Month: December 2021

Norway

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Reminder! From 2200 CET on the 14th to 0008 CET on the 15th of December, the last program of Radio Northern Star on AM under the current license will be broadcast.
After the Midnight Station ID, the signature tune “Northern Star” by Ann Reed, and the daily closing ceremony a special version of the Norwegian national anthem “Ja vi Elsker” will go out, before the transmitter goes off the air.
At the same time, also the 1611 kHz The Sea transmitter will leave the air, but we hope the silence on all channels will be temporary.
Correct listener reports are answered with eQSL, please send report and preferably a short audio recording in mp3 to report@northernstar.no and 1000@northernstar.no
We wish you all a blessed Advent, Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year 2022,
And-Thanks for listening!
Svenn Martinsen wrote on the  Arctic Radio Club Facebook group 11 December 2021.

Kari Kallio to nordx iog (2021-12-14)

Myanmar

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”I’ve just been checking 711 kHz with a signal in Burmese, which turns out to be MRTV 2nd programme “Thapyay Radio” launched in July according to https://mrtv.gov.mm/mm/news-116750 – on 711 kHz for Central Myanmar, and it’s also on FM 99.6 in Yangon. Just speculating, but the 711 kHz transmitter may well be the same unit that was used by Thazin Radio 639 kHz from Pyin U Lwin, which I haven’t been able to hear since Aug 2019. A 400 kW Chinese-made transmitter was used by MRTV Naypyidaw initially on 693 kHz from around 2008 (co-channel Bangladesh Betar), before shifting to 711 kHz, but it apparently went off air some time before Thazin Radio launched on MW around 2012.”

Alan Davies via Mauno Ritola, Arctic Radio Club Dec. 13 via WOR iog (2021-12-14)

United States

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Craig Karmazin’s Good Karma Brands will acquire ESPN’s local radio properties in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Good Karma began operating ESPN’s “ESPN 1000” WMVP Chicago via LMA in September 2019. This deal will convert that to a purchase along with 1050 WEPN New York and “710 ESPN” KSPN Los Angeles. Good Karma will also take over the LMA of “98.7 ESPN” WEPN-FM New York from Emmis Communications that is currently contracted to run through August 31, 2024. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed outside of agreeing to a long-term affiliation agreement to continue broadcasting ESPN Radio content.
Good Karma also owns “ESPN” branded Sports stations in Cleveland, Madison, Milwaukee and West Palm Beach as well as additional stations in Milwaukee and Beaver Dam WI.
Tim McCarthy, who served as SVP/General Manager of the New York and Los Angeles properties, exited ESPN in September due to the pending deal. McCarthy had been with ESPN parent Disney/ABC since 1990 and also served as SVP/Audio & Play-By-Play for ESPN Radio.
ESPN parent Disney will retain 1110 KRDC Los Angeles and “103.3 ESPN” KESN Allen/Dallas TX.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/216860/good-karma-acquires-espns-new-york-los-angeles-chicago-properties/

Lance Venta, RadioInsight (2021-12-13)

United States

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New England Gets Its First All-Digital AM.
WSRO debuts all-digital on 650 kHz near Boston.
Another AM radio station in the United States has converted to all-digital broadcast operations. WSRO(AM) turned off its analog signal in early December and is now broadcasting jazz music in all-digital AM covering the western suburbs of Boston.
The radio station is licensed to Ashland, Mass., and owned by Langer Broadcasting Group. The geographic area considered part of the MetroWest region of Greater Boston and located about a half-hour west of the city.
According to a post by station representatives on a Boston area radio message board: “WSRO Ashland, Mass. is on the air in the digital-only MA-3 mode of HD Radio. The transition occurred about 3:30 p.m. this afternoon (December 1).”
The station, which promoted the switch to all-digital AM on-air, asked for reception reports from listeners in its online post.
WSRO programming is simulcast on FM translator 102.1 MHz in Framingham, Mass. It also simulcasts in analog on 1410 (AM) and 98.1 (FM), according to those familiar with the most recent developments.
Attempts to reach representatives of WSRO for comment on the transition and listener response were unsuccessful.
WSRO was silent from July 9, 2020, through Oct.27, 2020, to reorganize its finances, according to the FCC database. The station broadcast a Brazilian music format until it switched to jazz earlier this year.

