Background

The World Radio TV Handbook (WRTH) originated as the "World Radio Handbook", with the first edition appearing just after the end of World War 2, edited in Denmark. I bought my first copy in 1953 as a 13 year old schoolboy, and can recall being punished for secretly reading it during class! It was my main introduction to world radio, and I have kept every edition since 1965.

In those early days, "WRH" became available each year well before Christmas, containing the Winter schedules. There was also a "Summer Supplement", which came out midyear, offering updated SW schedules and current LW/MW listings. The concept of a "mid-year" edition has recently been reintroduced, with the initial publication of the "Shortwave Guide" in July, 2002.

To support WRH, there was also "How to Listen to the World", an annual publication, which ran for many years, and later merged into the "WRTH". I was a regular writer for HTLTTW and WRTH, producing illustrated technical articles on SW and MW reception from Australia, the content of which remains relevant to this day.

In later years, there was massive instability with WRTH: editorial ownership, marketing, and publication management has been subjected to considerable uncertainty, impacting negatively on content, accuracy, and newsworthiness. A new WRTH organisation was put in place some four years ago, which resulted in extensive public criticism of content; the imperfections of the product have since been acknowledged by WRTH management, who have now put in place new initiatives to strengthen overall accuracy and timeliness.

This edition is the fourth to be published under the new arrangements.

Unlike the early years, WRTH found itself facing strong competitors in the 1990s, all offering alternative products covering similar fields. Its image has not been helped by the availability of the Internet, which has facilitated global publication of many negative "reviews" of WRTH, often written by people with inadequate journalistic skills or monitoring experience, viewing WRTH as a product to attack, but neglecting its many strengths.

Many critiquers, believing that the WRTH should be 100% accurate across its wide area of editorial coverage, fail to acknowledge that the product is a "Guide", and that assembly requires several months of preparation and complex coordination.

As for all products, it is customer acceptance which will determine its future. The mark of business success for this book is based on sales: will first time users buy and return, and will past customers buy? The negative views of some mouse potato posting inane comments about WRTH on an Internet site are irrelevant. Indeed, valid criticise is vital, but should be directed to the WRTH management in the first instance - there is a pull-out questionnaire in the book for that very purpose!

Coverage

WRTH markets itself as "the world's most comprehensive and up-to-date Guide to broadcasting", and "continues to be THE guide for the serious radio listener".

Its coverage is large, looking at broadcasting on longwave, shortwave, mediumwave, VHF-FM, and TV. It excludes non-broadcasting stations, but now includes Time Signal transmissions.

The page allocation for each theme is as follows:

National Radio in Country Order 331
International Radio in Country Order 94
National Radio - Frequency Lists by Region 72
World Television in Country Order 38
SW Stations of the World - by Frequency 31
Receiver Reviews 14
International Broadcasts in English, French, German, and Spanish - by time 15
World and Continent Maps 13
Abbreviations for Transmitter Sites, ITU Country Codes, Target Area Codes 5
Digital Broadcasting Update 1
Monitoring Clubs 3
HF Reception Forecasts and Propagation 4
World Frequency Chart 1
How to Use the WRTH 2
World Time Zones 1
Contributors 2
The Politics of Broadcasting 3
Digital Radio Mondiale 2
Introduction to Antennas 4
Internet Resources for the DXer 1
Programs for DXers 2
Standard Time and Frequency Transmissions

Full page advertisements take up 20 pages, plus three covers.

The alphabetical sections provide an enormous amount of data supplementing the basic schedule information, including personnel, electronic/Web/postal addresses, telephone/FAX contacts, announcements, future plans, programming, slogans, networks, transmitter sites, languages, and QSL policies.

Receivers

We read that there continues to be a decline in the rate of introduction of new SW receivers, with main constraints cited as increased growth and the steady introduction of satellite and Internet broadcasting technology. SW radio would continue to service remote regions where those new delivery platforms are not available.

In developing the five receiver reviews, the authors stress that it is "useability" which denotes a good receiver, and not necessarily what laboratory measurements might reveal. We are reminded that a modest receiver connected to a good antenna will almost invariably outperform a combination of an expensive receiver and an inferior antenna.

