SR International - Radio Sweden
Encyclopedia
SR International - Radio Sweden is Sweden
's official international broadcasting
station.
(SR), Sweden's non-commercial public-radio broadcasting organization. The service was founded in 1938, at the approach of World War II
, as a way of keeping Swedes living abroad informed of happenings in Sweden and of Swedish opinion. Programming was at first in Swedish
only, but in 1939 English-
and German-language broadcasts were added.
After the war, further language services were added: in French
, Portuguese
, Russian
, and Spanish
. At the close of the Cold War
, the services in French, Portuguese, and Spanish were gradually phased out and replaced by new services in Estonian
and Latvian
. The latter services were phased out once Estonia
and Latvia
had developed their own independent media and joined the European Union
.
Until recently Radio Sweden also operated a service in Belarusian
but this was closed in 2010.
In the 1990s Radio Sweden was merged with SR's Immigrant Languages Department to form the SR International channel. For a while, immigrant language services, such as those in Arabic
and Kurdish
, were additionally carried on shortwave
.
, founded in 1948 by Arne Skoog
. He reasoned that shortwave listening
or DXing
was a very young hobby, and that by providing information in a weekly program for shortwave listeners about their hobby, Radio Sweden was teaching its own audience about how to listen better. While the first program was based solely on Arne's own listening, listeners were encouraged to write in with their own news, and soon virtually all of the program was based on listener's letters (an early example of interactvity).
The program was carried on Tuesdays in all of Radio Sweden's services except Swedish.
When Arne Skoog retired in connection with the program's 30th anniversary in 1978, the program was taken over by George Wood, a member of the Radio Sweden English Service. After a number of years, as media changed, it began to cover less about shortwave, and more about satellite radio and television. Later coverage was extended to the Internet, the focus was shifted to concentrating on Swedish media, and the name of the English version of the program was changed to "MediaScan". "MediaScan" was the first English language radio program in Europe (and the second overall in Europe) to post audio on the Internet (on the ftp sites ftp.funet.fi
and ftp.sunet.se
, as well as via Internet Multicasting).
In 2001 the program was discontinued, but remains in a somewhat sporadic form on the Radio Sweden website.
today.
Its programs and website offer a ”smörgåsbord” of news and current affairs, science and technology, lifestyle, and culture. It explores, debates, analyzes, and gives insight into the way Swedish society and its people are changing to meet today’s challenges and opportunities.
Radio Sweden is committed to its goal of being the best source of information about Sweden in English
with relevant, interesting and thought-provoking programs for Sweden’s culturally diverse society, its expatriate community, Swedes abroad and “Swedophiles” around the world.
, with Roger Wallis
and Kim Loughran, which ran from 1967-1981. The program was launched to showcase Swedish rock and pop music in a world dominated by American and British rock. Using Radio Sweden's relatively high-powered medium wave transmitter on 1179 kHz, the entire program was 90 minutes in length, and features many satirical sketches, often political and sometimes controversial. A 30 minute segment of the entire broadcast was the Radio Sweden shortwave program on Saturdays.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
's official international broadcasting
International broadcasting
International broadcasting is broadcasting that is deliberately aimed at a foreign, rather than a domestic, audience. It usually is broadcast by means of longwave, mediumwave, or shortwave radio, but in recent years has also used direct satellite broadcasting and the Internet as means of reaching...
station.
History
SR International is part of Sveriges RadioSveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
(SR), Sweden's non-commercial public-radio broadcasting organization. The service was founded in 1938, at the approach of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, as a way of keeping Swedes living abroad informed of happenings in Sweden and of Swedish opinion. Programming was at first in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
only, but in 1939 English-
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and German-language broadcasts were added.
After the war, further language services were added: in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. At the close of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the services in French, Portuguese, and Spanish were gradually phased out and replaced by new services in Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
and Latvian
Latvian language
Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
. The latter services were phased out once Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
and Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
had developed their own independent media and joined the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Until recently Radio Sweden also operated a service in Belarusian
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
but this was closed in 2010.
In the 1990s Radio Sweden was merged with SR's Immigrant Languages Department to form the SR International channel. For a while, immigrant language services, such as those in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and Kurdish
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
, were additionally carried on shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
.
Sweden Calling DXers
One of the most popular programs on Radio Sweden was Sweden Calling DXersSweden Calling DXers
Sweden Calling DXers was a radio program on Radio Sweden, founded in 1948 by Arne Skoog. He reasoned that shortwave listening or DXing was a very young hobby, and that by providing information in a weekly program for shortwave listeners about their hobby, Radio Sweden was teaching its own audience...
