Remembering Radio Berlin International

One of the most popular stations transmitting from the Eastern Bloc during the 1970s and 1980s was Radio Berlin International, the Voice of the German Democratic Republic. At the time RBI was the only shortwave station broadcasting from Berlin in English for North America. Most of its programs were centered on glorifying the socialist GDR state and its hard-line dictator Erich Honecker. But RBI knew its audience well. It was successful in attracting SWLs to tune in by offering spectacular QSLs and printed DX bulletins, setting up a monitoring panel, and promoting station fan clubs through the developing world. Following German reunification, RBI transmitted its last broadcast on October 2, 1990. The following is a reprint of a fact sheet I received in 1978 that tells you all about Radio Berlin International:

“Radio Berlin International stems from the “Foreign Languages Service” of GD Radio which broadcast its first foreign language programmes – in English and French – in 1955. Transmission in Swedish, Danish, Arabic and German soon followed. However, it wasn’t until May 1959 that the “Foreign Languages Service” became an independent broadcasting station under the auspices of the GDR State Committee for Radio and began its programmes with the station announcement: “You are tune to Radio Berlin International, the Voice of the German Democratic Republic.”

Gradually other programmes were introduced: Italian and Portuguese in 1961; Swahili in 1964; and Hindi in 1967. Spanish came a little later and in 1975 Greek was started. At present there are 50 ½ hours of programmes per day broadcast via directional and omni directional aerials on shortwave and on a further frequency for Europe in the medium waveband. The programmes, which generally last for about 45 minutes, are adapted to suit the interest of listeners in the various countries. They begin with a bulletin of the latest news and are repeated several times a day when conditions are most favourable for reception in the individual parts of the world.


Radio Berlin International aims to provide its listeners all over the world with a picture of life in the socialist German Democratic Republic. We provide information on our peace policy and put forward our point of view on international events. RBI expresses its solidarity over the airwaves with all progressive forces fighting against imperialist exploitation and oppression and plays its part in the struggle for the welfare of mankind, for freedom, peace and friendship between peoples.

In 1967, the RBI Journal was brought out – initially in four languages – to supplement the broadcasts. By 1975 it was appearing in 12 languages.
The Journal publishes a list of the programmes, times and frequencies and provides facts, figures and pictures from all spheres of life to complement the information contained in the programmes themselves. It also acts as a forum for RBI Listeners Clubs and those who aren’t Club members to voice their opinions. A whole page is given over to the subject of DXing. Everybody who sends their address receives a copy of the RBI Journal free of charge. Regular listeners can be put on our mailing list on request. RBI Listeners Clubs are sent as many copies as they require.

These RBI Clubs are for the most part loose associations of friends who listen to us regularly and then write in and tell us of their impression of the programmes. There are well over a thousand such clubs in existence, most of them in Africa, South East Asia and Latin America.

The RBI DX Club was founded in 1967. Werner Neumann, RBI’s deputy editor-in-chief, has been the Club’s president since 1975. The Club has close contacts with many enthusiastic DXers and DX organisations all over the world. Our QSL cards and diplomas for 50 or 1000 correct reception reports are internationally very much in demand. The RBI DX Club meeting goes out over the air every two weeks, the 250th meeting being celebrated on 15 November 1976.”

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.