radio into a stereo lead. It gives a shocking tinny distorted recording. This is overcome by using a mono adapter in the radio output then plugging the stereo lead in.  I normally use a radio which has a stereo output, but the place where I was had poor reception and I cannot switch the radio to mono. I used an old Superdrug portable and forgot it had a different output!    I made a bid for a mini disc on eBay and thankfully it failed.   I also emailed a seller on Amazon and never got an answer to my question, funny I also did that a while back on another item form a private seller there and that was ignored.  Overall though I find Amazon excellent for buying and selling second hand books and cds.

Return to Top

On a few days recently the short wave has been rather "dead". That I know is due to tropospheric lows.  In the 80s I bought a new radio and the second day it was "deaf" to most signals, and I imagined it was not working.  The next day it was ok again and I could not understand why, until a radio enthusiast explained it to me.  

I have put some cds for sale on the site, and they are quite inexpensive, please give them a look and email if you are interested.  If you do not want to pay by paypal I can come to an arrangement, also I can reduce postage costs by sending only the cd in a plastic sleeve with the inlays etc so you can put it in a case on arrival. cd_library_sale.htm

News from other sourcesFrom July 1, 

Polish Radio External Service has started broadcasting on 198 kHz longwave.

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson led the tributes to Sir Charles Wheeler, one of the BBC’s most renowned correspondents, who died today aged 85.

Throughout July and August BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra will be celebrating the summer with a series of very special shows both from the UK and abroad.

The famous Listen in Colour strapline and chameleon-based logo for Jazz FM is returning to promote the relaunch of the digital only station later this year.

It’s becoming increasingly likely that GrootNieuws Radio, the Dutch Christian radio station on 1008 kHz, will be forced to close down on 1 August.

BBC Radio 3 returns to the WOMAD festival for the eighth year as exclusive media partner broadcasting live from the festival site at Charlton Park throughout the weekend 25th -27th June

RED SANDS RADIO 2008 - PROMOTING:

• Whitstable Oyster Festival
• Kent’s Art & Music
• Project Redsand  & The Maunsell Sea Forts
• Europe’s Unsigned Musicians
• Live music from the Fort

If you are an unsigned musician or live performer and reside in Kent, we need you to get in contact with us.  This years broadcast will put the spotlight on some of Kent’s best creative talent.  To be assured of a spot on Whitstable’s Red Sands Radio we’d like to hear from you as soon as possible. contact us

Red Sands Radio 2008 from July 4th to July 13th on AM & Online

Return to Top

------------------

Flying the Flag

Broadcasting from the Thames Estuary Red Sands Radio might be all at sea but its HQ is in Whitstable & it’s serviced from the harbour there. In the mid 1960’s Radio Sutch, the first station to use a Fort later Radio City settled on Shivering Sands. Meanwhile Radio Invicta later KING then Radio 390, took over the Red Sands. They too were supplied from Whitstable Harbour; Fred Downs owner skipper of the ‘Harvesters’ looked after the needs on Shivering Sands whilst Vic Davies served Red Sands with his ‘Mallard’

Operating outside then British Territorial waters both stations kept a low profile, the Forts were unlit as shown on the Admiralty charts, & no flag ever flew from their radio towers. Now in 2008 broadcasting & operating within British law Red Sands Radio has commissioned its own flag to fly from the Fort top

Said media designer ‘Kathia’ “Initially the idea was to use the overall layout plan of the Forts, but artistically I created a design based on a red background that encompassed the Fort’s elevation in yellow surrounded by the distinctive well know life ring”

Radio Red Sands launches on 4th July 2008. For more information contact Red Sands Radio, PO Box 299, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 2YA or telephone 07961 601 893

Return to Top

Premier Radio have spent all week doing a Radiothon, and have so far been
pledged over 425,000 pounds from Listener's, to purchase new MW transmitters,
and to pay their DAB bills on the London multiplex.

http://www.premier.org.uk/?gclid=CIr9mvnSlZQCFQunQwoddw7ruA

The yearly RAJAR podcasting and internet radio listening survey shows
that 14.5 million people (up from 12m last year) have claimed to
listen to radio via the Internet, thats 28.9% of the population,
including 10.9 million listening live (up from 9m) and 9.3 million who
have used Listen Again services (up from 7.6m). In addition, 6 million
have downloaded a Podcast (up from 4.3m) and 2.1 million have used a
Personalised Online Radio (up from 1.6m).

