Pyral SAS is a manufacturer of magnetic recording media products, based in Avranches , France. As of 2015, it is a subsidiary of Mulann , a French company in the smartcard and ticketing industry.
108-460: In 1934, Pyral created a new type of transcription disc . Their innovation was to coat the aluminum disc with a layer of lacquer . These discs came to be known as lacquers or acetates . As of 2007, The company's primary product is perforated magnetic tape , used to record sound for movie productions. They also produce magnetic inks and slurries used in the production of magnetic stripe cards . This French corporation or company article
216-438: A public diplomacy function. VOA's charter also requires it to be "a reliable and authoritative source of news" which "shall be accurate, objective, and comprehensive". The Voice of America Firewall was put in place with the 1976 VOA Charter and laws passed in 1994 and 2016 as a way of ensuring the integrity of VOA's journalism. This policy fights against propaganda and promotes unbiased and objective journalistic standards in
324-420: A 16-inch disc. These later discs can be played with an ordinary modern stylus or a vintage "LP" stylus. The earlier discs used a larger groove, nearer in size to the groove of a typical 78 rpm shellac record. Using a "78" stylus to play these "standard groove" discs usually produces much better results, and also insures against the groove damage that can be caused by the point of a too-small stylus skating around in
432-436: A brief excerpt and reproduced at a speed which differs significantly from the original recording speed, causing Morrison's voice to sound unnaturally high-pitched and excessively frantic. When heard in its entirety and at the correct speed, the report is still powerful. Transcription recordings from major American radio networks became commonplace during World War II as pressed vinyl copies of them were distributed worldwide by
540-536: A collection at the Library of Congress . Transcriptions "were often used for ... government-issued programs which were sent to the individual stations for broadcast on designated dates. Recruiting shows for the branches of military service arrived on such discs ... the United States Government shipped many programs during wartime as transcriptions." During the war, the federal government, in conjunction with
648-737: A contract basis was declined, so a follow-on show called Shortwave Radiogram began transmission on June 25, 2017, from the WRMI transmitting site in Okeechobee, Florida. The Bethany Relay Station , operational from 1944 to 1994, was based on a 625-acre (2.53 km ) site in Union Township (now West Chester Township) in Butler County, Ohio , near Cincinnati . Major transmitter upgrades first were undertaken around 1963, when shortwave and medium-wave transmitters were built, upgraded, or rebuilt. The site
756-478: A conventional 3-mil standard-groove stylus, which carried a maximum of 6 minutes per side, the format gave way very quickly to the 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm speed that would come to be used for Vitaphone talking pictures two years later, which could carry a maximum of 15 minutes per side. Later ETs would have their groove size reduced first to 2.7 mil and then to the then-standard 1-mil monaural groove used in LPs of
864-676: A converted U.S. Coast Guard cutter Courier as a first mobile broadcasting ship . Control of VOA passed from the State Department to the U.S. Information Agency when the latter was established in 1953 to transmit worldwide, including to the countries behind the Iron Curtain and to the People's Republic of China. From 1955 until 2003, VOA broadcast American jazz on the Voice of America Jazz Hour . Hosted for most of that period by Willis Conover ,
972-531: A formal statement of principles to protect the integrity of VOA programming and define the organization's mission, and was issued by Director George V. Allen as a directive in 1960 and was endorsed in 1962 by USIA director Edward R. Murrow . VOA's charter was signed into law by President Gerald Ford . VOA's charter requires it to "present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively." Academics including Téwodros W. Workneh have described this as
1080-488: A former division of the Muzak Corporation (Muzak sold its Manhattan studios, but not transcription service, to RCA Victor in 1951) Subscribing to a major transcription service meant a station received an initial group of transcriptions plus periodically issued new discs and a license, which allowed use of the material on-air. Typically, a station did not own the discs; "they were leased for as long as [the] station paid
1188-438: A groove into the surface of a bare aluminum disc . The sound quality of these discs was inadequate for broadcast purposes, but they were made for sponsors and performers who wanted to have recordings of their broadcasts, a luxury which was impractically expensive to provide by the wax mastering, plating and pressing procedure. Only a very few pre-1930 live broadcasts were deemed important enough to preserve as pressings, and many of
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#17328515730651296-559: A high school senior in Westchester County, New York , had a Monday night program in which he shared everyday happenings in Yorktown Heights, New York . Brown's program ended due to its popularity: his "chatty narratives" attracted so much fan mail, VOA couldn't afford the $ 500 a month in clerical and postage costs required to respond to listeners' letters. During 1953, VOA personnel were subjected to McCarthyist policies, where VOA
1404-444: A hill-and-dale, or vertical cutting action, as distinct from lateral modulation as in ordinary monophonic discs. They were distributed only to radio stations for the purpose of broadcast, and not for sale to the public. The ET had higher quality audio than was available on consumer records, largely because they had less surface noise than commercial recordings. Electrical transcriptions were often pressed on vinylite , instead of
1512-583: A new directive from Russia's Kremlin after a new law was passed by the State Duma (Russia's lower house of parliament) and the upper house Federation Council and signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin , Voice of America was deemed a "foreign agent" under the Russian foreign agent law . In June 2021, the Russian news agency TASS reported that Russia's state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor complained that