, founded in 1948 by Arne Skoog
Arne Skoog
-Sweden Calling DXers:In 1948, Arne, then a young engineer at Radio Sweden, founded Sweden Calling DXers as a way of keeping listeners in touch with news in the world of international radio. Shortwave came into its own during the Second World War, and after the war shortwave listening became a...
. He reasoned that shortwave listening
Shortwave listening
Shortwave listening is the hobby of listening to shortwave radio broadcasts located on frequencies between 1700 kHz and 30 MHz. Listeners range from casual users seeking international news and entertainment programming to hobbyists immersed in the technical aspects of radio reception and DXing...
or DXing
DXing
DXing is the hobby of tuning in and identifying distant radio or television signals, or making two way radio contact with distant stations in amateur radio, citizens' band radio or other two way radio communications. Many DXers also attempt to receive written verifications of reception from the...
was a very young hobby, and that by providing information in a weekly program for shortwave listeners about their hobby, Radio Sweden was teaching its own audience about how to listen better. While the first program was based solely on Arne's own listening, listeners were encouraged to write in with their own news, and soon virtually all of the program was based on listener's letters (an early example of interactvity).
The program was carried on Tuesdays in all of Radio Sweden's services except Swedish.
When Arne Skoog retired in connection with the program's 30th anniversary in 1978, the program was taken over by George Wood, a member of the Radio Sweden English Service. After a number of years, as media changed, it began to cover less about shortwave, and more about satellite radio and television. Later coverage was extended to the Internet, the focus was shifted to concentrating on Swedish media, and the name of the English version of the program was changed to "MediaScan". "MediaScan" was the first English language radio program in Europe (and the second overall in Europe) to post audio on the Internet (on the ftp sites ftp.funet.fi
FUNET
FUNET is the Finnish University and Research Network, a backbone network providing Internet connections for Finnish universities and polytechnics as well as other research facilities. It is governed by the state-owned CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd. The FUNET project started in December 1983 and...
and ftp.sunet.se
SUNET
SUNET is the Swedish University Computer Network. SUNET provides high-speed Internet access to academic institutions in Sweden. The current incarnation of the network, OptoSunet, provides 40 Gbit/s links between the cities hosting universities. It replaces the older network, GigaSunet, based mainly...
, as well as via Internet Multicasting).
In 2001 the program was discontinued, but remains in a somewhat sporadic form on the Radio Sweden website.
End of shortwave broadcasting
On October 20, 2010 Radio Sweden ceased broadcasts on shortwave and medium wave, as Swedish Radio's management decided that the Internet had matured enough to support international broadcasts. At the same time the English Service was extended to national broadcasts on FM, but programming on weekends was discontinued. Services in English also continue on satellite, both using Swedish Television's satellite and the World Radio Network.Current programming
The Radio Sweden English Service seeks to provide a window on the diverse perspectives and issues in SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
today.
Its programs and website offer a ”smörgåsbord” of news and current affairs, science and technology, lifestyle, and culture. It explores, debates, analyzes, and gives insight into the way Swedish society and its people are changing to meet today’s challenges and opportunities.
Radio Sweden is committed to its goal of being the best source of information about Sweden in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
with relevant, interesting and thought-provoking programs for Sweden’s culturally diverse society, its expatriate community, Swedes abroad and “Swedophiles” around the world.
The Saturday Show
Another popular Radio Sweden program was the The Saturday ShowThe Saturday Show (Radio Sweden)
The Radio Sweden Saturday Show, with Roger Wallis and Kim Loughran, ran from 1967 to 1981. The program was launched to showcase Swedish rock and pop music, especially the Swedish progressive music or alternative music scene, in a world dominated by American and British rock.Using Radio Sweden's...
, with Roger Wallis
Roger Wallis
Roger Wallis, is a musician, journalist and researcher. He is a resident of Sweden since 1963, and has been an adjunct professor of multimedia at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and is now an emeritus....
and Kim Loughran, which ran from 1967-1981. The program was launched to showcase Swedish rock and pop music in a world dominated by American and British rock. Using Radio Sweden's relatively high-powered medium wave transmitter on 1179 kHz, the entire program was 90 minutes in length, and features many satirical sketches, often political and sometimes controversial. A 30 minute segment of the entire broadcast was the Radio Sweden shortwave program on Saturdays.