** AUSTRALIA. 12065 & 12085, Dec 28 at 1413, R. Australias are at equal
levels, instead of normally 12065 much weaker than 12085, due to differing
azimuths. Something has changed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CHINA [non]. See USA: 1520 KYND
** CUBA. 1620, Dec 28
at 0317, as I tune in, ``Parada de Éxitos, Rebelde``, and // 5025, so not
relaying the FM network instead this time. WRTH 2016 has three Rebeldes on 1620,
two of which are in Ciudad de la Habana province, 5 kW in Guanabacoa, and
unknown power in El Sapo, surely one of those rather than the third, 1 kW in
far-off Guantánamo. One other Cuban 1620 is R. Bayamo, Granma (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. 9860, Dec 28 before 0330, no sign of R.
Cairo, English to western N America, as alleged in WRTH 2016 for 0200 UT.
I also listened to more of the `livestream` version of Cairo in English,
recorded Dec 25-26, and found that the YL announcer with a very heavy accent
after news headlines closed the 2300 UT broadcast at about 2425 announcing the
frequency as 9965, and that news times are ``1:15 and 2:25 Cairo local time`` =
2315 and 0025 UT; ``Merry Christmas and Happy New Year``. Just music played to
fill out the sesquihour before switching to Arabic. May we assume there is no
livestream version of any 0200 UT broadcast, which may no longer exist at all?
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDIA [and non]. 9870, Dec 28
at 1415, AIR Vividh Bharati via Bengaluru with familiar march theme, for news
break? Heavy CCI from CRI English via Xian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** MEXICO. 1030, Dec 28 at 0635 and at many other times, dominant
signal is Spanish talk, which no doubt is XEYC, R. Fórmula, in Juárez,
Chihuahua, 1/1 kW, rather than 50/5 kW XEQR, R. Centro in the DF, almost twice
the distance whence signals are remarkably rare (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENINNG
DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 800, Dec 28 at 1340 UT, KQCV OKC is OFF!
As of 1625 UT check, OG&E System Watch has more than 57K outages across
central OK; more than 8000 in OKC proper, many more in suburbs, including almost
4000 in Mustang, close to the KQCV site (and 1254 in Enid, but so far only a few
power glitches here). 800 still off 5 hours later.
Even when KQCV is
actively gospel-huxtering English in the evenings, gospel-huxtering in Spanish
can be heard along with it, no doubt the super-powering TWR 800 BONAIRE.
XEROK 800 is still negligible but supposedly on the air at very low
power. The new 2015 IRCA Mexican Log still has it as 50/50 kW, no mention of any
degradation; likewise the new 2016 WRTH: despite numerous non-logs from myself
and others the last several months (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 1640, Dec 28 at 0316 UT, KZLS Enid-OKC is
open carrier/dead air yet again; some weak talk underneath and at 0357 UT,
probably WTNI Biloxi MS. KZLS still dead air at 0630 UT and still at 1350 UT. We
have an ice storm around here with considerable power outages, but the site east
of Hennessey obviously has power; just can`t get any programming, a very
frequent situation when there is nothing untoward to explain it (Glenn Hauser,
Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA [and non]. ANOTHER ice storm
has hit us. In Enid, anyway, it`s not as bad as the Thanksgiving one. Icy limbs
but all the leaves are gone now, and the weakest were already broken. But there
are still a lot of power lines down elsewhere so time for another FM bandscan on
the PL-880 to see what`s abnormal (in addition to 800 KQCV OKC missing, separate
log). Dec 28 at 1352+ UT:
88.3, K202BY Enid, Family Radio, OFF since
last storm, never back
88.5, KZTH Piedmont, continuous hi pitched tone, and
barely audible lo pitched tone at same time! Yet parent station 89.7 KJTH is
OK
89.1, K206CA Enid, Oasis, had been on, but now OFF
89.3, KIEL Loyal,
seems also off, tho not always audible
90.3, KHEV Fairview probably off, tho
not always audible
90.5, KGVV Goltry OFF
93.7, KSPI Stillwater seems
off; no, at 1434 UT on but weak
95.7, KXLS Lahoma/Enid, OFF
96.9, KQOB
Enid/Crescent/OKC, OFF
[this allows another ``Bob``, on 97.1 to be
audible: at 1420 UT, after Wichita weather, ``97-1 Bob FM, where Bob plays
everything`` such as country-rock to follow: KIBB 18.5/18.5 kW Haven KS --- NW
of Wichita, toward Hutchinson, not to be confused with South Haven on OK
border]
99.7, KNAH Mustang, OFF
104.1, KMGL OKC is on, and finally no
more Xmas music
105.1, KOSB Perry, OFF
105.5, K288FX, North Enid, on but
only NOISE, evidently open feed from primary, which is KYLV 88.9, but I thought
it was OK. Back to normal later
105.7, KRDR Alva OFF, so KROU Spencer is
again audible carefully
107.1, KNID North Enid OFF
Later check
starting at 1740 UT for anything different:
88.5, KZTH is OFF, no more
intoning
88.9, KYLV is apparently on but weak (see 105.5
above)
After 1811 UT, on more selective caradio,
90.9, KOKF Edmond,
Air One is OFF; normally merges with same on 91.1 KKRD Enid, still on
97.5,
KPAK Alva, is OFF
106.7, KTUZ Okarche is OFF; Spanish, had been on earlier
today
AM:
800, KQCV OKC is still off
1280, KSOK Arkansas City
KS, just across the border, is the only other notable absence on midday
groundwave
1640, KZLS Enid-Hennessey-OKC is dead air again
On cable
TV, KOCM, Suddenlink 6 and 106 is missing – just black, no error message.