1620-545: A part of several agencies. From its founding in 1942 to 1945, it was part of the Office of War Information , and then from 1945 to 1953 as a function of the State Department. VOA was placed under the U.S. Information Agency in 1953. When the USIA was abolished in 1999, VOA was placed under the BBG which is an autonomous U.S. government agency, with bipartisan membership. The Secretary of State has
1728-696: A part of the United States Information Agency (USIA), and established the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) with oversight authority, which took control from the Board for International Broadcasters which previously had overseen funding for RFE/RL. In 1998, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act was signed into law, and mandated that the BBG become an independent federal agency as of October 1, 1999. This act also abolished
1836-516: A pattern of favoritism that materially benefitted some employees and contractors at the expense of the public. However, within hours after President Biden took office, Sieg was reinstated then transferred to a different role by then-acting VOA Director Yolanda Lopez and cleared of wrongdoing. Lopez abruptly resigned in September 2023 as the Committee intensified its investigation. In its June 2024 report,
1944-430: A percentage of gross sales to replace the flat fee. By late 1959, at least two transcription service companies had gone out of business, selling their libraries to a company that provided recorded background music on tapes and discs. The purchaser acquired a total of approximately 12,000 selections from the two companies. Magnetic tape and tape recorders became popular at radio stations after World War II, taking over
2052-452: A seat on the BBG. The BBG was established as a buffer to protect VOA and other U.S.-sponsored, non-military, international broadcasters from political interference. It replaced the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) that oversaw the funding and operation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty , a branch of VOA. In 2021, Voice of America launched 52 Documentary, a series that publishes weekly films about human experiences. They publish on
2160-593: A television service, as well as special regional programs to Cuba, Radio Martí and TV Martí . Cuba has consistently attempted to jam such broadcasts and has vociferously protested U.S. broadcasts directed at Cuba. In September 1980, VOA started broadcasting to Afghanistan in Dari and in Pashto in 1982. In 1981, VOA opened a bureau in Beijing, China. The next year, it began regular exchanges with Radio Peking . In 1985, VOA Europe
2268-509: A transcription company, as saying, "Most stations could not afford the orchestras and productions that went into the network radio shows, and so we supplied nearly 300 stations with transcriptions that frequently – but not always – featured the most popular bands and vocalists." A slogan used in an advertisement for one transcription service might well have been applied to the industry as a whole, "TRANSCRIBED ... so that advertisers everywhere may have 'radio at its commercial best.'" A 1948 ad for
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#17328515730652376-875: A year jamming it." Chinese-language VOA broadcasts were jammed beginning in 1956 and extending through 1976. However, after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, interviews with participants in anti-Soviet movements verified the effectiveness of VOA broadcasts in transmitting information to socialist societies. The People's Republic of China diligently jams VOA broadcasts. Cuba has also been reported to interfere with VOA satellite transmissions to Iran from its Russian-built transmission site at Bejucal . David Jackson, former director of Voice of America, noted: "The North Korean government doesn't jam us, but they try to keep people from listening through intimidation or worse. But people figure out ways to listen despite
2484-411: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Transcription disc Electrical transcriptions are special phonograph recordings made exclusively for radio broadcasting , which were widely used during the " Golden Age of Radio ". They provided material—from station-identification jingles and commercials to full-length programs—for use by local stations, which were affiliates of one of
2592-444: Is a special phonograph record intended for, or recorded from, a radio broadcast. Sometimes called a broadcast transcription or radio transcription or nicknamed a platter , it is also sometimes just referred to as an electrical transcription , usually abbreviated to E.T. among radio professionals. Transcription discs are most commonly 16 inches (40 cm) in diameter and recorded at 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm . That format
2700-399: Is backed by Side 2, Side 3 is backed by Side 4, Side 5 is backed by Side 6 etc. B) Automatic Sequence – Side 1 is backed by Side 6, Side 2 is backed by Side 5 and Side 3 remains unchanged backed by Side 4 C) Radio Sequence – Side 1 is backed by Side 4, Side 2 remains unchanged backed by Side 5 and Side 3 is backed by Side 6 to avoid having to turn a record over in
2808-760: Is now a recreational park with a Voice of America museum. Other former sites include California ( Dixon and Delano ), Hawaii, Okinawa , Liberia (Monrovia), Costa Rica, Belize, and at least two in Greece ( Kavala and Rhodos). Between 1983 and 1990, VOA made significant upgrades to transmission facilities in Botswana ( Selebi-Phikwe ), Morocco, Thailand ( Udon Thani ), Kuwait, and São Tomé ( Almas ). Some of them are shared with Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia . VOA and USAGM continue to operate shortwave radio transmitters and antenna farms at International Broadcasting Bureau Greenville Transmitting Station (known as "Site B") in
2916-462: Is recorded ..." The network ban on prerecorded material was temporarily lifted on the occasion of the crash of the airship Hindenburg in Lakehurst, New Jersey , on 6 May 1937. A recording of the crash made for Chicago radio station WLS by announcer Herbert Morrison was allowed to be broadcast over the network by NBC . This is the well-known "oh, the humanity!" recording, usually heard only as