The station’s transition follows the recent move of Cumulus Media news talker WFAS(AM) in New York’s Hudson Valley to all-digital AM broadcasting. WWFD(AM) in Frederick, Md., and WMGG(AM) in Tampa, Fla., are two other stations operating with all-digital AM broadcasts.
In addition, several other AM licensees have notified the FCC of their intentions to go all-digital only.
https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/headlines/new-england-gets-its-first-all-digital-am
By Randy J. Stine, Published: December 12, 2021

Radio World (2021-12-12)

United States

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After taking the two stations silent on July 31, IVOX Media will relaunch 920 KKGX/99.1 K256CU Palm Springs and 1340 KWXY/92.3 K222DA Cathedral City CA today.
The stations will relaunch at 12pm on Sunday with a four hour special hosted by Wink Martindale celebrating Frank Sinatra’s birthday. Following an immediate replay, both stations will then air Christmas music through December 27, with KKGX continuing until January 1. KWXY will relaunch on 12/27 as “KWXY Music Radio” with what owner Louie Comella tells the Palm Springs Desert Sun, will feature “a wide range of genres and generations, like big band, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll from roughly the 1940s through the 1970s”. Weekends will include specialty shows for local music, Country, Punk Rock, Rockabilly, Showtunes, and Spanish language music. Martindale will host a show on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays.
KKGX will return to a Talk format with programming that Comella tells the newspaper will include a “hyperlocal morning show” featuring local journalists, a show hosted by former local TV anchor Joe Smith and four comedy shows.
IVOX Media acquired KKGX and KWXY earlier this year from Gary Wing’s Desert Broadcasters LLC for $105,000. Comella separately purchased the station’s studio building for $549,000. The stations went silent with the station’s equipment in a state of disrepair needing months to fix.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/216808/kwxy-kkgx-palm-springs-resuming-operations/

Lance Venta, RadioInsight (2021-12-12)

Jordan

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AM broadcasting ended in Jordan.
Google-translated from German:
The ever-growing list of countries in which AM broadcasting has ended may have expanded to include Jordan. After the shortwave international radio broadcasting stopped here in 2012, the shutdown of the last medium-wave transmitter has now been reported.
The frequency 612 kHz has not been active since the beginning of October. According to official information, it ran with 100 kW via a transmitter at Shobak (Shabak, Shoabak) in the south-west of the country.
If you can still hear Arabic voices among the Spanish stations, which now dominate on 612 kHz, you should not be misled by this. You are probably from Bahrain, possibly from Morocco or Saudi Arabia.
The last but one active medium wave system in Jordan was the Amman transmitter. Its operation at 855 kHz has been discontinued since February 2020. The second frequency 1035 kHz with the Koran program had already been shut down a few years earlier.
This also applies to the Ajlun transmitter, which with its 2000 kW once belonged to the medium-wave giants, but still had no chance against the 801 kHz frequency from Bavaria and Saint Petersburg. Most recently, when this “problem” no longer existed, only an alibi operation with low performance remained.
After all, the transmitter station in the immediate vicinity of the desert castle Kharana, 60 kilometers east of Amman, has not been active for a decade. It only went into operation in 1988.
The last thing to do here was the – recently severely restricted – operation of the three 500 kW shortwave transmitters. They also broadcast the English program on Radio Jordan by the hour. The 1200 kW transmitters with frequencies 207 and 1494 kHz had already been switched off years earlier.
The long wave is particularly noteworthy. Besides Turkey, Jordan remained the only Middle Eastern country that not only reserved frequencies at the Geneva Wave Conference of 1975, but actually put long-wave broadcasting into operation.
Original article in Radio Eins Radio News https://www.radioeins.de/programm/sendungen/medienmagazin/radio_news/beitraege/2021/jordanien.html

Kai Ludwig, Radio Eins Radio-News (2021-12-11)

Italy

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AM Italia now (05:17 CET / 04:17 UTC) operates a further QRG on 1323 kHz, parallel content to 918 kHz. They send a 6 minutes loop in English and Italian. In English they demand the listeners to write reception
reports for 207 kHz.
The new 1323 kHz comes clearly at the “Futuristic Radio Club Venice” ‘s KiwiSDR:  http://iz3eaw.ddns.net:8073/ . Unfortunately this SDR has no LW reception.
At the KiwiSDR in Noale http://iw3hbx.ddns.net:5555/ the 1323 kHz is to hear, but with QRM from Hungarian language service of SRR Radio Tirgu Mures, Romania. The 207 kHz comes there with weak signal, it seems to have low modulation.

Nils Düwel (2021-12-12)

Italy

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I did check 207 kHz this morning around 0730 UTC. No trace of AM Italia, instead RÚV Eidar was QSA 4.
Checked again at 1000UTC RÚV not audible, but very week male voice (in Italian I suppose).
At 1027 UTC via Noale KiwiSDR hearing morse code, which to me sounds like a correspondance but at a speed I can’t read. Then into talk.
Very good via different Italian KiwiSDRs.
English and Italian talk about the 120 year celebration of the TA radiotelegraph.
Asking for reception reports to info@am.italia.it

Ydun Ritz (2021-12-12)