Date: 02 Jul 96
From: Alexa Dvorson <•••@••.•••>
To: "Richard K. Moore" <•••@••.•••>
Subject: LONG LIVE THE BBC AS IS
Dear Mr. Moore:
A friend and colleague forwarded your piece on the BBC's restructuring to me,
which I appreciated. However, I must correct you on one thing: Radio 4 and World
Service are two completely different creatures. I can switch back and forth
between both where I live in Germany. The newscasts and newscasters are
completely different, as are the programs. BBC World Service is only broadcast
on Radio 4's frequency after Radio 4 beds down for the night after signing off.
But they are not the same at all. Nick Ross, The World at One, Today, PM, etc.
are all exclusively creations of Radio 4, whereas Newshour, Britain Today, The
World Today, and numerous other public affairs and music programs (Outlook,
Megamix, Jazz for the Asking,etc.) are heard only on World Service, tailored for
a more international audience. That's the beauty of the two beasts--they suit
their listeners much better than the current plan to amalgamize everything,
which is terribly upsetting and bad planning smacking of Thatcherism.
Just wanted to alert you to this misunderstanding, since you wrongly defined
Radio 4 in one of your first paragraphs as follows: "Radio 4" is one of the
five FM radio channels currently operated by BBC, and it's rebroadcast to the
world on long wave as "BBC World Service." Radio 4 is broadcast on long
wave, but World Service is broadcast on shortwave worldwide and on AM in
Europe (and FM in Berlin.).
As I write, the Beeb is reporting demonstrations outside Parliament today by BBC
staff members opposing the changes. Let us pray for John Burt's awakening.
Yours Sincerely, Alexa Dvorson
---
Thanks, Alexa, for the correction and for your comments. What I
listen to in Ireland turns out to be "Radio 4 Longwave" -- that gives me
Radio 4 most of the time, and World Service late at night. The best of
both worlds, perhaps, except that we get whole days of cricket sometimes,
to my dismay.
Cheers,
rkm
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