3024-650: Is said to have begun in the 1930s. "The spot announcements were easily produced and distributed throughout the country via electrical transcription" as an alternative to network advertising. In 1944, the spot jingle segment of transcriptions was estimated to have an annual value of $ 10 million. Transcriptions proved advantageous for performers, especially musicians in the Big-Band Era . Using transcriptions helped them reach one audience via radio while making personal appearances in front of other audiences. Additionally, if more stations used their transcriptions, that increased
3132-493: Is the largest and oldest of the U.S. international broadcasters. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content in 48 languages, which it distributes to affiliate stations around the world. Its targeted and primary audience is non-American outside of the US borders. As of November 2022, its reporting reached 326 million adults per week across all platforms. It is financed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media after approval by Congress. VOA
3240-798: The Arabic service, were discontinued in 1945. In late 1945, VOA was transferred to the US Department of State. Also included among the cultural diplomacy programming on the Columbia Broadcasting System was the musical show Viva America (1942–49) which featured the Pan American Orchestra and the artistry of several noted musicians from both North and South America, including Alfredo Antonini , Juan Arvizu , Eva Garza , Elsa Miranda , Nestor Mesta Chaires , Miguel Sandoval , John Serry Sr. , and Terig Tucci . By 1945, broadcasts of
3348-586: The BBC , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty , and Deutsche Welle were blocked in Russia, as after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities increased censorship of independent journalism, anti-war protests, and dissenting voices. Nevertheless, many Russians have used VPNs and other software to get around Russian government blocks. As of March 2022, VOA broadcasts were reaching people in Russia and
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3456-650: The Clinton administration advised cutting funding for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty , as it believed post-Cold War information and influence was not needed in Europe. This plan was not well received, and US President Bill Clinton then proposed the compromise of the International Broadcasting Act , which he signed into law in 1994. This law established the International Broadcasting Bureau as
3564-758: The Columbia Broadcasting System 's Latin American international network, which consisted of 64 stations located in 18 countries, the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio, and General Electric which owned and operated WGEO and WGEA, both based in Schenectady, New York , and KGEI in San Francisco , all of which had shortwave transmitters . Experimental programming began in
3672-770: The Intercollegiate Broadcasting System , provided "approximately eight 15-minute transcribed programs every week to each of ... 35 college stations." The United States Department of War , United States Department of the Navy , United States Department of the Treasury and United States Office of Education contributed to production of programs related to the war effort, such as The Treasury Star Parade and You Can't Do Business with Hitler . The Voice of America also used transcriptions, with one disc manufacturer noting in an ad, "A substantial part of these daily programs
3780-616: The Iron Curtain . Practically all defectors during Kohler's time said that the VOA helped in their decision to defect. Another indication of impact, according to Kohler, was the Soviet response. Kohler argued that the Soviets responded because the VOA was having an impact. Based on Soviet responses, it can be presumed that the most effective programs were ones that compared the lives of those behind and outside
3888-525: The Philippines . By the end of the war, VOA had 39 transmitters and provided service in 40 languages. Programming was broadcast from production centers in New York and San Francisco, with more than 1,000 programs originating from New York. Programming consisted of music, news, commentary, and relays of U.S. domestic programming, in addition to specialized VOA programming. About half of VOA's services, including
3996-498: The live transmissions." WOR in New York City was one of the first radio stations to broadcast transcriptions, starting in 1929. Other stations followed, until more than 100 were doing so, largely because "this new kind of recording made programming more flexible and improved sound." John R. Brinkley is generally credited with being the first performer to provide electrical transcriptions to radio stations. Brinkley's use of
4104-486: The 1930s, but there were fewer than 12 transmitters in operation. In 1939, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission set the following policy, which was intended to enforce the US State Department 's Good Neighbor Policy , but which some broadcasters felt was an attempt to direct censorship: A licensee of an international broadcast station shall render only an international broadcast service which will reflect
4212-622: The Coordinator of Information (COI) had already begun providing war news and commentary to the commercial American shortwave radio stations for use on a voluntary basis, through its Foreign Information Service (FIS) headed by playwright Robert E. Sherwood , who served as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 's speech writer and information advisor. Direct programming began a week after the United States' entry into World War II in December 1941, with
4320-824: The Greek service ended after 72 years on air. RFE/RL launched the Russian language Current Time TV , in October 2014. In January 2016, upon his arrival in Moscow, Russian authorities detained and then deported Jeff Shell , the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees the Voice of America, despite his having a valid Russian visa. Russian authorities did not explain their actions. Round-the-clock broadcasting of Current Time began on February 7, 2017. In December 2017, under
4428-600: The House Foreign Affairs Committee concluded that there was "credible evidence of corruption" regarding the matter of Setareh Derakhshesh Sieg, the former director of Voice of America's Persian News Network (PNN). Following a series of whistleblower complaints and an extensive internal investigation by civil servants, Sieg had been terminated in January 2021 for falsifying her education credentials, severe abuses of taxpayer dollars for personal benefit, and engaging in
