Radio Purga targets Chukotka, the country’s northeasternmost region
BY HANS JOHNSON
PUBLISHED: APRIL 8, 2020
Russia has resumed Digital Radio Mondiale broadcasts on shortwave. The country originally aired the Voice of Russia via DRM a few years ago. The new service is tentatively called Radio Purga (“Radio Blizzard”). The target area is the Chukotka region of the Russian Far East. Analog shortwave transmissions once served the area, but those ended in the early 2000s when the broadcaster left analog shortwave.
Chukotka is vast and the target audience only numbers a few thousand. Thus, shortwave is the only practical way to reach the population. The transmitter site, Komsomolsk Amur, used to broadcast Voice of Russia’s analog programming and is now being used for the DRM program.
Additional story at Radio World: https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/digital-radio/russia-returns-to-drm-on-shortwave