9.4 million people, 18.8% of the population, claim to listen to radio
via the Internet at least once a week, either live or through a Listen
Again service (up from 8.1m), and 3.7 million to listen to a Podcast
(up from 1.9m).

5% listen to radio via the internet every day or most days, 2.5
million people.

The average user of Listen Again services listens to 1.8 programmes
each week. Three quarters of Listen Again listeners say the service
has no impact on the amount of live radio that they listen to;
however, 13% claim to now listen to more live radio while 7% say they
listen to less. Almost half of Listen Again listeners said they are
now listening to radio programmes that they didn't previously listen
to as a result of the Listen Again service.

The typical Podcast user subscribes to 3.59 Podcasts (up from 3.16)
and spends just over an hour in the last week listening to them.
Comedy and music are the two favourite genres.

The vast majority of Internet radio listeners (89.2%) listen at home;
almost 1 in 4 listen at work (24.4%) while 6.4% listen elsewhere.

Asked when they listen, 36.3% (5.3 million) said their listening was
always in real time. A further 24.7% (3.6 million) said they listened
at a later time than the original broadcast, while 39% (5.7 million)
used a combination of real time and Listen Again, meaning that 9.3
million people use Listen Again facilities.

The full 22 page survey is available for download at:
http://www.rajar.co.uk/content.php?page=news

Return to Top

The BBC has unveiled a new-look BBC iPlayer which fully integrates
radio and TV in one interface, as the service records over 100 million
requests to view programmes in the six months since its launch.

The new-look service, which launched in beta June 25, will 'dual run'
alongside the existing iPlayer for the next few weeks.

Erik Huggers, the BBC's Group Controller for Future Media and
Technology, says: "The next generation of BBC iPlayer allows UK
licence fee payers to catch up on their favourite BBC TV and radio
programmes in one place – a completely unique on-demand service.
Audiences are now able to experience the full range of BBC content
–some 250 TV programmes currently available each week as well as all
the BBC radio networks – in a new and more accessible way, and all for
free.

On-demand radio from the BBC has been a phenomenal success since it
was first launched in 2002, with around 600 million hours listened to
via streaming or the 'listen again' function. The full integration
with iPlayer is a natural evolution for the audio service and an
exciting step for audiences."

Audiences can choose to either listen again to BBC Radio from the last
seven days with even better sound quality, or listen live – while the
option of a pop-out player allows users to continue listening as they
browse other web pages. 'Listen again' users can now also rewind and
fast forward in the same way that they can for TV programmes.

The new-look BBC iPlayer offers a more rewarding user experience,
allowing smoother and easier navigation between TV and Radio
programmes, while features such as 'Last Played' – which allows users
to resume watching programmes at the point they have left off – mark
the beginning of a shift towards personalisation.Other key
enhancements include combined TV and radio categories such as comedy
and drama, a larger playback screen to watch TV programmes and a TV
schedule that allows users to plan their viewing over the coming days.

These will sit alongside the existing 'More Like This' function, which
recommends other programmes users might like. There have been over 100
million requests to view programmes since BBC iPlayer launched. In May
alone, there were 21.8 million requests to view, some 700,000 per day
on average.

Digital Spy reports that Mark Friend, the BBC's controller of
multiplatform at audio and music interactive, described the
integration of radio into iPlayer as "a really big moment" building on
the existing BBC Radio Player, which has served half a billion hours
of content since its 2002 debut.

Bitrates for some networks will be increased to 128kbps, and the
services will be available in formats other than the existing Real
streams. Those streams, however, will continue to be available to
ensure that consumers using devices such as Real-only internet radios
are still able to listen to the BBC's radio services online.

Return to Top

Friend added that the BBC has "worked hard with rights holders" to be
able to offer iPlayer users the same rewind and fast forward
opportunities across television and radio programming. Currently,
users are permitted to jump by 5 or 15 minute chunks through
programmes; with the new version of iPlayer users will have full
playback control over all radio content.

The url for the new BBC IPlayer is www.bbc.co.uk/iplayerbeta or go
directly to the radio section at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayerbeta/radio

From http://www.tgrsound.co.uk/

Join us Sunday 11am - 1pm for the Goodbye Show

It is with much regret we have to announce, that as of Sunday 22nd of
June, your local Community Radio Station, 103.7 FM TGR Sound will cease
broadcasting.

