Month: April 2025

Afghanistan

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The Taliban de facto government will set up AM radio stations in the border provinces of Afghanistan to “prevent propaganda by enemies”, private Tolo News TV reported on X on 9 April.
The director of the Taliban-controlled Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) state broadcaster, Mohammad Yousaf Ahmadi, said that it would set up radio stations in all of the border provinces to strengthen RTA’s programmes and “prevent propaganda by enemies”.
“God willing, we will activate radios in the cities of border provinces, one after the other, in a short period of time… As a whole, this will, God willing, be like a trench against the enemies’ futile propaganda,” Ahmadi was shown saying. The RTA director made the remarks at an inauguration ceremony for a new RTA-run Voice of Sharia (Shariat Ghag) AM radio station in the southern province of Kandahar.
“Training, educational, literary and social [programmes] – by taking into consideration the requirements of the society which needs very important programmes – we have included all these in our schedule,” said Rafiullah Ehsan, head of the Voice of Sharia radio in Kandahar.
The move comes amid rising Taliban restrictions on media outlets since the group’s return to power.

BBC Monitoring in Dari and Pashto 1400 GMT 9 Apr 25 via Mike Cooper to WOR iog (2025-04-10)

Thailand

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Saranrom Radio, the royal radio station of Thailand, on 1575kHz (over USAGM Ban Pachi transmitter site , 1000kW) seems have been off air after the closing of the site. No signal has been detected at remote SDR in Thailand and Vietnam.
The previous schedules were; Mon-Fri 1030-1130 1200-1230 1500-1530 Sun-Thur 2230-2400. 1575kHz was the only frequency they were using.
They uploaded the program (movie) on April 5 to You Tube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulg0eV9Di2U), and facebook (https://www.facebook.com/saranromradio/), so the programs seem to have been continuously produced.

Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan to WOR iog (2025-04-10)

Nepal

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792, Radio Nepal, 0045 UT, April 9, via Kiwi SDR remote in Nepal; RN celebrating 75th anniversary (news story https://www.newsabhiyan.com/news-details.php?nid=357407 ), especially nice IDs, including singing ID. My remote audio – https://app.box.com/s/b5qs5ltg1y7rpum1556358yzj0fir5s8 .

My treasured Radio Nepal SW QSL, for reception in Calif. –https://app.box.com/s/rjaydyiyruydf7fvu983nt3ys17cumci

Ron Howard, Monterey, California to WOR iog (2025-04-09)

United States

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Big Toe Media LLC led by Dave Greene and Conrad Thompson have agreed to purchase “Fox Sports 590” KFNS Wood River IL/St. Louis from Dave Zobrist’s Zobrist Media. The new group will assume operations of KFNS via LMA on Tuesday, April 15. The buyers and the seller are partners in the local digital Sports network “Sports Hub STL” which features local hosts including Bernie Miklasz, Randy Karraker, and Mike Claiborne.
Full story here https://radioinsight.com/headlines/298334/

Lance Venta, Radio Insight (2025-04-08)

Denmark

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Radio208 back on the air on 1440 from April 9th at 08 UTC after having been off the air since April 1st due to a transmitter fault. Currently the power is 100W.

Stig Hartvig Nielsen (2025-04-09)

United Kingdom

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Radio Redhill 1431 kHz
Hospital radio marks 50 years of entertainment.
A radio service that has been entertaining patients and staff at the East Surrey Hospital has marked its 50th anniversary. The first experimental broadcast took place on Christmas Day 1974 at the former Redhill General Hospital, with regular programmes starting the following year.
The station acquired a studio in the then new East Surrey Hospital, with Jean Metcalfe, host of the BBC radio show Two Way Family Favourites, performing the opening ceremony in February 1985.
A week of programmes to mark the anniversary will begin on 13 April.
[….]
The station became a 24-hour operation in 1988.
In the early years, patients would listen on an in-house intercom system but, in 2000, the station began broadcasting on AM medium wave [1431 kHz]. It can also be heard now on FM, online and via smart speakers.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0yn70rx7ko

Ydun Ritz (2025-04-06)

Djibouti

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1431 kHz: Noted just now 2220utc 5/4/25 that this transmitter has been (briefly?) reactivated – but with a blank carrier.
Noted on BDMR and checked with remote SDR in Addis Ababa where it is the strongest MW signal.
Then cut carrier at 2232utc and gone.