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4536-692: The Iron Curtain, questions on the practice of slave labor, as well as lies and errors in Stalin 's version of Marxism . In 1947, VOA started broadcasting to the Soviet citizens in Russia under the pretext of countering "more harmful instances of Soviet propaganda directed against American leaders and policies" on the part of the internal Soviet Russian-language media, according to John B. Whitton's treatise, Cold War Propaganda . The Soviet Union responded by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts on April 24, 1949. Charles W. Thayer headed VOA in 1948–49. Over
4644-575: The RCA/NBC Thesaurus Library ) the company sought "to make available to stations associated with NBC our extensive programming resources to help in the sale of their facilities to local advertisers." He added: "each program series ... will be as completely programmed as if it were to be for a network client. In other words they will be designed to sell a sponsor's product or service." A 1948 ad for NBC's service touted: "now 25 better shows tailored for better programming at lower cost," adding that
4752-568: The U.S. Armed Forces Radio Service for rebroadcast to troops in the field. Disc-to-disc editing procedures were used to delete the commercials included in the original broadcasts, and when a sponsor's name was attached to the name of the program, it was removed as well— Lux Radio Theater , for example, became Your Radio Theater . Although the discs were government property and were supposed to be destroyed after they had served their purpose, some were saved as souvenirs and countless thousands of them were simply dumped rather than actually destroyed. Many of
4860-602: The U.S. consolidated its international broadcasting efforts, with the establishment of the Bureau of Broadcasting. With the breakup of the Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe, VOA added many additional language services to reach those areas. This decade was marked by the additions of services in Standard Tibetan , Kurdish (to Iran and Iraq), Serbo-Croatian (Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian), Macedonian , and Rwanda-Rundi . In 1993,
4968-420: The U.S., NBC Symphony Orchestra concert broadcasts were preserved on transcription discs. After its conductor Arturo Toscanini retired, he transferred many of these recordings to tape, with the assistance of his son Walter, and most were eventually released on LP or CD. In the United States, NBC Radio continued to use the 16-inch disc format for archiving purposes into the early 1970s. A transcription disc
5076-826: The US government's international English language TV service Worldnet , became part of VOA as "VOA TV". Radio programs in Russian ended in July 2008. In September 2008, VOA eliminated the Hindi-language service after 53 years. Broadcasts in Ukrainian, Serbian, Macedonian, and Bosnian also ended. These reductions were part of American efforts to concentrate more resources to broadcast to the Muslim world . In September 2010, VOA began radio broadcasts in Sudan. As U.S. interests in South Sudan grew, there
5184-752: The USIA, and merged most of its functions into those of the State Department. In 1994, Voice of America became the first broadcast-news organization to offer continuously updated programs on the Internet. The Arabic Service was abolished in 2002 and replaced by a new radio service, called the Middle East Radio Network or Radio Sawa , with an initial budget of $ 22 million. Radio Sawa offered mostly Western and Middle Eastern popular songs with periodic brief news bulletins. The Arabic Service expanded to television with Alhurra on February 14, 2004 (and later to various social media and websites). On May 16, 2004,
5292-467: The United States, close to Greenville, North Carolina . They do not use FCC -issued call signs , since the FCC does not regulate communications by other federal government agencies. The International Broadcasting Bureau also operates transmission facilities on São Tomé and Tinang, Concepcion, Tarlac , Philippines for VOA. [REDACTED] Kosovo Republic of Kosovo (2008–present) On June 12, 2024,
5400-564: The VOA was serving its purpose, which he identified as aiding in the fight against communism. He argued that the numbers of listeners they were getting such as 194,000 regular listeners in Sweden, and 2.1 million regular listeners in France, was an indication of a positive impact. As further evidence, he noted that the VOA received 30,000 letters a month from listeners all over the world, and hundreds of thousands of requests for broadcasting schedules. There
5508-561: The VOA website has versions in 48 foreign languages. Radio programs are marked with an "R"; TV programs with a "T": The number of languages varies according to the priorities of the United States government and the world situation. Before World War II, all American shortwave radio stations were in private hands. Privately controlled shortwave networks included the National Broadcasting Company 's International Network (or White Network), which broadcast in six languages,
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#17328515730655616-535: The advent of magnetic tape recording because it was cheaper to cut and plate a master disc and press 100 identical high-quality discs than to make 100 equally high-quality tape dubs. Instantaneous discs are so called because they can be played immediately after recording without any further processing, unlike the delicate wax master discs which had to be plated and replicated as pressings before they could be played non-destructively. By late 1929, instantaneous recordings were being made by indenting, as opposed to engraving,
5724-644: The agency. The charter is one part of this firewall and the other laws assist in ensuring high standards of journalism. According to former VOA correspondent Alan Heil, the internal policy of VOA News is that any story broadcast must have two independently corroborating sources or have a staff correspondent witness an event. VOA Radiogram was an experimental Voice of America program that started in March 2013 and ended in June 2017, which transmitted digital text and images via shortwave radiograms . There were 220 editions of
5832-402: The audience for their music even more. An item in a 1946 issue of Radio Mirror magazine noted: " Bing Crosby 's transcription deal with Philco has started a rush of other sought-after radio performers for deals of a similar nature. Their advantages from such a setup include more free time and corporate setups to relieve their tax costs." Recording commercial jingles for spot announcements
