The Listener TWR to South Africa? by C

The Listener TWR to South Africa? By C. M. Stanbury II IN THIS issue, El reports on Africa's cur- ate in the red. Bonneville also owns WRFM. rent hot spots. One item falling into this Under Good Family Stations ownership, category is Trans World Radio's announce- WNYW will no longer accept commercial ment that its newest high -power relay will be programming of any kind and it plans- built in the Republic of South Africa. The when current contractual obligations have ex- Pretoria government never before has al- pired-to adopt an entirely religious format. lowed a privately owned broadcast station to Radio New York has had a varied, and at operate from its territory. One wonders what times mysterious, history. Many people in service TWR has performed in the past, or broadcasting circles have believed for years promised for the future, to rate such a con- that the station was owned and operated by cession. the CIA. This was not the case, however, as Meanwhile, Trans World Radio's 500 -kw WRUL was never actually involved in secret medium -wave transmitter on the island of radio operations. During and immediately Bonaire continues to act as a relay for Radio after the Cuban crisis, the station did carry Nederland. Radio Nederland's world radio programs beamed to Latin America which service is broadcast on 800 kc from 1800 were sponsored by CIA -backed refugee until 1930 EST followed by TWR's religious groups, but this was as close as the station programming. At times this outlet can be actually got to CIA control. logged on any general- purpose receiver In 1967, a fire of mysterious origin des- throughout most of North America. There troyed the transmitter site and the station are no U.S. stations on the frequency at night nearly went off the air. Commercial facilities (except in Alaska) and even when there's provided by RCA Communications kept the semi -local QRM from a Canadian or Mexican station operating on assigned frequencies transmitter, TWR often makes it through. until new transmitters could be purchased. Radio New York Worldwide, the oldest All three privately owned shortwave shortwave station in the U.S. and this coun- broadcast stations operating in the U.S. now try's only commercial HF broadcaster, has have religious formats. These are: World been sold to Good Family Stations, Inc., a International Broadcasters, WINB, located group of religious broadcasters operating AM at Red Lion, Penn.; KGEI, owned by the and FM stations in the northeast. Far East Broadcasting Corp. and transmit- Radio New York, whose callsign is ting from the San Francisco area, and WNYW, operates four shortwave transmit- WNYW. ters at Scituate, Mass. Its programs are The problem of how to prove a reception beamed to Latin America, Africa and Eur- report for any station logged has always been ope. During the past four years WNYW has tricky. Many beginning SWLs don't under- been an international affiliate of CBS and has stand the problem, while some techniques been carrying CBS news on the hour and half - employed by veteran DXers are rapidly be- hour, as well as selected CBS in -depth news coming obsolete. For broadcast stations using programs. Other programming has included only one or two transmitters, a description recorded music supplied by WRFM, New of programs heard is still the only answer. York's ranking FM station. But this means something more specific that WNYW, formerly WRUL, has been in telling a rock station they were playing "pop- operation since 1927. After many years of ular rock music from 11:15 to 11:45 p.m." private ownership under the late Walter However, when a DXer tackles giant elec- Lemmon, the station was sold to Metromedia, tronics nets such as Radio Moscow in its vari- Inc. in 1960. Several years later, the Bonne- ous East European disguises (R. Espana In- ville International Corp. of Salt Lake City, dependiente, R. Budapest, R. Prague, etc.) - Utah, a Mormon Church organization, pur- or the Voice of America -program descrip- chased the station. It has continued to oper- [Continued on page 1041 May, 1972 43 .

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