Shortwave Radio is NOT Dead Yet ... It is Just Underappreciated

Contrary to many widely touted vocal opinions about the demise of radio, the international shortwave radio bands remain viable and continue to offer a wide variety of free programming for listeners worldwide. Since the inception and rise of the internet, commercial media sources and outlets in the areas of print and wave transmission have increasingly sought to cut costs, gain audiences and increase advertising revenue in personal computer market niches. The recent and ongoing financial crisis has exacerbated a few of the challenges already underway in the world of radio broadcasting. This is particularly evident in high profile cases such as the debt related hurdles of Clear Channel Communications, the largest radio station owner in the United States. With the advent of handheld electronic readers, the computer driven format change is becoming evident even in the ways that books and periodicals are being marketed and published today. Streaming internet radio has also been thought by many to pose a substantial threat to traditional terrestrial radio markets.

On April 9, 2009, American Media Services, LLC put out a press release regarding their findings of a national media survey. The survey gave some insight into the popularity of internet radio as well as traditional radio among audience members. Regardless of the study's findings, discerning the true demographic make up of listeners for radio markets appears to be a real challenge for casual observers. In a very nicely written article available at their website regarding shortwave listening (SWL) the commercial shortwave radio broadcaster WRMI Radio Miami International provides some idea of the size of audiences who listen to shortwave radio in the Americas and Africa. If such figures are to be believed, then it appears that the shortwave radio market in North America is underappreciated, especially when one considers that the cost of listening to programming is free, less electricity and the overhead for equipment used to receive it with.

In the recent October 23rd shortwave broadcast of the Radio New York International Allan Weiner Worldwide program, transmitted from his station located in Monticello, Maine, Allan Weiner of WBCQ stated that the 1930's were the "Golden Age of Radio". Mr. Weiner, who is a long time shortwave broadcaster with roots in offshore pirate radio operation, made it a point to emphasize that radio may have been popular during the Great Depression due to the fact that for many people it simply did not cost anything to listen to. Given the current economic climate in the United States, it seems that the potential for a resurgence in radio as a media form should be evident as the ranks of the unemployed continue to grow month after month and people cancel out of paid subscription services to internet and television.

Many radio operators such as Weiner also exhibit concern about preserving freedom of speech on the airwaves and tend to use the idea as a tool for promotion of airtime sales. While the right to free speech as a part of the 1st Amendment is often regarded as an important aspect of liberty in the United States and it truly is, in all honesty, it may also be a small part of the reason why time slots remain open for many shortwave broadcasters. The previous statement might make more sense if it is taken in the light of the colorful and occasionally tragic history of shortwave broadcasters and program sponsors in the United States over the past couple of decades. Due to the open and virtually uncensored nature of shortwave programming, combined with its typical application as a means to target specific audiences, the medium has a history of attracting polarized and even potentially threatening fringes of society from time to time. It is quite possible that certain events in the past might have frightened many potential shortwave listeners or program sponsors away from the medium for fear of being branded as extremists.

The programming backbone and bread and butter of many shortwave broadcasters in the United States is religious in nature. Christian radio takes up enormous blocks of time on many shortwave stations. That being said, diversity is apparent in shortwave programming and, with a little work, some help locating schedules and the right equipment and conditions, listening to a wide variety of programming from around the world becomes a rewarding possibility. Shortwave radio listening can be a versatile hobby for anyone who is willing to tinker with tuning a radio set and experiment with antennas of various designs. One need not even necessarily be particularly well versed in electronics as there are many readily available commercial shortwave radio sets and antenna configurations on the market. There is also a wealth of information including learning materials in the form of books or internet pages available to anyone who is interested and willing to explore the fascinating world of radio waves.

As Allan Weiner maintained during the aforementioned broadcast, aside from language barriers and the threat of periodic jamming, there are few boundaries in effect for international shortwave broadcast media. Shortwave radio is often used as a means of broadcasting across borders of nations and sometimes even into regions where clandestine operations are targeted. Like most forms of media, the potential uses of shortwave broadcasting include dissemination of propaganda as a means for carrying out psychological operations. Interestingly, while the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that radio broadcasters transmitting on shortwave frequencies be licensed, the phenomenon of pirate radio broadcasting remains intact in many places around the world. Pirate radio broadcasts are known to become prevalent around holidays, with Easter and Halloween typically making for easy catches of unlicensed transmissions.

Exactly what attracts existing listeners to shortwave radio is difficult to pinpoint. It could be a mix of different factors including the utilization of technical backgrounds in electronics and broadcasting stemming from civilian or military training, the challenge of seeking out transmissions originating from new or exciting locations, the overall content of shortwave broadcast programs, or the openness of the airwaves which facilitates the presence of alternative sources of information. With the state of the economy in the dumps and the best hope for near term recovery dependent on what appears to be corporate welfare programs and government spending, it will be interesting to see if we begin to enter another "Golden Age of Radio" among the survivors of the industry. Until then, there remain a few of us out here tuning our receivers and dreaming about a simpler nostalgic time, while strange signals and voices from far away crackle and fade into the night.