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clear channel Toronto radio station CFRB. Newstalk
1010, as its name implies, is a talk radio
station, which for the most parts leans right-ish. I
particularly like John Tory from 4-6pm Eastern
weekdays (20-22 UTC). Tory is an interesting
guy who brings a lot to the table. He has been
an executive with Rogers Communications, Canadian
Football League commissioner, Principal
Secretary (Chief of Staff in US terms) to the
Premier of Ontario, National Campaign Manager
of the PC Party in 1993 and Toronto Mayoral
candidate.
He seems to have found his niche as a
broadcaster. Weeknights overnight, one can
hear 24/7 Comedy Radio which is certainly
something different. If you like comedy, this
distinctive programming is for you. For many
years, the ODXA’s Steve Canney has been the
QSL Manager for CFRB. He has set up a website
at www.cfrx.webs.com/
❖ RFI = Radio France
Internet?
Radio France International is, like many
other international broadcasters, more of an
internet website now, instead of a shortwave
radio service. The English Service is available
to Africa for four
hours per day, from 04-
08 UTC. If one goes
to www.english.rfi.fr/
broadcasts one can access
the audio in four different ways. One can
simply listen online. One can add a program to
a queue, so as to play a number of programs in
succession. One can download a program as an
mp3 file for listening later, and finally, one can
subscribe using iTunes or a similar program, and
automatically download the program each day/
week for personal use.
What can one hear from RFI? Lots of
interesting programming is at one’s fingertips.
To hear individual programs and their archives,
go to www.english.rfi.fr/features This is an
extensive archive of past and current shows,
including some which have ceased to air on
the daily service. For instance World Tracks, a
music program, has not aired a new episode since
March 2011, but old editions are still available
to hear online. As a media junkie, I particularly
enjoy Africa Media, a weekly Saturday discussion
of media news from the continent.
One particularly odd program is the French
lesson series Le Talisman Brise. “Professor
Omar, the man who wants to make the desert
green, is kidnapped by some mysterious
visitors.” The subject seems a little peculiar
considering the times we live in, but maybe
it’s just me. This program airs on Sundays. As
of June 3, 23 archived episodes of the program
were available. Check it out at: www.english.
rfi.fr/features/french-lesson
Sunday seems to be the day of the week to
listen, as many excellent programs are heard,
such as Club 9516 Sound Kitchen, featuring
“music, interviews and quirky listener essays.”
It is a mixed menu of coolness. I used to listen
to this program quite regularly when RFI was
part of the CBC Overnight Service.
There is a lot to hear on the RFI website.
And the website is pretty comprehensive, offering
news reports about France, the French world,
and world affairs in general. It was very interesting
to follow the French Presidential election
and the subsequent legislative elections as well.
Also France is a major player in the European
Economic Union, and the common currency,
which has endured so much recent turmoil. The
election of a Socialist President who opposes the
previous President’s policies will also shake up
the EU. Stay tuned.
❖ Germany to Africa
Germany has also largely departed the
shortwave bands, although one can still hear
Deutsche Welle on shortwave, if you are
lucky. Afternoons in North America, one can
try 11800 kHz between 1900 and 2200. Other
possible frequencies include 7365 kHz between
19 and 20 UTC, 9735 kHz from 19-1930 UTC,
9490 kHz from 20-21 UTC, 11830 and 11865
kHz from 21-22 UTC. These are all beamed to
Africa.
Programming consists of News at the top
of each hour, followed by Africa Link (weekdays)
and World Link on Saturdays. There is a
different feature program each day on the half
hour. These are Spectrum on Mondays, Pulse
on Tuesdays, World in Progress on Wednesdays,
Living Planet on Thursdays, and Inside
Europe on Fridays. Saturdays feature World
Link for the hour, and on Sundays a one hour
edition of Inside Europe is heard.
Spectrum is the weekly Science and Technology
program. Pulse is a “half hour take of
youth and lifestyle issues.” World in Progress
looks at development and globalization issues.
Living Planet is the environment program.
And Inside Europe looks at European politics.
Africa Link provides analysis and background
information about the stories making headlines
in Africa.
Some other longstanding DW programs
are available only online. These include Soundscape
100. Hosted by Gavin Blackburn, it
presents the latest from the German Top 100.
A wide variety of music styles are presented.
Concert Hour presents the best of Germany’s
classical music concerts and festivals.
Can you Handel it? There is no Hayden the fact
that this is the program that gets you Bach to
the best of classical sounds.
All of these programs, as well as many
DW TV programs, are just a few clicks away.
Go to www.dw.de, then click programs at the
top of the page. Click the name of the program
that you want to hear, and you are taken to
its webpage where you can listen to the latest
available edition. Very simple indeed. While the
old DW website was a bit awkward to navigate,
I did appreciate having all the audio links on
one page. Deutsche Welle is not the shortwave
powerhouse it once was, but nevertheless there
are still lots to hear online from The Voice of
Germany.
Before we leave the DW website, be
sure and check out www.Qantara.de This is
DW’s “partner site” which aims to “offer a
lively dialogue with the Islamic world. It is
quite an interesting website, with many links
to articles about culture, politics and society of
both the Western and Islamic worlds. In depth
analysis of the Arab Spring, Islam’s image,
post-Mubarak Egypt and a host of other topics
grace its pages.
❖ Rest in Peace, Mr.
Trololo
In 2009-10, an old Soviet music video
became something of an internet sensation.
It featured Eduard Khil singing a song
without lyrics…lots of la la las…as a result
he became known as Mr. Trololo. The video
was the subject of any number of parodies.
Videos on youtube had Mr. Trololo in Hitler’s
Bunker, and as an alien encountering
the Starship Enterprise (www.youtube.com/
watch?v=DMoWt0wnlUw). The Voice of
Russia even jumped on the bandwagon sponsoring
in part a contest to put lyrics to Mr. Khil’s
song, even providing a special email address for
entries: trololo@ruvr.ru. If the contest ever had
a winner(s) VoR did not report it. Regardless,
on June 4, the Voice of Russia reported that
Mr. Khil had passed away in St. Petersburg of
complications from a stroke. It was an interesting
example of unexpected international fame.
Khil was a good sport about it, too. Thanks for
the memories.
The Internet is home to any number of
“broadcasts” of varying professional and artistic
quality. In many ways searching out obscure
audio gems on the Internet is just like DXing
the shortwaves. You never quite know what you
will discover.
There are audio feeds of actual stations like
6PR in Perth, Australia or KNBA in Alaska.
One can tune in to the external and domestic
services of any number of countries. Then there
are the retired and “involuntarily retired” DJs
who do shows on the Internet as an alternative
to the terrestrial radio that seemingly has
rejected them. There are the kids and others
who like to “play DJ” in their basements, and
develop a sometimes small but dedicated following.
Some of these programs may be rather
amateurish, but it’s just as likely that they can
sound pretty darn professional. The Internet
allows just about anyone to become a broadcaster
as well as a listener. Seek out these “radio
programs” and “radio stations” online. You just
may discover a real gem.
August 2012 MONITORING TIMES 33