VOICE OF AMERICA, USA
The Voice of America (VOA) is the state owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. Its headquarters are in Washington D.C.
The VOA was established in 1942.
As of 2022, the Voice of America had a weekly worldwide audience of about 326 million.
The VOA was established in 1942.
As of 2022, the Voice of America had a weekly worldwide audience of about 326 million.
Above:- The Edward R. Murrow Greenville Transmitting Station in North Carolina. Image c/o Fancy-cats-are-happy-cats
On the 1st day of February 1942, VOA beamed its first broadcast to Europe, specifically Germany. The program was called Stimmen aus Amerika "Voices from America". Announcer William Harlan Hale opened the German language program and stated "Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth."
Robert Sherwood of the U.S. Foreign Information Service (FIS) was the person who coined the term "The Voice of America" to describe the shortwave network.
By the conclusion of WW2, VOA had 39 transmitters and broadcast in 40 languages. In 1945 VOA was transferred to the Department of State.
During the Cold War period, VOA increased its programming, with the Director of VOA Foy Kohler stating that he strongly believed VOA was serving its purpose in the fight against communism. It was reported that VOA had 2.1 million regular listeners in Europe at that time and was receiving 30,000 letters a month from listeners around the world.
In 1949 the Soviet Union commenced electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts. During the Cold War period many of the targetted countries of VOA sponsored the jamming of VOA signals.
Between 1952 and 1960, the Voice of America used a converted U.S. Coast Guard cutter Courier as a first mobile broadcasting ship.
In 1953, VOA control was passed from the State Department to the US Information Agency.
From 1955 until 2003, VOA broadcast American jazz on the Voice of America Jazz Hour which had 30 million listeners at its peak.
In about 1954 the VOA hedquarters were moved from New York to Washington D.C.
During the 1960s and the 1970s VOA covered some of that era's most important news, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech and Neil Armstrong's 1969 first walk on the Moon.
Robert Sherwood of the U.S. Foreign Information Service (FIS) was the person who coined the term "The Voice of America" to describe the shortwave network.
By the conclusion of WW2, VOA had 39 transmitters and broadcast in 40 languages. In 1945 VOA was transferred to the Department of State.
During the Cold War period, VOA increased its programming, with the Director of VOA Foy Kohler stating that he strongly believed VOA was serving its purpose in the fight against communism. It was reported that VOA had 2.1 million regular listeners in Europe at that time and was receiving 30,000 letters a month from listeners around the world.
In 1949 the Soviet Union commenced electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts. During the Cold War period many of the targetted countries of VOA sponsored the jamming of VOA signals.
Between 1952 and 1960, the Voice of America used a converted U.S. Coast Guard cutter Courier as a first mobile broadcasting ship.
In 1953, VOA control was passed from the State Department to the US Information Agency.
From 1955 until 2003, VOA broadcast American jazz on the Voice of America Jazz Hour which had 30 million listeners at its peak.
In about 1954 the VOA hedquarters were moved from New York to Washington D.C.
During the 1960s and the 1970s VOA covered some of that era's most important news, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech and Neil Armstrong's 1969 first walk on the Moon.
Above:- Greenville transmitting site. Image c/o Fancy-cats-are-happy-cats
YOU TUBE VIDEOS.
Below is an excellent video on the history of VOA.
The video below is the very distinctive VOA Interval Signal.
The video below shows a visit to the National Voice of America Museum.
VIDEOS OF MY RECEPTION OF VOA.
15580 kHZ - 12th August 2023.
17895 kHz - 24th January 2023.
9490 kHz - 24th September 2022.
9535 kHz - 2nd March 2022.
15580 kHz - 12th February 2022.
15560 kHz - 15th December 2021.
15565 kHz 22nd October 2021.
AUDIO OF MY RECEPTION OF VOA.
Audio of the Voice of America from the 1980s.
YOU TUBE VIDEOS.
QSL INFORMATION.
QSL CARDS RECEIVED.
15565 kHz - 22nd October 2021.
11760 kHz - 2nd June 1985.
6110 kHz 18th June 1983 & 11715 kHz 25th June 1983.
9760 kHz - 18th June 1983.
9530 kHz - 16th May 1983.
OTHER ITEMS RECEIVED.
Stickers.
Ruler.
References.
- Wikipedia, 2023, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_America>, viewed 16th August 2023.