Europe News
Germany's Deutsche Welle to end most shortwave broadcasting
May 18, 2011, 9:50 GMT
Bonn, Germany - The government-financed German broadcaster Deutsche Welle is to cease most of its shortwave broadcasts on July 1, with emphasis shifting to television broadcasts and the internet, the corporation said in Bonn Wednesday.
Shortwave, which can cross continents, is has becoming increasingly unpopular as fewer people possess shortwave radios. In many places, listeners can instead tune in to FM channels relayed via local radio towers, or via the internet.
The cuts were authorized by the German parliament in April.
Announcing the date, Deutsche Welle said some shortwave broadcasts in Chinese would continue, as would broadcasts to Africa.
There will be no more shortwave or FM broadcasts in Bulgarian, Greek, Croatian, Macedonian, Polish and Romanian. Deutsche Welle aims to reach audiences in eastern Europe in future with TV programmes and webcasts.
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