Shortwave broadcasting in the United States
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Shortwave broadcasting in the United States allows private ownership of commercial and non-commercial shortwave stations that are not relays of existing AM/MW or FM radio stations, as are common in Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania except Australia and Latin America. In addition to private broadcasters, the United States also has government broadcasters and relay stations for international public broadcasters. Most privately owned shortwave stations have been religious broadcasters, either wholly owned and programmed by Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestant charities or offering brokered programming consisting primarily of religious broadcasters. To better reach other continents of the world, several stations are located in far-flung US territories. Shortwave stations in the USA are not permitted to operate exclusively for a domestic audience; they are subject to antenna and power requirements to reach an international audience.
Private shortwave broadcasting is fairly rare around the world. Critics of private broadcasting in the USA have argued that the service allows extremists to spread their message to others without fear of censorship[1], while others argue that private shortwave broadcasters provide an important service in providing programming to people without access to other forms of uncensored media.[citation needed]
Non-religious private broadcasters
While many private shortwave broadcasters in the United States are operated by religious groups or carry mostly religious programming, there have also been attempts at starting non-religious shortwave stations.
Two such stations were WRNO in New Orleans and KUSW in Salt Lake City, both of them with a rock and roll music format. Both stations were well received by shortwave listeners, but could not make the format successful in the long run. KUSW was eventually sold to the Trinity Broadcasting Network and converted into religious broadcaster KTBN. WRNO kept its rock & roll format going for most of the 1980s but eventually switched formats to selling brokered airtime to political and religious broadcasts, suffered a damaged transmitter, and eventually ceased broadcasting following the death of its owner, Joe Costello. WRNO was acquired by Dr. Robert Mawire and Good News World Outreach in 2001. After installing a new transmitter, the station was within just days of returning to the air when Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005. The new transmitter was spared from flood waters, but the antenna was severely damaged by high winds. WRNO finally returned to broadcasting in 2009, operating 4 hours per day. On March 13, 2010, WRNO began transmitting a weekly religious broadcast in Arabic for a portion of its broadcast schedule.
A notable exception is WBCQ, a non-religious private station operated by Allan Weiner in Maine. WBCQ has been a success by brokering much of their airtime to religious programs like Brother Stair, while also carrying some music and entertainment programs.
Other private shortwave stations that air a mix of religious and non-religious programs include WRMI (which also relays several International broadcast services), [2], WINB[3], WTWW [4] and WWCR [5].
Pirate radio
Numerous pirate radio stations have operated sporadically in or just outside the shortwave broadcast bands. Most are operated by hobbyists for the amusement of DX'ers with broadcasts typically only a few hours in length.
Few American pirates are political or controversial in their programming. Pirates have tended to cluster in unofficial "pirate bands" based on the current schedules of licensed shortwave stations and the retuning of amateur radio transmitters to operate outside the "ham" radio bands.
Most pirate activity takes place on weekends or holidays, Halloween and April Fool's Day being traditional favorites of pirates. Most broadcasts are only a few minutes to a few hours at a time. One notable exception was Radio Newyork International, a short-lived attempt to establish a permanent broadcasting station operating from international waters.
Some European nations have recently begun allowing privately owned shortwave stations on a far more limited scale.
