- Radio Prague
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Radio Prague (Český rozhlas 7) 
Type Radio network Country 
Czech RepublicAvailability International Owner Český rozhlas Key people Miroslav Krupička (director), Gerald Schubert (editor in chief) Launch date 31 August 1936[1] Official website www.radio.cz Radio Prague (Czech: Český rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha) is the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic.
Radio Prague broadcasts in six languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Czech and Russian. It broadcasts programmes about the Czech Republic on shortwave, satellite and on the Internet. Broadcasting first began on August 31, 1936 near by spa town Poděbrady.
A Radio Prague pennant from 1986
The station broadcasts a total of 24 hours' worth of programmes per day, 3 hours of which are new programmes (one new 30-minute programme in each of the six languages); the remaining 21 hours are rebroadcasts. Rebroadcast programmes have fresh news bulletins. All programmes last for 30 minutes and have a standard layout: news, current affairs magazine and a feature. The theme of the feature changes each day and each section tailors programmes to suit its audience. The weekend broadcasts have a slightly more relaxed structure, they contain less news and more features devoted to the arts, social affairs, music etc.
Contents
International cooperation
Radio Prague produces a number of programmes in co-operation with other radio stations, and also for them. Radio Prague's Czech section produces programmes for Czech expatriates through SBS Radio in Australia, Radio Daruvar in Croatia, Radio Timisoara in Romania and several radio stations in the United States. These programmes are sent by cassette, via the Internet or down telephone lines. The Russian section uses the Internet to send its features to two radio stations in Russia. From 2001 to 2008, the English section worked with Radio Slovakia International, Radio Budapest and Radio Polonia to produce a programme called Insight Central Europe, which examined contemporary issues facing Central Europe. The programme was discontinued in August 2008. The English Section also participates in a weekly programme called Network Europe co-produced by Deutsche Welle, Radio France International, Radio Netherlands, Radio Polonia, Radio Prague, Radio Romania International, Radio Slovakia International, Radio Sweden and Radio Ukraine International. The English Section also contributes features to Radio Polonia's Europe East programme. Both the English and German sections co-operate with a number of European radio stations on the Radio E project. The German section works together with Radio Slovakia International to produce a Czech-Slovak magazine programme. The French section contributes towards the Accents d´Europe programme produced by Radio France Internationale. The Spanish section sends programmes to several stations in Latin America.
Despite all the technological advances of the last few years, shortwave remains the main broadcast medium for Radio Prague. Radio Prague uses two transmitters in Litomyšl, each with an output of 100 kW, which can produce up to 200 kW.
End of Shortwave Broadcasts
On December 8, 2010, Radio Prague announced via its Facebook page plans to end shortwave broadcasts on January 31, 2011. Part of the post read: " The station’s financing for next year has been drastically reduced by the Foreign Ministry in line with government austerity measures aimed at cutting the state deficit."
In popular culture
- The interval signal, itself the opening bars of the Communist anthem Kupředu levá (Forward Left), was used as the first track on the album Dazzle Ships by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
- A song named Radio Prague appears on the album Deceit by This Heat.
See also
- Battle for Czech Radio - 1945
- Český rozhlas, the Czech publicly funded radio broadcaster
- Česká televize, the Czech publicly funded television broadcaster
References
- ^ "The birth of the international service". History of Radio Prague. Radio Praha. autumn 2007. http://www.radio.cz/en/html/65_birth.html. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
External links
- Radio Prague Website (Czech) (English) (German) (French) (Spanish) (Russian)
- Listen to Radio Prague on demand (Czech) (English) (German) (French) (Spanish) (Russian)
- mp3 Audio Livestream
- Network Europe Magazine (English)
Members of the World Radio Network Austrian Radio International · Commonwealth Broadcasting Association1 · China Radio International · Deutsche Welle · Earth & Sky · Israel Radio International · KBS World Radio · National Public Radio · Pacifica Radio · Public Broadcasting Service · Radio Australia · Radio Budapest · Radio Canada International · Radio France Internationale · Radio Guangdong · Radio Japan · Radio Netherlands Worldwide · Radio New Zealand International · Polish Radio External Service · Radio Prague · Radio Romania International · Radio Slovakia International · Radio Sweden · RTÉ · swissinfo · United Nations Radio · Vatican Radio · Voice of Russia · YLE Radio
1 The Commonwealth Broadcasting Association has dozens of members within itCategories:- External services (broadcasting)
- Publicly funded broadcasters
- Radio stations in the Czech Republic
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