European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 3, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Plugged in to current trends while old ways fade out by William e. Schmidt the new York times not since world War ii were the listeners from the British broadcasting  overseas monitoring service so Busy. At their outpost in a former boys school in Rural Caversham last fall West of London they worked in relays before Banks of dials and scanners tuning in to the growing babble of faraway radio voices that filled the Ether bringing news of ferment and democratic rebellion in the Ukraine and Uzbekistan and  the last four decades the bbl along with the voice of America and radio free Europe radio Liberty helped pry apart the first cracks in the Iron curtain their scratchy Short wave broadcasts piercing the noise and Static from jamming transmitters across the soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Now the hammers Are silent but the Western broadcasters find they Are confronted by another sort of interference. It is the explosion of new broadcast outlets both radio and television that have been unleashed by the powerful cultural and political forces that Are sweeping Eastern Europe and the old soviet Empire. With political liberalization and the growth of a free press scores of new stations Are beaming a Richer variety of music and commentary to listeners numbed by years of state radio. Some like Moscow a Europa plus have been backed by Western investors. Others like radio Vladivostok Are sponsored by local City governments. The new stations present the staff at the listening Post with a new Challenge in monitoring that part of the world it must now cast a wider net or it will miss the disparate voices that have supplanted the voice of authority. And the stations represent an alternative to Western state sponsored broadcasters who suddenly face Home grown Competition for listeners. A with the emergence of relatively free Media institutions people Arentt As dependent on Western broadcast a a said David Morton head of the by cd a russian service which has an estimated 13 million listeners in the soviet Union. A if we want to keep our audience we have to do something different with our  this is not to say that Western radio has lost its draw As a source of information. If television is the most powerful Force shaping Public opinion in America and the West radio remains the dominant medium in the rest of the world a relentless inexpensive and instantly accessible especially in times of crisis. In the first uneasy Days of the abortive soviet coup last August according to a recent bbl Survey taken in Moscow about one of every four soviet citizens tuned in to a foreign radio broadcast. Among them was president Mikhail s. Gorbachev who said he was kept informed by the Voa the bbl and radio Liberty while under House arrest in the Crimea. But the cold wars end and the emergence of the new radio Days in the soviet republics and Eastern Europe has forced governments and broadcasters to rethink their Mission. A major consideration is the future of radio free Europe and radio Liberty which were established at the end of world War ii with the explicit Mission of broadcasting on behalf of the captive people of Eastern Europe. The Western broadcasters themselves find they must pay More attention to marketing programming and listener demands if they Are not to be viewed As a cold War relic. A in Hungary under communist Rule cabaret was popular because it was one of the few places where you could go to hear political commentary a said continued on Page 6 the bbl newsroom at Bush House in London is a Magnet for world news. Radio broadcasts in English below Are just some of the Many ways to tune in to English broadcasts. This is by no Means a Complete list. Remember that stations transmit at different times during the Day. A Good general Rule tune to higher frequencies during the Day and lower ones at Dawn and dusk. Bbl Voa world am service 792 am 1187 shortwave 648 5.985 shortwave 5.995 5.975 6.035 6.045 6.040 6.180 6.060 6.195 6.095 7.120 7.325 6.125 6.140 7.170 9.410 7.235 9.580 9.530 9.660 9.575 9.740 9.590 9.750 9.700 9.760 9.760 11.750 11.715 11.760 11.720 12.095 11.760 15.070 15.175 11.805 11.825 11.915 15.280 15.115 15.300 15.120 15.360 15.205 15.400 15.395 15.420 15.425 i Canadian Christian world science service world shortwave service 6.010 shortwave 6.080 9.455 6.150 9.495 7.290 9.555 9.530 9.750 9.840 11.735 11.580 11.945 11.705 13.650 15.315 13.760 15.325 13.625 Moscow world service shortwave 4.895 7.315 11.675 11.690 11.710 11.730 11.775 11.780 11.850 11.980 12.010 12.030 12.050 13.605 15.140 15.205 15.315 15.320 15.375 15.410 15.450 15.540 bbl Quot numbers in boldface Are bbl frequencies directed toward Central Europe ass Wes Boonup May 3, 1992 sunday a