5940-612: The bare aluminum discs perished in the scrap metal drives of World War II, so that these early years of radio are mostly known today by the syndicated programs on pressed discs, typically recorded in a small studio without an audience, rather than by recordings of live network and local broadcasts. In late 1934, a new type of instantaneous disc was commercially introduced. It consisted of an aluminum core disc coated with black cellulose nitrate lacquer, although for reasons which are unclear it soon came to be called an "acetate" disc by radio professionals. Later, during World War II, when aluminum
6048-435: The broadcasts' actual impact. For example, in 1956, Polish People's Republic stopped jamming VOA transmissions, but People's Republic of Bulgaria continued to jam the signal through the 1970s. In 1966 Edward R. Murrow said that: "The Russians spend more money jamming the Voice of America than we have to spend for the entire program of the entire Agency. They spend about $ 125 million ($ 1,200,000,000 in current dollar terms)
6156-552: The cases where the beginning of an even side or the end of an odd side or vice-versa had been damaged during the recording process or subsequent handling. This is why on some CD reissues of this material, a noticeable difference in quality can be ascertained between the two sections. This practice is preserved for hours-long radio shows up until the 90s when multiple disc sets would be pressed in Radio Format to allow for rapid changing of sides. A) Manual Sequence – Side 1
6264-590: The company's material was "programmed and proven over 1000 radio stations." CBS also had a transcription division, called Columbia Recording Corporation. Capitol Records , better known for its popular recordings, also had a transcription service. An ad in the trade publication Broadcasting asked in a headline if the reader was "finding it tough to sell time?" The ad's text promoted 3,000 selections – with more added monthly – from Peggy Lee , Jan Garber , Johnny Mercer and other "top stars", adding, "more than 300 stations already use it." One source estimated: "by
6372-550: The country. Kohler used all of this as evidence to claim that the VOA helped to grow and strengthen the free world. It also influenced the UN in their decision to condemn communist actions in Korea, and was a major factor in the decline of communism in the "free world, including key countries such as Italy and France. In Italy, the VOA did not just bring an end to communism, but it caused the country to Americanize. The VOA also had an impact behind
6480-557: The culture of this country and which will promote international goodwill, understanding and cooperation. Any program solely intended for, and directed to an audience in the continental United States does not meet the requirements for this service. Around 1940, shortwave signals to Latin America were regarded as vital to counter Nazi propaganda . Initially, the US Office of the Coordinator of Information sent releases to each station, but this
6588-490: The dumped discs ended up in the hands of scavengers and collectors. Often, these discs are the only form in which the broadcasts on them have survived, and they are one of the reasons why recordings of entertainment broadcasts from the 1940s still exist in abundance. Many long classical works performed live onstage were captured in a succession of transcription discs. With only 15 minutes per side at 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm not only did it become necessary to change discs in
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#17328515730656696-417: The early 1930s. Despite their suggestive name, they were not recorded from broadcasts or intended for broadcast use, but were an early and unsuccessful attempt to introduce longer-playing records at the 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm speed for home use. Transcription discs are of two basic types: pressings and instantaneous discs. Pressings were created in the same way as ordinary records. A master recording
6804-421: The early 1980s, VOA began a $ 1.3 billion rebuilding program to improve broadcast with better technical capabilities. During the implementation of the Martial law in Poland between 1981 and 1983, VOA's Polish broadcasts expanded to seven hours daily. Throughout the 1980s, VOA focused on covering events from the 'American hinterland', such as 150th anniversary of the Oregon Trail . Also in the 1980s, VOA also added
6912-673: The end of the 1930s, [transcription] services had built up a market of $ 10 million." Transcription services' programming was not limited to music. Mystery, drama and other genres of programming were distributed via transcription. At least two transcribed dramas, I Was a Communist for the FBI and Bold Venture , were distributed to more than 500 stations each. NBC's transcription offerings included Aunt Mary (a soap opera), The Haunting Hour (a psychological mystery), The Playhouse of Favorites (a drama) and Modern Romances . Advertisers found electrical transcriptions useful for distributing their messages to local stations. Spot advertising
7020-487: The end of the decade, the use of old phonograph music had largely been replaced by the new electrical transcription ... with the fidelity available, it was difficult to tell a transcription from the original artist." A 1948 ad for a disc manufacturer touted the use of transcriptions on the Voice of America , saying; "a substantial part of these daily programs is recorded and, due to the excellent quality of these transcriptions, such recorded portions cannot be distinguished from
7128-429: The even-sided discs (2, 4, 6 etc.) were recorded inside-out. Producers would often work with engineers to ensure that loud, active, bombastic or selections requiring a wide dynamic range in order to be reproduced faithfully would always be either near the beginning of odd sides or near the ends of even sides. Often a small amount of overlap occurred which upon transfer to tape years later would have to be discarded except in
7236-470: The first broadcast from the San Francisco office of the FIS via General Electric's KGEI transmitting to the Philippines in English (other languages followed). The next step was to broadcast to Germany, which was called Stimmen aus Amerika ("Voices from America") and was transmitted on February 1, 1942. It was introduced by the “ Battle Hymn of the Republic " and included the pledge: "Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about