Since its launch in 2004, the station has provided over 300 community
groups with support and free publicity for their events and services,
trained in excess of 5,000 people and forged partnerships with 200
organisations. This has all been achieved by the hard work and dedication of
a team of mainly volunteers.

103.7FM TGR Sound was well regarded by OFCOM and had become as one
of the foremost community radio stations and possibly one of the only
stations that would have been in a position to offer 'Live' broadcasting
from 6.00am to Midnight, seven days a week had it been able to continue.

However despite the efforts of our members to bring in advertising and
sponsorship from the local councils and both local and national companies,
it has proved an impossible task in an increasingly difficult and
competitive environment.

Although regular revenue from training and hosting festivals existed,
it is not sufficient to cover the total costs of running an FM Radio Station
and therefore we became increasingly dependant on grants and funding to
survive and pay for the cost of rent, electricity and other essential
services. These forms of funding by their very nature cannot be guaranteed
and a succession of rejected applications have left 103.7 FM TGR Sound
with no major source of income for the remainder of this year.

We would like to thank everyone for all their hard-work and
involvement - not only the volunteers but the community groups,
organisations and individuals who helped to make 103.7 FM TGR Sound the
number one listened to local radio station across Bexley, Dartford,
Thamesmead and Woolwich.

Ofcom has today fined 30 local radio stations, which form part of GCap
Media's One Network, a total of £1,110,000 for the unfair conduct in a
listener competition; Secret Sound.

Taken together, the fines amount to the highest total financial penalty to
be imposed for the broadcast of radio content which has been found in breach
of the Broadcasting Code.

The radio stations were found in breach of the following rules:

Rule 2.11 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code "Competitions should be conducted
fairly..."; and
Rule 10.10 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code "Any use of premium rate numbers
must comply with the Code of Practice issued by ICSTIS" (now re-named as
PhonepayPlus).

Ofcom's investigation found that on a number of occasions programme makers
deliberately put to air text entrants with incorrect answers in order to
prevent the prize from being won too soon. As a result, those listeners who
had paid to enter the competition on these occasions had no chance of
winning.

The seriousness of the compliance failures was compounded by some of the
actions taken by GCap after the incidents had come to light.

Ofcom has also directed each of the 30 licensees to broadcast a summary of
Ofcom's finding on two separate occasions.

The full Adjudication is available at:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/ocsc_adjud/30GCapRadioStations.pdf

Return to Top

21st June 2008

Wireless Waffler

The Norman Barrington website is looking very good, it always was but I congratulate him on an attactive informative site dedicated to jingles both offshore and inland.  I also was lucky enough to be able to relive some of his programmes thanks to the azanorak website.

BBC Three Counties still puts out some excellent shows.  Ronnie Barbour (spelling?) has a spoof soap opera in his phone in programme at 9pm.  I really must listen to Ern and Vern's whacky Friday show. Jonathan Vernon Smith now does a phone in programme daily and is very entertaining as well.  Still not taken with BBC London my so called local BBC station. I like Danny Baker, Robert Elms and a few others, but why do the BBC have to use top celebrities on this station. Local radio should be about local people surely?  

I was horrified a few weeks ago to find that when I was back in Madeira that reception in my apartment was very poor.  Last time we went we were at the top of the hill in a hotel and reception was superb.  I only managed to get two recordings of stations, and ones I had heard before.

For the first time ever I have not had the chance to do any shortwave listening for around 4 weeks, largely due to having the house re-decorated.  Well that is my excuse!

I wish Bob Le Roi all the best with his second Red Sands Radio broadcasts.  I was chuffed last year to be able to receive them in the suburbs of London on a portable radio.

Andy Peebles is sounding good on the Soul Show on Smooth Radio, but we miss the excellent Peter Young - PT the Pork Pie come back to the radio very soon!

Interesting to see that the last edition of Dr Who was essential driven by sound effects rather than monsters and visual effects.  Dr Who is great entertainment, I believe there may have been radio versions of this in the past?

News from other sources

The BBC have erected a memorial on top of Broadcasting House to reporters who have been killed on war reporting duties etc.  There is a web page which gives a picture and full details at 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/broadcastinghouse/memorial/index.shtml

SMG, which owns the ITV franchise in Scotland, had its sale of Virgin Radio approved by shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting in Glasgow yesterday.