Antenna is still getting a signal on RF 46, tho bad --- this one is always
marginal (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WORLD OF
RADIO 1805 monitoring: confirmed UT Monday Dec 28 starting at 0402 on Area 51
via WBCQ 5109.7-CUSB; Jean Shepherd ran a bit over with his hilarious
stream-of-consciousness. 1805 also confirmed at 0430 on WRMI webcast of 9955,
unchecked on SW. Next:
Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE
Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to
SSE
Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A. 3195, Dec 28 circa 0310, WWRB is still on here, with
the Tullahoma TN preacher, but at 0352 recheck it`s off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1130, Dec 28 at 0323 UT, open carrier/dead
air from NE/SW, surely my semi-local KLEY Wellington KS, supposed to be 250
watts daytime and PSRA, ONE WATT at night. Ditto at 0634 UT, but by 1343 UT it`s
recovered (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1520, Dec 28
at 1346 UT, KOKC OKC talk with severe interference, often atop it, and almost
zero-beat, from C&W music: must be KYND Cypress TX, and 1349 UT conveniently
breaks for ID in American English, ``1520 KYND``.
This is one of the
stations which had been relaying China Radio International, but no more, as
discussed on WOR and DXLD (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Viz.:
G&E STUDIO/CRI PROGRAMMING GONE FROM DOMESTIC U.S.
STATIONS?
It appears that G&E Studio, which was affiliated with China
Radio International, might have lost funding from its arrangement with CRI and
has discontinued its leased broadcasts on stations in the U.S., including KYND
1520 and KGBC 1540 here in the Houston area. Much discussion of this on the
RadioDiscussions.com Houston board.
KGBC is now running Hum Tum Radio, a
South Asian targeted format produced in Houston (and also heard on 106.1 FM
here) while KYND is running music fill while it searches for another programmer
to lease time on the station.
This new development might have something
to do with the Chinese government's reevaluation of its international media
efforts as mentioned by Keith Perron on this forum a few months back.
The
G&E Studio website is still there:
Glenn, you have
frequently reported hearing KYND during critical hours (daytime only station) so
look for something different underneath KOKC (Stephen Luce, Houston, Texas, Dec
22, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1805, DXLD)
This CRI relay deal thru a
ChiCom front organization in the US got a lot of negative publicity a few months
ago, after the FCC had turned a blind eye to it. So now the question is whether
CRI has also disappeared from several other cities, e.g. 1120 in Washington DC,
1540 in Philadelphia, etc. Even 1540, Toronto?
As for KYND, its pattern
is supposed to be a circle tangent eastward, groundwave to interfere with the
Lafayette LA station, not KOKC, which remains self-degraded at only 10 instead
of 50 kW, since a tornado broke one of its towers last May; well, how long to
replace it if they are ever going to?
Here`s a LOT more about the CRI
situation from Radio Discussions Houston board.
b-turner
is obviously someone in charge of KYND: (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
Our programmer cancelled their programming. While we could have
gone live at the studio, we wanted a more 21st century option. And certainly
getting stuck in the mud at the tower site was a given but maybe not after a
couple of dry days. We needed a couple of days and a piece of equipment to pull
that off, so in lieu of airing silence or being stuck in the studio the whole
time, we shut down until we got our ducks in a row. In fact, I met with our
engineer yesterday (both of us visiting family and it just happened to be the
same city, minutes away from each other), and I was able to pass of what he
needed from me. I see the piece we needed came in and we're up.
From my
understanding G&E Studios created most of the programming heard on the
English version with a few from China Radio. When China decided to stop things,
G&E had to cancel us and I understand all of the English language stations
they were on throughout North America. Like usual, no matter the terms of a
contract, when cancellation comes, it is always without warning, unexpected and
not a win-win for any involved parties. In fact your client might not know until
the final moment as well. That is simply the nature of the
business.