7344-427: The foreign agent Voice of America radio station challengingly refused to observe Russian law because it had not established a Russian legal entity. Roskomnadzor also said that VOA was as a foreign agent "obliged to mark their content and provide information about all aspects of their activity, including a detailed description of contacts with the authorities." In March 2022, VOA and other news broadcasters, including
7452-407: The free TIVAR app from the Google Play store using any Android device. The mode used most often on VOA Radiogram , for both text and images, was MFSK32 , but other modes were also occasionally transmitted. The final edition of VOA Radiogram was transmitted during the weekend of June 17–18, 2017, a week before the retirement of the program producer from VOA. An offer to continue the broadcasts on
7560-399: The functions that in-house transcription disc recording had served. Tape's advantages included lower cost, higher fidelity, more recording time, possibility of re-use after erasing, and ease of editing. Voice of America Voice of America ( VOA or VoA ) is an international broadcasting state media network funded by the federal government of the United States of America . It
7668-536: The groove and scoring its surface. Some specialist audio transfer engineers keep a series of custom-ground styli of intermediate sizes and briefly test-play the disc with each in order to find the one that produces the best possible results. Beginning in the 1940s, two factors caused radio stations' use of transcriptions to diminish. After World War II , use of transcriptions diminished as disc jockeys became more popular. That increased popularity meant that stations began to use commercial recordings more than they had in
7776-622: The middle instead of being able to cue up the next side next to the one playing to be ready to go. Well-known live broadcasts which were preserved on lacquer transcription discs include The War of the Worlds dramatized as breaking news by the Orson Welles anthology program The Mercury Theatre on the Air , heard over the CBS radio network on 30 October 1938. Before magnetic tape recorders became available in
7884-923: The middle of 1942, officially took over VOA's operations. VOA reached an agreement with the British Broadcasting Corporation to share medium-wave transmitters in Great Britain, and expanded into Tunis in North Africa and Palermo and Bari, Italy , as the Allies captured these territories. The OWI also set up the American Broadcasting Station in Europe . Asian transmissions started with one transmitter in California in 1941; services were expanded by adding transmitters in Hawaii and, after recapture,
7992-459: The middle of a performance, but a careful track needed to be kept of whether sides were recorded in the conventional outside-in format or the reverse style of inside-out, starting near the label and finishing near the edge. This was due to the large fidelity difference from the variation in circumference on revolutions near the edge of a disc compared to those in the center. Therefore, odd sided discs (1, 3, 5 etc.) were always recorded outside-in with
8100-509: The more common shellac . Electrical transcriptions were made practical by the development of electrical recording , which superseded Thomas Edison 's original purely mechanical recording method in the mid-1920s. Marsh Laboratories in Chicago began issuing electrical recordings on its obscure Autograph label in 1924, but it was Western Electric 's superior technology, adopted by the leading labels Victor and Columbia in 1925, which launched
8208-463: The necessary fees." Those fees typically ranged from $ 40 to $ 150 per week for eight 15-minute programs. Customers for transcriptions were primarily smaller stations. Brewster and Broughton, in their book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, wrote; (transcriptions) "lessened the reliance on the announcer/disc jockey and, because [a transcription] was made specifically for broadcast, it avoided record company litigation." They quoted Ben Selvin, who worked for
8316-559: The next few years, the U.S. government debated the best role of Voice of America. The decision was made to use VOA broadcasts as a part of U.S. foreign policy to fight the propaganda of the Soviet Union and other countries. The Arabic service resumed on January 1, 1950, with a half-hour program. This program grew to 14.5 hours daily during the Suez Crisis of 1956, and was six hours a day by 1958. Between 1952 and 1960, Voice of America used
8424-588: The odds. They're very resourceful." Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, VOA covered some of the 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 , which drew an audience estimated at between 615 and 750 million people. In 1973, due to the détente policies in the Cold War, Soviet jamming of the VOA ceased; it restarted in 1979. In
8532-451: The past. The trade magazine Billboard reported in a November 22, 1952, article, "Transcription libraries have come upon rough times, owing to the fact that records have largely taken the place of the old-fashioned E.T.'s." In the 1940s, decreased demand caused transcription services to reduce the royalty they paid copyright owners from $ 15 per track per year to $ 10 per track per year. By 1952, still less demand resulted in negotiations for
8640-578: The period to squeeze 30 minutes per side onto a transcription. Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll are credited with being the first to produce electrical transcriptions. In 1928, they began distributing their Amos 'n' Andy program to stations other than their 'home' station, WMAQ in Chicago, by using 12-inch 78 rpm discs that provided two five-minute segments with a commercial break between. One audio historian wrote: "new methods of electronic reproduction and improved record material that produced very little background noise were developed ... by
8748-413: The program had 30 million listeners at its peak. A program aimed at South Africa in 1956 broadcast two hours nightly, and special programs such as The Newport Jazz Festival were also transmitted. This was done in association with tours by U.S. musicians, such as Dizzy Gillespie , Louis Armstrong , and Duke Ellington , sponsored by the State Department. From August 1952 through May 1953, Billy Brown,