73 Steve Whitt to MWCircle iog (2025-04-05)

Lithuania

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Radio Liberty is to stop broadcasting medium-wave programmes to Russia. The Baltic States represented a prime location for USAGM stations to broadcast to Russia. Broadcasts were received in good conditions in St Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast during the day and beyond at night.
In 2002, RFE/RL was using the Sitkunai station transmitter, licensed to Radio Baltic Waves International, but the facility was running out of steam and the transmitter was 52 years old.
The USAGM was looking for a more cost-effective solution to cover Belarus and Russia. The new location: the DTT and FM transmitter centre of Lietuvos Radijo ir Televizijos Centras in Viešintos, 110 km north of Vilnius (55°41’39.9 ‘N 24°58’56.7 ’E).
The transmitter was quickly found: it was recovered from the American Forces Network, which had shut down its 873 KHz medium-wave transmitter in Weisskirchen, Germany, in 2013. It had only been in use for 5 years, but had been preserved in perfect condition on the old site. It was a Nautel NX, and was reinstalled at Viešintos, where a 120 m guyed mast was built.
It took up the frequency of 1386 kHz, the former frequency of Radio Moscow and the Voice of Russia in Kaliningrad!
The transmitter has a power of 75KW in normal operation: the signal was sufficient in Russia as there is no longer any interference. It can be adapted to broadcast at 300kW if required.
Radio Liberty used the transmitter for its broadcasts in Russian and Belarusian. Belarusian broadcasts were discontinued on 30 April 2019. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty now only used it between 6 and 9 pm for a Russian-language broadcast.
The cessation of broadcasts in Belarusian was compensated for by the relay of other stations including NHK World Japan, Polskie Radio – Polish Radio Abroad and, more recently, Ukrainian Radio. RFE-RL’s Russian-language broadcasts have now come to an end.
In the past, Radio Liberty was also present in Moscow on medium wave. At the time of glasnost, Radio Free Europe’s Russian service was allowed to broadcast on medium wave from a transmitter centre located along the Moscow ring road.
Following the political change in Russia, Putin banned broadcasting and the transmitter was switched off in November 2013.
(Translated from French)

Radio Magazine FB group (2025-04-03)

United States

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Serving the cities of Lewiston and Auburn, Maine, 1470 WLAM Lewiston is licensed for 5kW day/night using a directional antenna pointing to the north-east. For that reason, and being near the New England coast, WLAM has consistently been one of the most commonly-heard US stations on 1470 here in the UK. RadioInsight reports that the station “will sign off permanently” on Monday 14th April at 0359 UTC. It will close along with 750 WJTO Bath, ME. The station stated that “the cost of operating and maintaining the stations has just become too much”. 

WLAM has long been an oldies station with the emphasis on pre-1970s oldies as distinct from 70s-90s classic hits. I have a recording from March 2006 of the station identifying as “Maine’s Memory Station” adding “This is where you can always come to find the great songs you can’t hear anywhere else. Music and lyrics you know and love” . Some time later in 2006 WLAM became ESPN sport, then changed back to oldies in the first days of February 2009 as “The Oldies Channel” and then to an affiliate of “The True Oldies Channel” whose slogan was reported here from 2013 onwards. True Oldies Channel appears to have been dropped in 2014 but oldies continues to the present day with the slogan “The Memories Station”. Since early 2019, the station began closing between midnight and 5 a.m. Eastern.

WLAM has not been heard here in 2025. It has not been reported in 2025 in DX Loggings, nor in the Arctic Radio Club’s MV-Eko. This may be because it is an under-reported “common” station. A check of Brent Taylor’s PEI Kiwi this morning heard WLAM sign on at 1000. It would be nice to see at least one log of it in DX Loggings before it closes in a week’s time.

Andrew Brade to MWCircle iog (2025-04-05)