shortWWWave

The BBC World Service have announced on their website that the remaining shortwave transmissions to Europe will end on February 18th.

For anyone who relies on these broadcasts, they provide some alternatives, although suggestions of cable and satellite broadcasts aren't really going to be of much use to European travellers relying on the BBC for news broadcasts, when they're on the road. With the increased potential for Kosovo to become a flashpoint, this may leave a good number of people in the dark, and it strikes me as a particularly short-sighted move.

After 69 years on air (note: German text), Radio Sweden will be closing its German shortwave and mediumwave broadcasts on March 30th, 2008.

According to the report, the German service has been particularly successful on the internet, so a podcast and on-demand service will remain at www.radioschweden.net. This popularity has come at the expense of the shortwave broadcasts, however, where listener numbers have dropped dramatically.

Radio Sweden's German podcasts are available here.