not a shortwave service, but this may be of interest to AM fans
China Radio International has replaced country music on KHCM-AM 880 in Honolulu in an agreement between station licensee Salem Media of Hawaii Inc. and R&C Productions Inc, both California based. Salem parent Salem Communications Corp owns radio stations known for primarily Christian and conservative programming.
R&C President Billy Chung claims the programming does not promote communism or come from the communist perspective. “CRI has more than 100 reporter centres around the world,” staffed by American reporters as well as reporters and hosts from other countries. He noted the international cast of hosts and reporters on the new website at am880.net.
CRI programmes are primarily in Chinese - predominantly Mandarin but also some Cantonese as well as English, Korean and Japanese, Chung said. “In the future we will probably have some local programming”.
“R&C approached Salem seeking the arrangement,” said Jeff Coelho, Salem Media general manager. “It does two things: It generates revenue and fills a little bit of a hole, for Chinese programming in Honolulu,” he said last week. Emergency messages have been prepared in Chinese, for instance.
CRI programming is on in more than a dozen US radio markets. “We researched it diligently,” Coelho said. “They’re just testing all the programming for the next two weeks. What you hear is not the final product.”
(Source: Star Bulletin/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)