Shortwave radio far from dead in South America

Editor's note: This first appeared in my madrid kid blog on January 14, 2006.

Everywhere you turn, you hear gripes from shortwave listeners that the international bands are dying as broadcasters undergo cutbacks and look at innovative technology -- digital and satellite radio and the Internet -- to get their programs to listeners. A few weeks back, I found an interesting survey posted on a DX page hosted by Brett Sayler of Pennsylvania that counters those arguments.

This veteran DXer compared the number of stations in South America that were broadcasting 48 years ago and those on the air today. In an informal survey, Brett took a random sampling of the stations by referring to World Radio Television Handbooks for the years 1957, 1971, 1977, 1992, 1999, 2003 and 2005. He found that in 1957 there were 394 stations broadcasting from the 14 countries that make up South America, including the Falkland Islands. In 2005, Brett reports that there with 376 stations listed. Brazil, which has kept the lead over the years, had 109 stations on the air on shortwave in 1957. In 2005, there were 151 stations broadcasting from the Portuguese-speaking nation. The peak year for shortwave from South America was 1977 when 592 stations were on the international bands. Oh, by the way, Brett didn´t count HCJB in Ecuador and Radio France Internationale´s transmitters in French Guiana.

"In conclusion, to those who are ready to pronounce shortwave radio dead, there are still many good opportunities to hear exotic stations in far-off locations. But, you should get them now while you can. Who knows what the next 50 years will bring?" he says.

I firmly believe, as I posted previously, that those who complain about the so-called demise of the shortwave bands are listeners who only tune to English-language programming. You cannot measure the universe by only looking through a telescope!

Check out Brett´s page for some more interesting stuff, including some rare photos of a 1970s all night DX session organized to search for the elusive Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service with now-veteran DXers Don Moore and Dave Valko.