8856-541: The program, transmitted each weekend from the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station. The audio tones that comprised the bulk of each 30-minute program were transmitted via an analog transmitter , and could be decoded using a basic AM shortwave receiver with freely downloadable software of the Fldigi family. This software was available for Windows , macOS , Linux , and FreeBSD systems. Broadcasts could also be decoded using
8964-442: The radio networks. Physically, electrical transcriptions look much like long-playing records , but differ from consumer-oriented recordings in two major respects which gave longer playing time and reduced likelihood of diversion to private use: they are usually larger than 12 inches (300 mm) diameter (often 16 or 17 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches [410 or 440 mm]) so did not fit on consumer playback equipment, and were recorded in
9072-418: The region through TV, FM and medium wave radio, digital, and direct-to-home satellite. In May 2023, Russia banned acting VOA chief Yolanda Lopez from ever entering the country. The current director, Michael Abramowitz, assumed the position in July 2024. He previously served as president of Freedom House and spent nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor for The Washington Post . Voice of America has been
9180-458: The show were carried by 114 stations on CBS's "La Cadena de las Américas" network in 20 Latin American nations. These broadcasts proved to be highly successful in supporting President Roosevelt's policy of Pan-Americanism throughout South America during World War II. The VOA ramped up its operations during the Cold War . Foy Kohler , the director of VOA during the Cold War, strongly believed that
9288-538: The significant growth of shortwave radio listeners. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , VOA's broadcasts were deemed controversial, as Hungarian refugees and revolutionaries thought that VOA served as a medium and insinuated the possible arrival of the Western aid. Throughout the Cold War , many of the targeted countries' governments sponsored jamming of VOA broadcasts, which sometimes led critics to question
9396-534: The so-called acetate recording blanks used for broadcast transcriptions or share some other physical characteristic with them. Transcription discs should not be confused with the 16-inch 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm shellac soundtrack discs used from 1926 into the early 1930s to provide the audio for some motion picture sound systems. Also a potential source of confusion are RCA Victor 's "Program Transcription" discs, 10- or 12-inch 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm records pressed in shellac and "Victrolac" vinyl in
9504-499: The start of the recording near the label and the end near the edge of the disc. The label usually noted whether the disc was "outside start" or "inside start". If there was no such notation, an outside start was assumed. Beginning in the mid-1950s, some transcription discs started employing the "microgroove" groove dimensions used by the 12- and 10-inch 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm vinyl LP records introduced for home use in 1948. This allowed 30 minutes to fit comfortably on each side of
9612-652: The station repeated episodes of Glenn Miller's and Kay Kyser's orchestras, The Goldbergs and Sherlock Holmes . "Electrical transcriptions were indispensable from the mid '30s to the late '40s," wrote Walter J. Beaupre, who worked in radio before moving into academia. As radio stations' demand for transcriptions grew, companies specializing in transcriptions grew to meet those demands. In October 1933, 33 companies competed in producing transcriptions. Such companies included Langlois & Wentworth, Inc. , RCA Thesaurus , SESAC , World Broadcasting System and Ziv Company . Associated Broadcasting Company transcription service,
9720-463: The streaming app, VOA+, and YouTube. Films average 10–15 minutes and are translated with captions in several languages, including Russian, Persian, Mandarin, Urdu, and English. Euna Lee directs the program. From 1948 until its amendment in 2013, Voice of America was forbidden to broadcast directly to American citizens, pursuant to § 501 of the Smith–Mundt Act . The intent of the 1948 legislation
9828-409: The then-new microphone-based method into general use in the recording industry. Electrical transcriptions were often used for recording programs of genres which would come to be known later as old-time radio. Although the earliest transcriptions ran at 78.26 rpm or 80 rpm if it was recorded on a three-phase power lathe, some of which were also 12 inches across and laterally recorded with
9936-417: The then-new technology arose out of necessity when agencies of the federal government prevented him from crossing from Mexico into the United States to use telephone lines to connect to U.S. stations remotely. "Brinkley began recording ... onto electrical transcription discs and sending them across the border for later broadcast." WOR used transcriptions for repeat broadcasts of programs. In 1940, for example,
10044-917: The transcription service World Broadcasting System contained a letter which praised the company. S.A. Vetter, assistant to the owner of WWPB, AM and FM stations in Miami, Florida, wrote: "you will be interested in knowing that I consider the purchase of the World Feature Library as the best 'buy' I have made in my twenty-one years in Miami radio." The popularity of at least one library was indicated in another 1948 ad. One for Standard Radio Transcription Services, Inc. ad boasted of its Standard Program Library as: "now serving over 700 stations." That same year, an ad for another transcription service, World Broadcasting System, said, "over 640 stations now use this great world library." Another supply company, Associated Program Service, advertised its transcription library as being "not
10152-529: The usual one-shot recording date ... not the routine disc or two ... but real continuity of performance ... a dependable, steady supply of fresh music ... great depth of titles." Among the companies providing transcription services were radio networks. NBC began its electrical transcription service in 1934. Lloyd C. Egner, manager of electrical transcriptions at NBC wrote that with the NBC Syndicated Recorded Program Service (later named
10260-451: The war... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth." Roosevelt approved this broadcast, which then-Colonel William J. Donovan (COI) and Sherwood (FIS) had recommended to him. It was Sherwood who actually coined the term "The Voice of America" to describe the shortwave network that began its transmissions on February 1, from 270 Madison Avenue in New York City. The Office of War Information , when organized in
