One year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, radio colleague Kim Andrew Elliott jumped in my car and we toured some of the famous Eastern European radio stations. We went to Budapest, Prague and Berlin sending faxes in advance in the hope of getting the station tour. In Prague we were given a grand tour of Radio Prague and heard from several people what it was like to work in the English section. We also went to see Radio Free Europe (photo) operating from the old Czech parliament building. Studios were inside mobile vans on the floor of the building because permanent changes to the building were not allowed. I thought this edition of the programme was lost because the tape went missing. Luckily a CD copy has survived. Nice to hear the voice of the late Olrich Chip (Peter Skala) once again.

Many recordings of the predecessor of Media Network were not preserved. There was pressure on producers to recycle tapes since the large 30-minute reels cost 25 Euro each in those days. However, I quickly argued that many of the documentaries and Media Network specials would have value later - and I'm glad I put tapes aside for later. When I took over "DX Juke Box" in August 1980, the first thing I did was replace the music with features about broadcasting. The quality of phone calls was still poor, but we could be far more topical. In January 1981 I made this feature with several guests, including Richard Measham of BBC Monitoring, where we explored the changes at Radio Moscow and also spoke with those who were fascinated about the complex Soviet media scene. Remember that very little was published about this vast network of transmitters in the West. The programme concludes with off-air recordings of several Soviet stations. Remember this is a programme I made 38 years ago. No Internet. No Facebook. Just a shortwave radio and a tape recorder. The episode photo was taken in 2010 at the offices of the independent media publishers in Moscow. Fascinating to hear those stories too.

While the rest of the media was focussing on the Olympic Games in Atlanta, we ran an "Olympics Free" Programme...well almost. Problems for journalists in Atlanta with reporters being refused access to events. Lou Josephs discusses Macromedia and ActiveX technology. We link up with Christian Voice in Zambia and ask why it decided to broadcast only in English. Incidentally, as of 2019, the station is still on the air https://onlineradiobox.com/zm/christianvoice.

Richard Richter announces the new name for US surrogate broadcasting to Asia: Radio Free Asia They keep quiet about the transmitter sites and the frequencies. We dip into your letters including insights from Japan. AsiaSat is going to have difficulty getting listening in Japan. We launch a challenge for listeners to find an MPEG-2 satellite receiver in their city – no-one could find one. Apart from the news that Ireland is returning to shortwave for sports commentaries, most of this edition is devoted to calling up shortwave receiver dealers to get a feel of how things are changing. The Internet is having an impact on the level of shortwave listening, at least in the USA. Bob Grove in Brasstown North Carolina explains that the hobby of shortwave listening is in trouble. Fred Osterman of Universal Shortwave, though, was more optimistic, pointing to the softness in the US economy. John Day runs a shop in Australia. The Kenwood R-5000 receivers are popular there. Hans Doeven in the North of the Netherlands says his sales market is shifting towards the maritime market. Lowe Electronics says the German market is soft. They are promoting their HF-150 in Asia. Richard Robinson from EEB in Vienna, Virginia says the high-end portables are doing well.

Complete schedule of RNW in English in advanced of the winter transmission season. Interesting to see how extensive the schedule was in 1996. Also, there is an extensive explanation by Jonathan Marks giving tips on how to build an antenna in your garden. It updates a publication that Radio Netherlands published in the 1970's. Perhaps you remember - Give your antenna some air? There is a curious sign-off from voice over champion Jim Cutler.

An interesting catch-up show as we re-convene for a new season of Media Network. Diana Janssen is back from Asia and has some concerns about how the pace of change is leading to discussions of censorship. Andy Sennitt explains about challenges in Belarus. WorldSpace seems to be expanding. Karl Miosga of WRN explains a plan to carry their network overnight on SAFM. Alok Das Gupta has a new edition of his South-Asia listening guide. ORF KurzwellenPanorama (photo of editor Wolf Harranth) and MN celebrate 15 years of collaboration. Lou Josephs has been testing Shockwave from Macromedia. NOS has abandoned plans to produce a regional TV magazine

Plenty of radio news in this edition of the programme. We talk to Flame Nieuwenhuizen about the future finances of Channel Africa. The station has been saved and moved to become part of the SABC. Radio ABC Denmark is to start up in 7570 kHz using 150 kW via Kaliningrad. The Voice of Tibet has started up from studios in Oslo, Norway. It goes out via the Seychelles. They are on 15445 kHz at 1145. They claim to have funding from private investors. Victor Goonetilleke reports the station is coming from FEBA in Seychelles. We review the Sony ICFSW600 receiver which has 9 SW bands on it. Jelle Boonstra reports a new series about Jingles on Dutch domestic radio.

This edition focused on the future of digital satellite television. We started with an Interview with Scott Zimmer of Echostar about the growing direct satellite television service. They have just launched the DISH network. They also plan data services including educational programmes. All this was the forerunner of what was the set-top box. But the price? Between 1000 and 2000 US dollars. 30% of US households have purchased PC's of one type or another. There is controversy as to whether these systems will ever be two-way. We linked up with Arthur Cushen to find out about the sale of stations in New Zealand. There is also accusations of censorship and financial problems for stations on the Pacific islands. We talk about the new ATS909 receiver from Sangean. 9590 kHz has some interference problems from Channel Africa. Leo Kohl explains they had to go off the air in Bonaire for a few hours because freak weather threatened to push sand into the heat exchanges. Radio Australia's Carnavon transmitters.

This edition starts with feedback from the answer line. DAB Radio E. As July 1st sees the daily email news service begins. NOS Gender Portrayal department is shutting down after 5 years which confirm rather traditional views about the way women are portrayed in Dutch media. Only 10% of the interviewed experts on the radio are women. We announce the 750 anniversary contest results. We gave away 50 CD anniversary. Arthur Cushen reports that there has been a lot of snow in Invercargill, New Zealand. He has been hearing a lot of Caribbean and Columbian stations on mediumwave. There is a new Nigerian clandestine via Meyerton, South Africa.

We are recording this edition of the programme in advance because of Diana's upcoming Asian trip. Andrew Rodgers reports that he heard us on the Astra satellite mucking around in the studio 1 preparing jingles with Jim Cutler. We explain what happened. Lou Josephs has launched a new newsletter from Washington DC. He discusses what we would call Fake News today and how cookies can spy on your Internet activity. Profile of the new Radio France Internationale with Eric Baptiste. 6000 jobs to go at Philips in their audio/video divisions as part of Operation Centurion. CDI and DCC were disasters