ARLA/CLUSTER: Comite dos Estados Unidos identifica os desafio permanentes nas transmissões em ondas curtas

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

US Committe findings challenge continuing shortwave broadcasts

Greetings from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Our Special
Committee on the Future of Shortwave Broadcasting, formed by the Board
last fall and led by Governor Matt Armstrong, today released its
report assessing current and projected use of shortwave radio as a
platform for programming by U.S. international media.

Thank you for your contributions to this effort. Many people from a
variety of perspectives provided ideas and views, which broadened the
committee’s understanding of the issues involved.

Main findings

• United States' international media must optimize delivery by
audience/market. While there is still a critical need for shortwave in
key countries, it is a medium of marginal and continuously declining
impact in most markets.

Even in countries with currently significant levels of shortwave
usage, audiences will migrate to other platforms as they become more
accessible.

• The Committee recommends that the (US) Broadcasting board of
governeors - BBG - take an aggressive approach to reduce or eliminate
shortwave broadcasts where there is either minimal audience reach or
the audience is not a target audience based on the BBG’s support of
U.S. foreign policy.

• Evidence suggests that availability of high-quality content on
preferred platforms is primarily responsible for the declining use of
shortwave. AM and FM radio, podcasts, and mobile streaming are more
widely used for audio consumption.

• Shortwave users generally have viable alternative means of accessing
USIM content. Top target demographics are unlikely to use shortwave
exclusively or at all.

• The BBG has found no evidence that short wave usage increases during
crises. Audiences continue to use their existing platforms (TV, FM,
and the Internet) or seek out anti-censorship tools including online
firewall circumvention, private chat software, flash drives, and DVDs
to access content.

• Shortwave is a relatively expensive platform to operate and maintain.

• Digital shortwave, or Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), is unlikely to
become an established mass media distribution methodology in enough of
the BBG’s current or future markets to justify the costs.

• The Committee supports almost all of the shortwave broadcast
reductions previously approved by the Board under sequestration and
the implementation of the FY14 Operating Plan. However, given current
situations in Ukraine and other nearby sta tes with large
Russian-speaking populations, the Committee recommends revising the
FY14 Operating Plan and ensuring that shortwave broadcasts in Russian
to Russia and the Caucasus be continued at current levels, subject to
re-evaluation during FY16 budget formulation processes.



The report is now online here http://www.bbg.gov/wp-content/media/
2014/08/SW-Committee-Final-Report.pdf, along with a fact sheet, which
is posted here http://www.bbg.gov/wp-content/media/2014/08/
SW-Report-fact-sheet.pdf.

We hope you find these items informative.

For any questions, please contact us at ShortwaveCommittee  bbg.gov.