A London community radio station is to become the first in the capital to cease broadcasting. TGR Sound, which broadcast to the Bexley, Dartford, Thamesmead and Woolwich areas...

Return to Top

An additional frequency has been added for RNW’s coverage in Dutch of tomorrow’s Euro 2008 quarter-final between the Netherlands and Russia: Sackville 1800-2200 UTC - 11640 kHz...

Return to Top

Capital 95.8 have re-started a competition worth 155,000 pounds, despite the prize been won a fortnight ago.The original winner has been deemed ineligible by the station.

Hospital station Radio Chelsea and Westminster has moved into brand new purpose built designer studios, whilst Roch Valley Radio officially launches in Greater Manchester.

Starting on Monday 23 June, the frequency of the VOA Studio 7 broadcast to Zimbabwe via the RNW Madagascar relay station at 1700-1800 UTC will change from 13755 to 11605 kHz.

Return to Top

9 June 2008

Statement by the BBC Trust

The BBC Trust held its monthly meeting today and reached agreement on the BBC's submission to the Ofcom PSB review.

The Trust's decision today is the conclusion of a series of discussions since the review was first launched about the BBC's role in the future of PSB and the wider issues of partnership, collaboration and how to ensure that audiences are central to this important debate. The BBC's response to the consultation is now being finalised and will be submitted to Ofcom early next week.

The Trust has decided that the BBC should submit a single response to the consultation about public service broadcasting, reflecting the Trust's earlier decisions on the BBC's six year strategy and the Trust's and Executive's shared thinking on the challenges beyond that timeframe and practical responses to the issues raised by Ofcom.

BBC Chairman Sir Michael Lyons said:

"This is an important time for public service broadcasting in the UK, both in terms of changes in the industry and in the audiences we serve. The Trust has called for an open and wide-ranging debate. That debate must include the role the BBC can play in the future of PSB. In developing our response, the Trust has challenged the Director-General and the BBC Executive to develop proposals as to how the BBC can continue to be the cornerstone of the British broadcasting system and work in partnership with the broadcasting and wider media sector."

Return to Top

Research bureau Intomart GfK has today published the Dutch radio market share figures for April/May 2008. The big winner is market leader Radio 538, which has increased its lead over second placed Radio 2 to almost two percentage points. Radio 538 gained 0.6 percent, while Radio 2 lost 0.5 percent.

The next biggest winner was 100%NL, whose share jumped from 1.5 to 1.9 percent. This is all the more remarkable as 100%NL is in transition, and playing continuous music. The plan was to recruit some new DJ’s, but as the continuous music format is doing so well with the listeners, the plan may well be revised. One thing we do know is that rumours of a name change for the station are untrue. Station boss Herbert Visser has confirmed to us that the station will remain 100%NL.

The market shares in percent (March/April shares in brackets) were as follows:

1. Radio 538   11.8  (11.2)
2. Radio 2*   9.9  (10.4)
3. Sky Radio   9.1  (9.0)
4. Radio 3FM*   7.6  (7.5)
5. Q-Music   7.6  (7.4)
6. Radio 1*   6.8  (7.0)
7. Veronica   6.1  (6.2)
8. Radio 10 Gold  3.2  (3.1)
9. Arrow Classic Rock   2.6  (2.7)
10. Radio 5*   2.4  (2.7)
11. Classic FM   2.2  (2.3)
12. Slam! FM   2.1  (2.0)
13. Radio 4*  1.9  (unchanged)
14. 100%NL   1.9  (1.5)
15. BNR nieuwsradio   0.8  (0.7)
16. Arrow Jazz FM   0.7  (0.8)
17. Caz   0.4  (0.5)
18. Kink FM   0.3  (0.3)
19. TMF radio 0.2 (0.3)
20. Radio 6* 0.1 (0.2)

Return to Top

Superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold is to returning to his roots in radio broadcasting with a series of shows for London dance network Kiss.

In an exclusive BBC Radio 4 interview Linford Christie says it was his right to carry the Olympic flame through the streets of London.

Southern FM Breakfast Presenter Nicky Keig-Shevlin this morning announced her decision to quit after two decades at the station.

Authorities in Zimbabwe have banned wind-up receivers, a favourite among nongovernmental organisations seeking to promote access to information in rural areas.