10368-451: Was a critical war material, glass core discs were used. A recording lathe and chisel-like cutting stylus like those used to record in wax would be used to engrave the groove into this lacquer surface instead. Given a top-quality blank disc, cutting stylus, lathe, electronics and recording engineer, the result was a broadcast-quality recording which could be played several times before the effects of wear started to become apparent. The new medium
10476-592: Was a desire to provide people with free information. In 2013, VOA ended foreign-language transmissions on shortwave and medium wave to Albania, Georgia, Iran, and Latin America, as well as English-language broadcasts to the Middle East and Afghanistan. This was done due to budget cuts. On July 1, 2014, VOA cut most of its English-language transmissions to Asia, as well as shortwave transmissions in Azerbaijani, Bengali, Khmer, Kurdish, Lao, and Uzbek. The following month,
10584-435: Was a source of income for performers and writers. In 1944, Cliff Edwards received $ 1,500 for recording a 30-second gum jingle. World War II brought a new use for electrical transcriptions—storage of audio material for broadcasting to people in the military. The American Forces Network began using ETs during that war and continued using them through 1998. More than 300,000 AFRTS electrical transcription discs are stored in
10692-402: Was accused by Senator Joseph McCarthy, Roy Cohn , and Gerard David Schine of intentionally planning to build weak transmitting stations to sabotage VOA broadcasts. However, the charges were dropped after one month of court hearings in February and March 1953. Sometime around 1954, VOA's headquarters were moved from New York to Washington D.C. The arrival of cheap, low-cost transistors enabled
10800-489: Was an analysis done of some of those letters sent in 1952 and 1953 while Kohler was still director. The study found that letter writing could be an indicator of successful, actionable persuasion. It was also found that broadcasts in different countries were having different effects. In one country, regular listeners adopted and practiced American values presented by the broadcast. Age was also a factor: younger and older audiences tended to like different types of programs, no matter
10908-461: Was created as a special service in English that was relayed via satellite to AM, FM, and cable affiliates throughout Europe. With a contemporary format including live disc jockeys, the network presented top musical hits as well as VOA news and features of local interest (such as "EuroFax") 24 hours a day. VOA Europe was closed down without advance public notice in January 1997 as a cost-cutting measure. It
11016-452: Was cut into a blank wax or acetate disc . This was electroplated to produce a metal stamper from which a number of identical discs were pressed in shellac or vinyl in a record press. Although the earliest transcription discs were pressed in shellac , in the mid-1930s quieter vinyl compounds were substituted. These discs were used to distribute syndicated programming to individual radio stations. Their use for this purpose persisted long after
11124-726: Was established in 1942, and the VOA charter was signed into law in 1976 by U.S. President Gerald Ford . It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), an independent agency of the U.S. government . Funds are appropriated annually under the budget for embassies and consulates. As of 2022, VOA had a weekly worldwide audience of approximately 326 million (up from 237 million in 2016) and employed 961 staff with an annual budget of $ 267.5 million. The Voice of America website had five English-language broadcasts as of 2014 (worldwide, Learning English , Cambodia , Zimbabwe , and Tibet ). Additionally,
11232-492: Was followed by VOA Express, which from July 4, 1999, revamped into VOA Music Mix. Since November 1, 2014, stations are offered VOA1 (which is a rebranding of VOA Music Mix). In 1989, Voice of America expanded its Mandarin and Cantonese programming to reach the millions of Chinese and inform the country about the pro-democracy movement within the country, including the demonstration in Tiananmen Square. Starting in 1990,
11340-414: Was seen as an inefficient means of transmitting news. The director of Latin American relations at the Columbia Broadcasting System was Edmund A. Chester , and he supervised the development of CBS's extensive "La Cadena de las Américas" radio network to improve broadcasting to South America during the 1940s. Even before the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the U.S. government's Office of
11448-464: Was soon applied to a number of purposes by local stations, but not by the networks, which had a policy against broadcasting prerecorded material and mainly used the discs for archiving "reference recordings" of their broadcasts. Standard 16-inch transcription discs of the 1930s and 1940s usually held about 15 minutes of audio on each side, but this was occasionally pushed to as much as 20 minutes. Unlike ordinary records, some were recorded inside out, with
11556-756: Was standard from approximately 1930 to 1960 and physically distinguishes most transcriptions from records intended for home use, which were rarely more than 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter and until 1948 were nearly all recorded at approximately 78 rpm. However, some very early (c. 1928–1931) radio programs were on sets of 12-inch or even 10-inch (25 cm) 78 rpm discs, and some later (circa 1960–1990) syndicated radio programs were distributed on 12-inch 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm microgroove vinyl discs visually indistinguishable from ordinary records except by their label information. Some unusual records which are not broadcast-related are sometimes mistakenly described as "transcription discs" because they were recorded on
11664-678: Was to protect the American public from propaganda by its own government and to avoid any competition with private American companies. The act was amended via the passage of the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013 . The amendment was intended to adapt the law to the Internet and to allow American citizens access to VOA content. Under the Eisenhower administration in 1959, VOA Director Henry Loomis commissioned
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