Sunday, June 22, 2008

BBC to use wind power for Ascension Island relay site

In an article which will bring a smile to the faces of diehard shortwave listeners, The Economist writes:
“Short-wave’s retreat has slowed. Though the BBC’s World Service uses around 15 different technologies to reach its listeners, short-wave is still king: latest figures, published last week, show 105m of its 182m-strong global audience still listen that way, the majority of them in Africa. In Nigeria the short-wave audience even grew slightly last year. That’s not going to change soon: the BBC is upgrading its transmitters on Ascension Island (to be powered, greenly, by a new wind farm). Mike Cronk, a BBC bigwig, says the business case was “compelling”.
(Source: R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

Complete article at Economist.Com:
http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11590746
Photo of Ascension Island fly over courtesy of World QSL Book.