Former radio announcers of the Voice of Free Indonesia (VOFI) have criticized contemporary announcers for their low proficiencies in foreign languages, especially English.

STMicroelectronics, has recently signed an agreement with WorldSpace® Satellite Radio to develop, manufacture and distribute chips for European Satellite Digital Radio (ESDR)...

Return to Top

5th June 2008

Wireless Waffler:

A lot of interesting news and radio going on as usual.  I was able to get some shots of BBC Broadcasting House recently and have put them in the waffle on line magazine for you to view.  No longer any demolition going on but some real building work. The demolition of Egton House and rebuilding there is complete.  What exists now is a similar shaped building to Broadcasting House, which at a distance frames All Souls Church.  

News from other sources

Andy Shier has left The Local Radio Company to join Wave 105 as programme controller. Andy replaces Dave Shearer who left three months ago to join GMG Radio in Manchester.

Channel 4 is giving us a taster of what's to come on their new national multiplex with the launch of Big Brother's Big Ears - an online radio show hosted by Iain Lee and Gemma...

Radio 4 has promised to focus on fewer but longer-running drama series for the next year. By Ben Dowell

Digital radio station Planet Rock has been sold to the millionaire boss of a visa and passport applications business.

Eric Chilvers of Radio Tatras International writes: RTI will no longer be airing English language programmes on the FM service of RTI-SK (Slovak Republic) starting from 05 June...

Radio DJ Kevin Greening died from a drug overdose after taking part in a gay bondage session, an inquest has heard.

Sensational Tony Blackburn is set to be networked across five of GMG's Smooth Radio stations.His weekend breakfast show, which originates from London each Saturday and Sunday...

A Radio Scilly presenter has begun a challenge of a lifetime by aiming to row the 3100 miles across the Atlantic from New York to the Isles of Scilly in 55 days or less.

Return to Top

TalkSport has signed Danny Baker's former sparring partner Danny Kelly to co-host a new evening show.

IRN has launched a 24/​7 breaking news video service to provide the countries biggest radio groups with news, entertainment and sports content for their websites

RTI: The RTI PROGRAM WINNER 2008 is Nicola Serfelova! The Runner Up is Johnny Reece, Album Zone. Full results can be viewed at www.rti.

The much anticipated sale of Virgin Radio by SMG has taken place. TIML Golden Square Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Times of India Group, have bought the station. The publisher of the Times of India has bought Virgin Radio from SMG for ??53.2m, in its first international acquisition and its first step towards an ambitious...

Return to Top

Positive tests results using the DRM+ standard for a radio station broadcasting on FM were unveiled at an international symposium yesterday.

BBC Radio 1 announces today that a host of Radio 1 DJs will present Edith Bowmans show weekdays 14pm during her maternity leave.

Ofcom has approved a request by Bauer Radio to flip the formats of 21 local digital services, to Magic.

Southport's 107.9 Dune FM has been sold by The Local Radio Company, RadioToday.co.uk has learnt.Although TLRC were unable to confirm the disposal the station, RadioToday.co.

GCap have sold XFM South Wales to Town and Country Broadcasting for an unspecified fee.The station, which was only launched six months ago, will be rebranded Nation Radio 

Return to Top

Media companies in New Zealand are resisting calls for a combined telecommunications and broadcasting commissioner to regulate the converging industries, reports the New Zealand...

RadioCentre has united 14 commercial radio stations across the south east to sponsor this year's GuilFest festival in Surrey, taking the deal away from BBC Radio 2.

Community radio group Brooklands FM are back, offering a live stream of local programming until June 15th.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide and Radio 1, the Dutch news and information network, are cooperating to deliver a special radio service called EKfm for Dutch football supporters in...

High Peak Radio is extending their coverage of Derbyshire with the launch of Ashbourne Radio, a dedicated service broadcasting on 96.7FM

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) has suspended all broadcasts by private radio stations in Malawi as riots and protests erupted in parts of the country

Return to Top

Ofcom has awarded five new community radio licences for Staffordshire and the Midlands.The regulators also considered three further applications from across Staffordshire and...

National pop and rock station Virgin Radio is going commercial free on bank holiday Monday, in a deal with Magners Irish Cider.

Return to Top

In the BBC Radio Wales documentary Boxing Is Fighting Back on Saturday 31 May 1.30 and 6.30pm Sarah Dickins learns how one of Wales upandcoming boxers the Commonwealth Bronze...