Notable personalities
Preachers/Religious broadcasters
- Tony Alamo
- Kirby Anderson
- Mother Angelica - founder of WEWN
- Harold Camping
- E. C. Fulcher
- Texe Marrs
- Robert Mawire
- Dr. Gene Scott
- Melissa Scott (replaced Dr. Gene Scott)
- Brother Stair
- Peter J. Peters
White Supremacists
Commentators
- Jack Anderson – was heard on AFRTS Radio in the 1980s
- Art Bell – via a Canadian affiliate's 49-meter shortwave relay service and WFLA's 11-meter relay. Also a ham radio operator (deceased)
- Willis Conover
- William Cooper
- Mort Crim
- Chuck Harder
- Paul Harvey – Paul Harvey News & Commentary/Rest of the Story was carried on AFRTS Radio
- Glenn Hauser – World of Radio
- Marie Lamb – DXing With Cumbre
- Rush Limbaugh – his show was carried on WRNO-Worldwide in the 1990s
- Stan Monteith
- The Report Of The Week – YouTube Food Critic, hosts Voice of the Report of the Week
- Jay Smilkstein – WBCQ
- John Stadtmiller on WWCR – notorious for setting up Mark Koernke
- Hal Turner on WBCQ - The Hal Turner Radio Show
- John from Staten Island & Frank from Queens – hosting "The Right Perspective" on WWCR
Shortwave stations
Government broadcasters (USA)
- Voice of America - news service
- Radio Martí - entirely in Spanish and targeted at Cuba to promote democracy and capitalism
- WWV/WWVH - time stations from the National Institute of Standards and Technology
- American Forces Network - focused on the military
Current privately owned US broadcasters
- KJES – "The Lord's Station" – Vado, New Mexico
- KNLS – World Christian Broadcasting – Anchor Point, Alaska
- KSDA – Adventist World Radio – Agat, Guam
- KTWR – Trans World Radio – Agana, Guam
- KVOH – "Voice of Hope" – Rancho Simi, California
- WBCQ – "The Planet" – Monticello, Maine
- WEWN – "Eternal Word Network" – Irondale, Alabama
- WHRI – "World Harvest Radio International" – Furman, South Carolina
- WINB – "World International Broadcasting" – Red Lion, Pennsylvania
- WJHR – Milton, Florida (unique for broadcasting in Upper Side Band modulation)
- WMLK – Assemblies of Yahweh – Bethel, Pennsylvania
- WRMI – "Radio Miami International" – Okeechobee, Florida
- WTWW – "We Transmit World Wide" – Lebanon, Tennessee
- WWCR – "Worldwide Christian Radio" – Nashville, Tennessee
- WWRB – Manchester, Tennessee (successor to WGTG and WWFV)
Defunct broadcasters
- KAIJ – Dallas, Texas
- KFBS – Far East Broadcasting Company – Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
- KGEI – San Francisco, California (studios and transmitter in Redwood City, California)
- KHBN – High Adventure Ministries Piti, Guam (now T8BZ in Palau)
- KHBI – Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands (Formerly KYOI)
- KIMF – Pinon, New Mexico (licensed, but never built)
- KRHO – Honolulu, Hawaii
- KSAI – Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
- KTBN – Trinity Broadcasting Network – Salt Lake City, Utah
- KUSW – "Superpower" – Salt Lake City, Utah (station sold, and became KTBN)
- KWHR – "World Harvest Radio" – Naalehu, Hawaii
- KYOI – Saipan (1982-1989) "Super Rock" commercial station, later KHBI
- NDXE – (never built)
- WCSN – Maine -Operated by the Christian Science Monitor
- WGEO - Schenectady, NY - originally owned and operated by General Electric, acquired by Voice of America during World War II
- WGTG – McCaysville, Georgia
- WHRA – "World Harvest Radio" – Greenbush, Maine
- WJIE – Evangel World Prayer Center – Louisville, Kentucky
- WNRI: Bound Brook, New Jersey owned by NBC
- WNYW – "Radio New York Worldwide" – Scituate, Massachusetts
- WRNO – "WRNOradio.com" – New Orleans, Louisiana
- WSHB – Furman, South Carolina
- WYFR – Family Stations. Inc. – Okeechobee, Florida
- WWBS – Macon, Georgia
- Radio Newyork International – Pirate radio station operating from international waters
- WVOH and WTJC – Fundamental Broadcasting Network – Newport, North Carolina
New stations
- KTMI – Lebanon, Oregon – not yet on the air, construction permit
References
- ^ | "American extremists use technology to broadcast hate world wide" The Intelligence Report (August 29, 2001)
- ^ Radio World "Shortwave station bends but doesn't break"
- ^ The WINB schedule shows a mix of brokered religious and non-religious programming. [1]
- ^ WTWW airs the nationally-syndicated Dave Ramsey Show as well as QSO Live (a show for amateur radio operators) - see [2]
- ^ [3]
External links
- Official listing of active stations at the FCC.gov website. CAUTION: This FCC information is often out of date, and does not include domestic IBB relay stations.
- shortwavesites – The Shortwave Transmitter Site Archive – The shortwave transmitter site archive of current and historical shortwave transmitter site information, includes data on North American shortwave broadcasters' transmitter sites both past and present
- Glenn Hauser's World of Radio website
- SWDXER ¨The SWDXER¨ – with general SWL information and radio antenna tips
- Radio World special report on American shortwave stations
- International Broadcast Station KGEI: 1939–1994 History courtesy of FEBC International