Feba buys airtime on a number of transmitters serving our broadcast area. Our annual unsponsored airtime bill is £283,000 which breaks down to £1.65 for 1 minute.
The transmitters we broadcast from are owned by several companies, most of whom transmit programmes for other international broadcasters — public service and Christian. It is possible to broadcast from the UK on powerful 500kw transmitters into Africa, for instance, but the signal strength will not be as good as a transmitter sited in Africa. So through a number of broadcasters, we use a range of transmitters from Siberia to South Africa — all with the intention of providing a clear signal into a specific geographic area.
Val Rollins, Operations Director at Feba UK, is responsible for negotiating with broadcasters for transmitters to serve the required areas. She says: “Due to the increased cost of oil and electricity in many countries, the cost of broadcasting has increased significantly in the past couple of years, as much as 30% for one transmitting station. This highlights the dilemma we are facing — stay with the more expensive transmitters and keep a clear strong signal or move to a cheaper transmitter but lose listeners in some areas.”
Richard Whittington, Frequency Schedule Engineer at Feba UK, is responsible for scheduling and monitoring radio frequencies for short wave broadcasts.
Short wave radio is often referred to as international radio because of the long range reach of broadcasts. In countries torn apart by war, people who want to hear news and information will often turn to ‘foreign radio’ to meet their needs.
Most of our programme producers make programmes in their mother tongue and live, or have lived, in the country or region of their audience. Local radio may be in the official language of the country and not the mother tongue that is spoken in home. Short wave radio may be the main source of inspiration and information outside the local community.
Some programme suppliers, who have internet limitations or security concerns, will send their programmes by alternative means to Feba UK. Here they are checked and distributed to the appropriate transmitter site — all before the programmes should be heard on air.