Legendary TV couple Anne Diamond and Nick Owen are reunited as they host BBC London 94.9s breakfast show next week.

Ofcom have turned down a request by UTV to relocate Imagine 104.9 FM. UTV wanted to move the Stockport station to their hub at Warrington, where it already houses three

The latest digital radio sales figures are in – and they show that after 10 years there are now seven million DAB sets sold in the UK

Despite losing market share in the latest set of audience results, figures released today by the RadioCentre show that radio advertising revenue is increasing.

Gemma Dee, one half of Rock FM's breakfast show and currently living in a shop window in Preston for the station's latest charity event, has said yes to her partner who proposed...

Return to Top

13th May 2008

Wireless Waffler 

No updates for a while but I have been listening in on the shortwaves and really must put some more up to date logs on this site.  Not enough hours in the day!   I have heard PMR today from Moldovia on 12135 KHz in English.  Not the most inspiring of broadcasts but a man explaining how difficult it was to form the new region.  There is a recording of this station on You tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6fn3rMB9VY

Good to hear Hastings Rock back on the air again for the whole of May. It can be heard on line at http://www.hastingsrock.co.uk/  I was alerted to this by my contact John in Hastings and thank him as ever.  He used to do me some recordings from the transmitter but it is good to be able to hear this station on air.  It has a format similar to Radio Caroline, or maybe it is between Caroline and Planet Rock?

The British DX Club have just issued their excellent broadcasts in English booklet 

Not strictly radio, but well done to Virgin Media for putting BBC iplayer on Cable.  It works very well, and Iplayer Icon appears on BBC 1 and you push the red button on the handset and a menu appears.  You and stop it, scan through the programme and stop it, as you can do on their excellent Catch Up TV service.

A recommended website, courtesy of the British DX club is http://theradiokitchen.net/ visit it for a free download of a fascinating LP in MP3 format celebrating radio.

Good to learn that Gordon Brown has raised the tax threshold, but he will grab it back with another tax soon!

Return to Top

News from other sources

Bauer Radio's digital station Q Radio will relaunch next month with an exclusive show from REM.

BBC 6Music has issued a warning to presenter George Lamb, after he appeared to pledge his support on air for Boris Johnson

The BBC has urged Ofcom to broaden its investigation into the pay television market to include the power of platform operators such as Sky.

Sky's rival pay TV operators, meanwhile, used their submissions to the regulator to restate their case that Sky is narrowing consumer choice and keeping prices high. They want a full market investigation by the Competition Commission.

The BBC accused Sky of using "technical standards to limit the editorial and commercial freedoms of its channel customers".

Among its complaints were that Sky has prevented it from developing interactive services for the Sky feeds of its radio stations.

"As pay TV platforms are a significant potential source of market power, it is vital for Ofcom to undertake its analysis from the perspective of intermediate customers (including channel providers and other platform operators) as well as final customers," the corporation said in its statement, which was published today by Ofcom.

Due to interference in the target area, the frequency of the RNW transmission in Dutch to SE Asia at 1159-1257 UTC via Madagascar has been changed from 17745 to 17740 kHz.

Planet Rock, the radio station that GCap Media, Britain's largest commercial radio group, announced it would axe, was last night named digital station of the year at the Sony Awards.

Return to Top

The Opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party has reportedly complained that the All Peoples Congress-led Government has shut down Unity Radio FM 98.4 of the SLPP.

Return to Top

Russell Brand and Dermot O'Leary both picked up their first ever Sony Radio Academy Awards last night.

The pair - both on BBC Radio 2 - won the entertainment award and music programme award respectively.

BBC Radio 4 was named UK station of the year while BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles beat Johnny Vaughan of Virgin Radio to the breakfast show title.

The Sonys were presented at a ceremony at London's Grosvenor House Hotel.

Digital-only station Planet Rock, which is under threat of closure, won the award for digital station of the year. Fish, a host on the station, came second in the music broadcaster category, while it also took the multiplatform radio award.

BBC 6 Music DJ George Lamb was voted winner of the Sony DAB rising star award, ahead of BBC Radio 1's Kelly Osbourne.

Jenny Abramsky, the BBC's outgoing director of audio and music, was given a special award in recognition of her 40 years in the industry. Judges said she had "stamped her very distinctive imprint on our industry... she’s been a mighty champion".