Finding a new qualified programmer sometimes feels like trying
to win the lottery. You don't know them, how to find them and they don't know
you, but whn everything aligns, somehow you connect. Meanwhile you are painfully
aware of the revenue loss (b-turner, Dec 21, radiodiscussions.com Houston via
DXLD)
Yep, everything is changing. And I can see why. Cost for one thing,
younger audience more adept to listening via network services rather than over
the air, also. Portable devices these days aren't a traditional radio of course,
they almost all have internet connectivity now. I wonder if the openings on SW
will attract some new blood? I don't see the bands going to complete waste, nor
do I ever see them being what they once were, just impossible with today's
world, and I don't see the ham bands getting extended either, just not that
crowded.
So is this re-evaluation of China's radio efforts due to the
same thing that's going on everywhere, or does this have something to do with
the news stories recently about Chinese Radio and their government propaganda
machine? Bill have you heard anything about why the cancel of the programming?
(Chris, KF5JMD, Dec 22, ibid.)
Allow me to try to explain a bit about the
CRI deal: G&E Studios is an American company that had a client, China Radio
International. G&E leased stations and placed programming on them. Some
programming came from CRI but much originated from American hosts (using Los
Angeles Air Talent) who did shows on subjects like technology, sports, financial
and other subjects. G&E was hired to do this by CRI.
After 5 years,
the funding for this was stopped resulting in G&E no longer having a client
and a bunch of stations they leased mow needing programming and a new paying
client. I suppose the Chinese 'reevaluated' and dropped the ax. It is my
understanding the English language version was stopped everywhere in every city
G&E leased a station to carry the programming. This would not be a just
Houston thing. I really enjoyed having G&E as a client, really nice people,
understanding and very reasonable in their dealings, a truly rare find
(b-turner, Dec 22, ibid.)
Possibly anything to do with this, I wonder?
BTW: As I said before I liked the programming.
``FEDS
INVESTIGATE RADIO BROADCASTER OVER ALLEGED CHINESE OWNERSHIP
11/3/2015 by
Associated Press
Federal regulators are investigating a U.S. radio
broadcasting company that is reportedly majority-owned by a unit of a Chinese
government broadcaster.
A spokesman for the Federal Communications
Commission confirmed Tuesday that the agency will open a probe into G&E
Studio Inc., a Los Angeles-based company reportedly owned by James Su, a
naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Shanghai.
The company leases
stations and air time, and broadcasts in more than 10 cities across the U.S.,
including Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.``
This
site`s story about it makes it out to be a "Covert" Radio Network,
LOL.
``INVESTIGATION
LAUNCHED INTO COVERT CHINESE RADIO NETWORK BROADCASTING IN 12 U.S CITIES AND
BACKED BY THE BEIJING GOVERNMENT
Report revealed some radio broadcasts
are being backed by the Chinese --- G&E Studio Inc is 60% owned by state run
Chinese Radio International --- The firm is owned by James Su, a naturalized US
citizen born in Shanghai --- He owns or leases virtually all the air time on at
least a dozen US stations``
I spent a lot (100's) of hours listening to
1520AM KYND while I worked at my shop, and can say that yes, some of the
programming from G&E/CRI was obviously hand picked by the Chinese
Government, along with the fact that a lot of the big news stories involving
China mysteriously were just left out of the programming entirely. But still it
was a good listen, and informative (KF5JMD, ibid.)
Interesting posts.
"G&E Studio Inc is 60% owned by state run Chinese Radio International"; "The
company leases stations and air time". G&E does not own stations from what I
know (and I sure don't know it all). The Daily Mail article clearly says that:
G&E does not own any U.S. stations, but it leases.
So, let's
clarify: you rent a space to open, say a hair styling salon on the corner of a
busy intersection. You pay the rent and attend to your customers at that
location. My question, does the salon operator own the building? Next question:
Is the salon owner leasing the space from the building owner? If you rent/lease
a home, do you own it?
I think it might be fair to say 60% of their
revenue came from the client China Radio International. What I find interesting
is how a naturalized citizen can be foreign ownership. Sure, they could be a
'front' but a citizen is not [sic] a citizen.
For the record, I have
never seen, spoken to or dealt with Mr. Su. If he was leasing the station I
manage, I think I'd know it or I'd have some contact at some point over half a
decade. I have known of the people I dealt with prior to them coming to us about
the lease. In fact they had been involved in radio in Houston.
Covert is
really a funny way to describe things since most of the programming came from
independent air talent in the Los Angeles area who were hired to do shows on
topics like finance, sports, entertainment and such.