Ratings against the Ten-Ten RX-340 and RX-350 are excellent, noting that pricing is if the order of A$8000 (-340) and A$2400 (-350).

At the lower end of the price scale is the Taiwan-produced Sangean ATS818/Roberts RG827, (A$400), which rated favourably, even though weight (1.8 kg) and size are regarded as rather high for a portable. The reviewers noted some concerns about image rejection and SSB effectiveness.

The Icom IC-7400/IC-746PRO transceiver is considered to be a good performer, even though pricing is quite high, at A$4400, if the equipment is used only for receiving purposes.

A Worldspace receiver is examined - the JoyEar DAR-WS2000, at A$400, is regarded as giving good value, but the reviewers question the longer term viability of the emerging WorldSpace technology, with none of the initial receiver manufacturers remaining in the market.

Digital Radio

The important features of Digital Radio Mondiale and Digital Audio Broadcasting are assessed, with some concerns being raised about DRM's hungry spectrum utilisation in proximity to other broadcasters, and the ease with which these transmissions can be easily jammed.

We are reminded that DAB may be somewhat ahead of its time, and with audio reproduction not consistent advertised claims, as an outcome of the low bit-rates. The author stresses that at the time of writing DAB offered nothing that was not already available from existing technologies.

Hobby Monitoring Clubs

The number of Clubs listed in WRTH is declining quickly year-by-year, due to the reducing need for these kinds of organisations, resulting from changed community lifestyles, alternative leisure pursuits, the impact of the Internet and the computer, and the enormous number of free Internet-based "Lists" and "Groups" now available. The entries reflect the global and regional rationalisation which has occurred, and will continue, in some countries, where many Clubs have disappeared, and others have amalgamated.

The listings reveal that many Clubs now offer supplementary Internet services to their members, and some associations no longer provide printed materials in any form, relying only on the Internet for information exchange.

Content

WRTH contains an enormous amount of information. Some users, however, may disagree with the policy of dividing the entries into "national" and "international" sub-groupings, or of showing "Clandestine" broadcasters within the "target country". We are advised that this division of coverage is to facilitate editorial preparation, with the national radio entries being compiled first.

An innovation this year is the inclusion of "Digital Radio Mondiale" as a "country" within the International Listings, with details of schedules tests from various broadcasters.

New Features

This year's edition carries new chapters on "BROADCASTS IN PORTUGUESE", "STANDARD TIME AND FREQUENCY "TRANSMISSIONS", "PROGRAMS FOR DXers AND LISTENERS", and a useful page dedicated to "SELECTED INTERNET RESOURCES FOR DXERS AND LISTENERS". The latter contains a large assemblage of Web sites offering lists, Guides and search engines of many aspects of world radio broadcasting, including QSLs. As well as our own EDXP, we see Internet addresses and Web links for regional broadcasting in various countries, program listings, propagation data, computer support, national anthems, identification signals, and mailing lists.

I was disappointed to note, again, the exclusion of the important High Frequency Coordination Conference (HFCC), an approved body within the ITU, and neither was there an entry for the ITU itself. No entries appear for Australian Government regulatory bodies, such as the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Australian Communications Commission, even though the USA's Federal Communications Commission is shown.

The publishers have subsequently advised that the HFCC and other regulatory organisations will be included in the next edition as part of the ongoing editorial improvement plan.

Multitudes of organisations leasing time over major HF facilities are included. Some users may question these entries, on the basis that many are merely specific programs, and may not fall into the generally accepted category of "broadcasting station".

Perhaps the editors could review this policy for future editions.

National Radio

The steady movement of domestic SW services to MW and FM for local coverage is again reflected, particularly in the African and Asian entries. The Indonesian listings now number less than 20 active HF broadcasters, and many African countries no longer provide any domestic SW services at all. Many Pacific nations have also closed down their SW services.

I was pleased to note the in inclusion of the schedules of the Australian-based Voice International and HCJB-Australia organisations.

Some readers may be perplexed by the omission of Yugoslavia, and the use of the name "Serbia and Montenegro" instead. Hawaii and Alaska, being part of the USA, are shown separately as "countries". "Palestine" is also shown as a country, which may offend some users.

