mercoledì 31 ottobre 2018

Spain: REE resumes foreign languages on SW

Confirmation last night of the very welcome return of foreign languages on shortwave from Radio Exterior de Espana.

REE English was heard here last night (29 October) at 2300-2330 UTC followed by French starting at 2330 UTC on 9690 and 12030 - only 9690 audible here with 12030 very weak.

Towards the end of the programme several songs about radio were played "to celebrate our return to the radio". The announcer said that English as well as Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian and Safardic have returned to the airwaves “thanks to the efforts of Radio Exterior’s new management under our new director, old colleague Antonio Buitrago”

The English schedule was announced as
2300 UTC on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, repeated at 0300 UTC on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

This is confirmed by the online programme schedule which also give the times of some of the other languages
http://www.rtve.es/radio/radio-exterior/programacion/
(NB this schedule is in Spanish time - subtract one hour for UTC)

The repeat English broadcast at 0300 needs confirming as according to REE’s earlier frequency announcement shortwave broadcasts stop at 0300, although HFCC shows 9690 continuing until 0400.

The English programme can be downloaded at
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/emision-en-ingles/
This confusingly states   "English Language Broadcast Martes, jueves y sábado da las 23.00 horas UTC y las 03. 00 horas UTC"

So there is some confusion about the schedule at REE but the good news is that foreign languages from Spain are back on short wave!

73s (Dave Kenny
Caversham, Berks
AOR7030+  25m long wire
Oct 30, bdxc-news iog via DXLD

Note that the full schedule does not give any program titles for English; claims Portuguese instead of Russian at 19h HOE, and Sefardi is weekly Sundays at 2230 UT.

The English archive briefly gives the topic of each one; note that all are a bit over 30 minutes long, a few much over, like 34, 37, 41 (gh)