International Broadcasting - Means To Reach An Audience

Means To Reach An Audience

Because of this many broadcasters are discovering they can reach a wider audience through other methods (particularly the internet and satellite television) and are cutting back on (or even entirely dropping) shortwave.

An international broadcaster has several options for reaching a foreign audience:

• If the foreign audience is near the broadcaster, high-power longwave and mediumwave stations can provide reliable coverage.
• If the foreign audience is more than 1,000 kilometers away from the broadcaster, shortwave radio is reliable, but subject to interruption by adverse solar/geomagnetic conditions.
• An international broadcaster may use a local mediumwave or FM radio or television relay station in the target country or countries.
• An international broadcaster may use a local shortwave broadcaster as a relay station.
• Neighboring states, such as Israel and Jordan, may broadcast television programs to each other's viewing public.

An international broadcaster such as the BBC, Radio France International or Germany's Deutsche Welle, may use all the above methods. Several international broadcasters, such as Swiss Radio International, have abandoned shortwave broadcasting altogether, relying on Internet transmissions only. Others, such as the BBC World Service, have abandoned shortwave transmissions to North America, relying on local relays, the Internet, and satellite transmissions