It was refreshing to note the inclusion of "Radio UNMEE", the United Nations Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia, which broadcasts on satellite and leased HF facilities in the UK and the United Arab Emirates, with the information given under "Ethiopia". Some readers might feel, however, that it may be simpler to show all HF UN broadcasts under a separate editorial country, "United Nations", as it was several years ago, and not under "USA".

Timeliness and accuracy

Widespread public criticism of previous editions focused on deficiencies for information contained in the international section, due to the failure of some broadcasters to supply information by the deadline date, and to inadequacies in the national radio entries for the Asian region.

This year, I assisted WRTH for the supply of information, and its inclusion has strengthened coverage for those broadcasters which refuse to make their operating schedules available.

The page dedicated to CONTRIBUTORS acknowledges the many individuals and hobby-based organisations who helped in the compilation of the data. The accuracy of the international entries is in my opinion quite good, with very few "old" schedules, and I am aware of the intensive effort made by the publishers to have everything assembled and ready within such a short timescale.

The Australian national radio listings again, regrettably, omit many FM stations, due to the publishers' policy of excluding such Australian stations whose powers are less than 1 kW. This is inconsistent with the policy adopted for other countries, such as New Zealand, where stations using powers as low as 10 Watts are included.

Many of the missing Australian stations are community, ethnic, and special interest broadcasters, an area which is being vigorously and actively promoted by the Government, acknowledging the strong multi-cultural presence in this country.

The publishers have advised that my suggestions for enhanced coverage in this area may be considered for the next edition.

I have also urged that the Australian national radio listings be amalgamated into two principal frequency sub-sets, as is done for New Zealand: one each for FM and MW. At present, readers need to look through three separate lists for MW broadcasters, and four for FM.

Suggestions

WRTH now uses the term "DXER" more widely in the 2003 edition, obviously recognising that "DXers" constitute a large proportion of the market. I believe that attention could be given to an extension and development of the very small reference to reception reports, to cater not only for beginning DXers, but also to promote the need for continuing feedback between listeners (of any category) and the broadcasters. This could cover the differences between reception reporting for QSLs, compared with listener feedback where no QSL is sought. This would include the principal requirements for QSL reports, which has been relegated to the backburner in recent years, with some international stations declining to issue formal QSLs, possibly because they confuse listener feedback correspondence with QSL requests.

Perhaps a succinct explanation and history of the term QSL could be given, rather than readers needing to discover this out for themselves. Whilst the new chapter on Internet resources assists in this field, there are millions of world listeners without access to this technology.

Many years ago, the Association of North American Radio Clubs, through noted medium-wave hobbyist John Callarman, produced its timeless monogram entitled "The Code of Ethics for DXers" - the concepts he espoused there are just as applicable today, 40 years later, and could form the basis for the suggested additional material for WRTH.

Some sort of clarification could also be useful as to the varying levels of motivation and interest of world listeners, such as technical monitoring, program listening, propagation research, spectrum analysis, QSL reporting, and DXing, noting that those categories are of course necessarily blurred.

Overall

From my viewpoint as a professional communications' engineer, technical journalist, and long-time monitoring hobbyist, I believe that this edition of the WRTH is very good. Its market is large and diverse, being read and used by hobbyists, engineering consultants, broadcasters, frequency planners, media producers, researchers, historians, travellers, and anyone else with an interest in world broadcasting.

With such a broad community of interest, compromises have been made in terms of content, coverage, layout, and timeliness, and readers should acknowledge those constraints. If users require detailed current information on specialist/particular topics, there are other hard and soft-copy publications available, and the Internet. The WRTH acknowledges this by the inclusion of the new chapter about Internet resources; I do not think that this will undercut the WRTH's global marketability.

The most important feature of WRTH is that it is a "Guide", and that "most everything" is available in a single volume. I always have the manual available for ready reference, as I have done for over 50 years! It sits alongside other radio-related references.

In closing, let me suggest that no information-based publication, such as WRTH, can ever be 100% correct, as we all live in an imperfect world! Schedules correct on one day may be suddenly changed the next, with this trend being particularly evident for the present (B02) transmission season. What I see with WRTH is positive, "is good", and credit must be given to the publishers for the new features, their initiatives, and responsiveness to reader feedback.

The new World Radio TV Handbook 2007 can be bought here.