They would have
been very covert if they were still on by making fun of the Miss Universe
blunder and how Mr. Harvey's post misspelled Philippines and Colombia. Scary
covert stuff indeed. My point is most all programming I heard was the same sort
of stuff you'd hear elsewhere on the radio dial.
It is true the English
language programming, while mostly originated in Los Angeles, was paid for
through CRI who hired G&E Studios to originate programming and broadcast a
couple of shows off of CRI's English Service. Even the news originated from Los
Angeles air talent, was simply rip and read, with local weather and traffic
added.
This would be akin to the BBC hiring an American company to place
BBC programming on stations in the USA and authorizing that company to originate
programming of interest to the American public. The BBC is known as a state
broadcaster (b-turner, ibid.)
Yep, that's me jocking from my cheap
studio at the house. That's what I get for being an old top 40 jock back in the
day when you only spoke over the music and shut up before the lyrics began. We
were having some problems today and the engineer will be out there in the
morning to see why what couldn't go wrong did.
I mean we are talking
something like turning on the radio, then you walk away from it 5 minutes and
for some reason without human intervention, it turns itself off. All you can do
is scratch your head, turn it back on and watch it for a while to see if it does
the same thing. Then again, if you watch it, it never messes up. It waits until
you are not watching it. Or at least that's my experience with equipment that is
to do what it is supposed to do (b-turner, Dec 22, ibid.)
** YEMEN [non].
11860, Dec 28 at 1439, R. Sana`a with rousing music, S9+10 but IADs; 1441
dramatic music and narration, interrupted at 1441:22.5 for Maghrib Call to
Prayer, still marred by intermittent audio dropouts. This is only 5.5 seconds
later than yesterday, so they are again failing to keep up with the sunset
shifting later at a faster rate. This time I don`t notice any R. Ashna
underneath in the Qur`anic pauses, so has IBB finally moved Kuwait away?
Inconclusive about that so far.
As for where this Sana`a is really
transmitted from, I have previously suggested that 11860 could be from more than
one transmitter site. Three reasons for this:
1, Altho it is reported to
be on air 24 hours, only one segment circa 1330-1530 UT provides any significant
signal here, and then it is remarkably good. I haven`t heard any abrupt signal
changes, however.
2, Bill Bingham in South Africa has been monitoring,
and reports this:
``It seems that 11860 supplies a useful signal into
South Africa for just a few minutes after our local sunrise (around 0314 as I
reported on Dec 25), and again at around our local sunset and later. Tonight
(Dec 28) it was audible when I tuned in at 1620, with an S4 signal, improving
slightly to S4-S5 by 1700. Our local sunset tonight was at 1702. As of 1730
there had been no further improvement, and reception suddenly got worse when
considerable co-channel QRM began at 1730 through to about 1755, possibly AWR to
North Africa. Just before the QRM ended, a considerable SAH started at 1754, as
though another transmitter had started up on the same frequency. When the SAH
stopped at about 1758, signal was suddenly up to S7 peaking at S9 and perfectly
readable``
3, And earlier there was this from Paraíba: ``Clandestine:
11860, 12/23 1841-1855 Radio Sana´a, Jeddah [sic], in Arabic. Traditional Arabic
song; OM talks; fair signal and poor modulation, 35332 (DXer José Ronaldo Xavier
(JRX), Cabedelo - Brazil, Degen DE1103 / Tecsun S-2000, Hard-Core-DX mailing
list via DXLD)``
The modulation is *never* ``poor`` when heard here in
the 1330-1530 period --- so different site at 1841-1855??? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. 6870.0-AM, Dec 28 at 0308, very poor S7
signal with talk, 0349 a JBA carrier, presumably a pirate. HF Underground has no
logs of this, and the frequency only had two other unIDs this year in Sept and
earlier in Dec (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED.
21585, Dec 28 at 1506, JBA carrier. Nothing at all is listed on 21585 in latest
HFCC or EiBi or Aoki. In the mostly vacant 13m band, any carrier stands out with
BFO. At this time, 21690 RFI Swahili via Issoudun is S7, while 21675 WRMI is
only JBA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
UNIDENTIFIED. RF 2, Dec
27 at 1743 UT, weak NTSC video fades in, then a bit of audio to go with it. 1746
definitely Spanish audio, seems novela. Tiny text bug in lower right, unfamiliar
and unreadable. In and out for a few minutes, nothing further. 6m map shows the
only sporadic E is across northeast US, MUF 67 MHz.
My antenna remains
permanently aimed about 170 degrees to favor Mexico and Oklahoma City. I
habitually assume something like this is Mexico, but that`s becoming less so and
with their apagón analógico Dec 31, the band will be more open for more exotic
Latin American analog TV DX which still exists (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
This report dispatched at 2024 UT December 28
