The ABC could soon abandon international shortwave radio broadcasts to China and Indonesia, ending more than 70 years of beaming news and current affairs on high frequency into Asia.
But the public broadcaster's management insist it will not flick the switch on shortwave services of Radio Australia to Papua New Guinea and tiny Pacific nations for now.
ABC international chief Lynley Marshall said the older shortwave technology was still relevant in the Pacific, despite a drive to make mobile and internet devices the ''primary'' way of delivering news.
Staff had grown increasingly alarmed in recent months that the shortwave service to the Pacific would be canned - including a popular Tok Pisin service to PNG - raising fears expats and locals would be vulnerable to dangerous news blackouts during natural disasters or regional strife.
Radio is the cheapest and most widespread source of news in poorer Pacific provinces. Most nations run only a 2G mobile network with little coverage outside capitals. When Prime Minister Julia Gillard visits Port Moresby on Thursday almost twice as many locals will hear news of the trip on radio than see it on television or read it in newspapers.
But with a contract to broadcast shortwave from a 240-hectare site near Shepparton - costing the ABC about $4.1 million this financial year - set to expire some time after 2014, fears had grown shortwave would cease in favour of streaming audio online and deals to broadcast on local stations.
The ABC has been wrangling internally for months on how to best deliver international services, as mandated under its charter to provide an Australian voice on world affairs.
High-frequency services had not rated a mention in an internal ABC memo in February flagging an "online and mobile strategy as the primary focus" for international broadcasting.
But Ms Marshall said there was no end in sight to shortwave broadcasts in the Pacific, and the Shepparton array was part of this strategy. "One of the things we have to look at is what is the most effective way of reaching audiences?" she said. "You'd have to see a significant take-up in other devices to warrant moving away from shortwave."
But the digital revolution accompanying the economic boom in Asia has led to a dwindling audience for shortwave. China also began jamming the Radio Australia signal in January, although that interference has since stopped.
Ms Marshall confirmed the continued targeting of China and Indonesia with shortwave was up for debate. "We haven't made any final decisions on that but a number of the staff here have questioned the relevance of shortwave into markets like Indonesia and China," she said.
"I think there is justification for re-evaluating what we are doing there based on the way in which audiences are consuming media."
Social media is highly popular in Indonesia, while the Radio Australia audience in the mostly closed China market is difficult to gauge.
Radio Australia was launched in 1939 on the eve of World War II, with prime minister Robert Menzies declaring in the first broadcast: "The time has come to speak for ourselves."
The service is intended to provide reliable, independent news and English-language training and also win goodwill for Australia.
Ms Marshall said Radio Australia had great "heritage" value in the Pacific and would not be lost under plans to bring the ABC's international radio, television and online services under one brand.
A confidential ABC research report for the Radio Australia audience in rural PNG shows at least 30 per cent of people rely exclusively on shortwave transmissions to listen to the station.
A megabyte of data in Fiji costs about $3. An hour of audio streaming used about 30 megabytes.
(Source: The Age)
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