UK: UGLY FIGURE OF THE BBC. PUT ON THE SPOT ADMITS CRAZY SPENDING ON NEW LOGOS

The investigation by Ciaran McGrath, journalist for the Daily Express, was two-pronged: to shed light on how much the public broadcaster had spent to design the logos and the pressure on the over 75s to pay the licence fee, from which they were previously exempt
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It took a good investigation by the Daily Express to bring to light how much the BBC had spent on the ‘digital rebranding’ of its TV and digital channels. A six-figure sum, over £7 million, strenuously denied perhaps because it was difficult to justify, given the painful cuts made by the public broadcaster, such as the closure of many regional branches passed off as a ‘reshaping of the offer’. The BBC put up a wall for months, despite the fact that the newspaper invoked the Freedom of Information Act, a law that has guaranteed the right of access to information held by public authorities since 2000. So, in the end, the Daily Express submitted a formal complaint to the ICO (an independent body that upholds information rights in the UK) and at that point, the BBC capitulated: eight months had passed.

Too much opacity

Silver Voices is an organization founded to convey the views of the over the 60s to political parties to improve legislation and society
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The opinions collected by the Daily Express seep into the arrogance of the public broadcaster and its opacity. As in the speech by Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, a not-for-profit organisation of over-60s that aims to convey their opinions to political parties to improve legislation. According to Reed, the £7,261,039 spent could have cleared 45,000 subscription fees for the public broadcaster, thus helping most families with an elderly person with dementia, or relieving those struggling with energy bill payments. The BBC has also been reticent with Silver Voices, which, when asked how many over-75s previously exempt from the license fee had come clean, denied having a list. Yet, Reed points out, families who should be regularised continue to receive regular threatening letters ordering them to pay up. Let us hope, therefore, that light will be shed on this too.

Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini

January 29, 2023January 24, 2023

MALAWI: WRONG PLANNING, AIRWAVES FROZEN

Capital Radio (pictured here is a speaker from the station) was one of the first radio stations to be shut down by the airwaves regulator, after the airwaves were frozen due to planning errors
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Two years ago we spoke (see here) about the frequency allocation plan wanted by the government to free up channels and allow new broadcasters access to the FM band. But once the channeling was done, the wave of protest from the radio stations mounted, struggling with more interference than before. So the regulatory authority (Macra) froze the allocations and is reviewing the authorisations, removing the channels requested but not activated, and checking the payments of the concessions. As Red Tech magazine explains, there is now an attempt to make room by ‘tightening the bolts’: six radio stations in arrears with their license fees (Angaliba FM, Capital Radio, Sapitwa FM, Joy Radio, Ufulu FM, and Galaxy FM) have already been affected, but this could become 23 of the 54 actives in the country. But couldn’t this have been thought of earlier, saving the consultancy costs?

Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini

January 28, 2023January 24, 2023

ESTONIA: DAB TRIAL STARTED

Built in 1980 for the XXII Olympics, the Tallinn TV tower retains a grim Soviet atmosphere. EU-funded renovations were completed in 2012
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Experimental digital DAB+ broadcasting has begun in the Baltic country. On November 28, 2022, channel 10A was switched on from the Tallinn broadcasting tower, and on December 22, 7A from the Levira Koeru location, which with its 300-meter height extends coverage to the central part of Estonia. Pehka, in the municipality of Haljala, was added on January 11, 2023, also on 10A. The multiplex currently hosts six channels from Duo Media Networks (Raadio Elmar, Raadio Kuku, Raadio MyHits, Raadio Duo, Narodnoe Radio, and DFM), one from MTG (Power Hit Radio), and four other stations: Star FM Eesti, Klassikaraadio, Äripää Raadio, Tre Raadio.

Co-operation between ‘bigs’

The map shows the current coverage area. According to Levira’s technical director, with the activation of the third transmitter, the network is complete, and this will allow for coverage tests.
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It is managed by Levira, the main network operator for TV and radio stations in Estonia, which has one of the largest data centers in the country. The company cooperates with Duo Media Networks (the largest media company in the Baltics, which owns seventeen TV and six radio stations) and Mediainvest Holding (a subsidiary of Sweden’s MTG Modern Times Group, which owns Power Hit Radio). Levira is controlled by the Republic of Estonia but 49 percent of the shares are held by the French telecommunications company TDF.

Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini

January 15, 2023January 11, 2023

BURKINA FASO: RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE SHUT DOWN

In Burkina Faso, RFI was broadcast on six frequencies: **91.5** (Banfora), **93.0** (Koudougou), **94.0** (Ouagadougou/RTB), **94.3** (Ouahigouya), **94.4** and **99.4** (Bobo-Dioulasso)
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The West African country’s military junta suspended RFI’s broadcasts on December 4, 2022, accusing it of broadcasting a message of intimidation from a terrorist leader and misleading information. The broadcaster rejects the charges, saying the interruption occurred without warning and without implementing the procedures prepared by Burkina Faso’s High Council for Communication. According to RFI, the programs are widely listened to by the population: more than 40 % of citizens tune in at least once a week. RFI was broadcast on FM, free-to-air on several satellites, through about 50 partner radio stations and remains receivable on shortwave.

An uncomfortable voice

In Mali RFI transmitted from the capital Bamako (98.5 MHz), Gao (92.1 ), Kayes (102.2), Mopti (97.7), Ségou (93.6), and Sikasso (95 FM)
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Burkina Faso is the second African country to shut down RFI: in Mali, the international broadcaster had been silenced on March 17, 2022 along with France 24 TV after reports implicating the army in abuses against civilians were published. Radio France Internationale has foreign programs in 19 languages, broadcasts on shortwave, and has 145 FM repeaters in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, as well as Central and South America. These are mainly countries of the former colonial empire, with a predominance on the African continent, which has as many as 108 installations.

Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini

January 14, 2023January 11, 2023

CANADA: TUNNEL CLOSURE CAUSES TRAFFIC RADIO STATION’S RATINGS TO SOAR

The station’s studios are like a control centre: the animators always have one eye on the monitors showing the focal points of the roads leading into the city
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With the pandemic, traffic had plummeted and the ratings of Radio Circulation, Montreal’s traffic radio station, had declined. But since the renovation of the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel (opened in 1967) began, the station has become very popular again. The tunnel to be renovated, to ensure its operation for another 40 years, passes under the St. Lawrence River and connects the island of Montréal with the south bank of the river in Longueuil, Quebec. It is a vital access route to the city and since three of the six lanes will remain closed until November 2025, many have thrown in the towel and opted for the train or the metro (+15%), while those in cars rely on the radio to seek alternative routes.

A bet won

The futuristic Turcot interchange, a vital local and regional link as it is located on a key route between Montreal-Trudeau International Airport and the city centre
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Moreover, Radio Circulation owes its fortune to traffic jams: it opened in 2011, a year before the opening of the major construction site for the Turcot interchange, a multi-level elevated road system linking three motorways: Autoroute 15, 20, and 720. The station broadcasts on 98.5 FM and 730 kHz mediumwave, and in the studio, two editors take turns every half-hour in conducting and answering listener calls, never losing sight of the twenty or so monitors that show the hot spots at risk of traffic jams. The radio competes with online navigation platforms but manages to give faster and more up-to-date information than Google Maps and Waze, both in the portfolio of Alphabet, the web giant.

Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini