Saturday, March 26, 2011

End of an Era

The BBC has announced the cessation of its short wave service to Russia. They state:

The service was set up in 1946 and enjoyed an audience of millions of Soviet listeners during the Cold War....After the collapse of the USSR, it was rebroadcast on Russian radio stations, but these partnerships suffered as ties between Moscow and London deteriorated. ...On Friday, BBC's Mandarin Chinese, Caribbean and Azeri broadcasts on radio came to an end. Five language service at World Service have been shut down and a number of programmes in English are ending.

It is a passing moment in history. For those of us old enough to get our world news over a short wave radio, specifically the old Hallicrafters above, with the noise and signal fading in and out, it is a fond memory of what it was like before the Internet. Farewell old friend.