Media Release
Radio Heritage Foundation
http://www.radioheritage.net/
Samoan Public Radio Sale
The script of our recent [RNZI Mailbox, January 21, 2008] radio documentary on the future of public radio in Samoa and reflections on past experience of privatization in the Cook Islands and American Samoa is now online at www.radioheritage.net.
Plans to sell the SBC's AM, FM and TV stations have been heralded for some 20 years, and, finally, in the station's 60th anniversary year, privatization seems likely.
"Samoan Radio Sale" considers the state of SBC, its competition on the Apia airwaves, and similarities with the contemporary radio dials in Pago Pago and Avarua. It also looks at the importance of maintaining the expensive but vital AM transmitters for cyclone and
other natural disasters.
With the arrival of bright and breezy public radio from Radio Australia on the FM dial in both Apia and Avarua in recent months, perhaps local public radio in Samoa and other islands is now being replaced by free radio services coming from outside the region.
The Pacific Plan suggests that new radio services are needed across the region as part of a digital future. The BBC, Radio France International, China Radio International and Radio Australia all
provide free public radio via local FM outlets in more and more islands as discussed in the article at http://www.radioheritage.net/.
Radio broadcasting across the entire region is fragile in many ways, and whether the sale of Samoa's SBC to private commercial operators will highlight this fragility even more in the coming months remains to be seen.
Public, commercial and community broadcasters together face major technology, content, economic viability, media freedom and audience challenges, similar to those facing stations in Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.
"Samoan Radio Sale" is one of a series of articles about contemporary radio issues across the region being released by the Radio Heritage Foundation during the coming months.
A Pacific Radio Conference organized by the Radio Heritage Foundation to consider the challenges ahead is in preliminary planning. This will be held in Wellington, New Zealand on September 28-30 2008.
You can listen to a podcast of the documentary by visiting Radio New Zealand International www.rnzi.com, and click on the audio for the Mailbox program for January 21 2008.
[The Radio Heritage Foundation is a registered non-profit organization operated entirely by volunteers. It carries out research and publishing into connected aspects of radio heritage and popular culture across the entire Pacific region. Contact details are at http://www.radioheritage.net/. Media contact: David Ricquish, Chairman. Email: info@radioheritage.net . Requests for permission to reprint the article are welcomed.]
Radio Heritage Foundation
http://www.radioheritage.net/
Samoan Public Radio Sale
The script of our recent [RNZI Mailbox, January 21, 2008] radio documentary on the future of public radio in Samoa and reflections on past experience of privatization in the Cook Islands and American Samoa is now online at www.radioheritage.net.
Plans to sell the SBC's AM, FM and TV stations have been heralded for some 20 years, and, finally, in the station's 60th anniversary year, privatization seems likely.
"Samoan Radio Sale" considers the state of SBC, its competition on the Apia airwaves, and similarities with the contemporary radio dials in Pago Pago and Avarua. It also looks at the importance of maintaining the expensive but vital AM transmitters for cyclone and
other natural disasters.
With the arrival of bright and breezy public radio from Radio Australia on the FM dial in both Apia and Avarua in recent months, perhaps local public radio in Samoa and other islands is now being replaced by free radio services coming from outside the region.
The Pacific Plan suggests that new radio services are needed across the region as part of a digital future. The BBC, Radio France International, China Radio International and Radio Australia all
provide free public radio via local FM outlets in more and more islands as discussed in the article at http://www.radioheritage.net/.
Radio broadcasting across the entire region is fragile in many ways, and whether the sale of Samoa's SBC to private commercial operators will highlight this fragility even more in the coming months remains to be seen.
Public, commercial and community broadcasters together face major technology, content, economic viability, media freedom and audience challenges, similar to those facing stations in Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.
"Samoan Radio Sale" is one of a series of articles about contemporary radio issues across the region being released by the Radio Heritage Foundation during the coming months.
A Pacific Radio Conference organized by the Radio Heritage Foundation to consider the challenges ahead is in preliminary planning. This will be held in Wellington, New Zealand on September 28-30 2008.
You can listen to a podcast of the documentary by visiting Radio New Zealand International www.rnzi.com, and click on the audio for the Mailbox program for January 21 2008.
[The Radio Heritage Foundation is a registered non-profit organization operated entirely by volunteers. It carries out research and publishing into connected aspects of radio heritage and popular culture across the entire Pacific region. Contact details are at http://www.radioheritage.net/. Media contact: David Ricquish, Chairman. Email: info@radioheritage.net . Requests for permission to reprint the article are welcomed.]
(Source: Radio Heritage Foundation)
