REPORTS ADVANCES IN RADIO BROADCASTING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600340043-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 16, 2011
• Sequence Number: 43
• Publication Date: August 24, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
runr-u4 a low
COUNTRY China
SUBJECT Political; Communications - Radio broadcasting
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers
WHERE
PUBLISHED Peiping; Canton; Hong Kong
DATE
PUBLISHED 25 Apr - 22 Jul 1950
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DATE OF
INFORMATION 15-0
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
REPORTS ADVANCES IN RADIO BROADCASTING
PEOPLE'S BROADCASTING STATIONS ESTABLISHED -- Peiping Jen-min Jih-pao, 25 Apr 50
The following is the gist of an article by Mei I (;W tc.) on the progress of
radio broadcasting in China during the past 2 years:
The people's broadcasting operations have developed with great rs'pidity, and
have become a highly effective instrument for the dissemination of news and edu-
cational propaganda. In September 1945 the first people's broadcasting station,
then called the Hsin-hua Broadcasting Station, was established in Yenan. Now,
follows the great victory of the struggle for liberation, there are in the coun-
try 49 d? see below stations, using 89 transmitters for broadcasting long-,
medium-, and short-wave messages for both domestic anA foreign reception. The
power of the stations now in use is 200 times that of 1947, and the number of
persons engaged in these. operations has increased from 150 to 4,000. The geo-
graphical distribution of`the stations is as follows:
Central Station, 1; at Peiping.
North China, 8; at Peiping, Tieritsin, Pao-tinei.TTai-yuan, Kalgan, Hein-hsiang,
Kuei-sui, T'ang-shan.
Northeast China, 13; at Mukden, Harbin, Dairen, Chang-chun, Kirin, ^h'i-ch'1-
ha-erh, An-tung, Chin-chou, Ch'eng-te, An-shah, Fu-shun, Yen-chi, Ying-k'ou.
Tast China, 13; Hua Lung, Shanghai, Nanking, Tsinan, Hangchow, Foochow, Tsing-
tau, Wu-hsi, Nan-t'ung, Soochow, Amoy, Hsu-chou, Chang-chou.
Central and South China, 5; Wu-han, Canton, Changsha, Nan-ch'ang, Liu-chou
(on trial).
Southwest China, 4; Chungking, Kunming, Kuei-yang, Ch'eng-tu.
Northwest Chii,a, 4; Sian, Lan-chou, Ti-hua, Hsi-ning.
CONFIDENTIAL
1NAw
AIR
CLASSIFICATION
NSRB
FBI
CONFIDENTIAL
DISTRIBUTION
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In process of establishment are four stations, in Eastern Mongolia, Yang-thou,
Ho-fei, and Nan-ming. Stations at Yenan, Han-tan, Fou-ping, Shih-chia-chuang,
Cheng-chou, Mu-tan-chiang, Ssu-p'ing, and Tung-hua have been transferred and
merged with other stations or discontinued, Stations at Wen-chou and Pao-t'ou
may be restored to operation as relaying stations. The 49 stations in operation
broadcast under the control of the News Administration.
Of the above-mentioned 49 stations and 89 transmitters, 32 stations and 58
transmitters were established in 1949.
A comparison of the power of the respective sending stations with the ag-
gregate power of all the stations in the country is as follows:
The power of the Central Station (Peiping) accounts for 63 percent of the
power of all the station,(with new installations to be completed by the end of
May 1950, it will have 70 percent of the whole); Northeast stations, 12 percent;
East China stations, 8; Southwest China stations, 7; Northwest China stations, 4;
Central and South China stations, 3.5; and North. China stations, 2.5 percent.
The reason for the comparatively large power of the stations in the North-
east, East, and Southwest is that thay are used by the Central Station as relay
stations for broadcasting within the country and to foreign countries. The
present transmitting power of the Central Station is still less than that of the
KMT government's central station in September 1947. The total transmitting power
of the People's government broadcasting stations is barely one half the aggregate
power of all the stations under the KMP in September 1947.
The distribution of broadcasting power is far from perfect, and needs modi-
.'ication. For instance, although Hankow is such an important government center,
its broadcasting equipment is inferior to that of Canton, and Canton's power is
less than that of Nan-ch'ang. Nan-chang's power is, in fact, five times as great
as that of Han:.ow. Again, the power of the intallations in Ch'eng-tu and Kuei-
yang is greater than that of Chungking. The Northwest and Fouthwest regions have
only four stations each, while three cities on the Shanghai-Nanking railroad, Chang-
chou, Wu-hsi, and Soochow, have three stations. Shanghai alone has 22 pri-
vately operated stations, with power indivtdually greater than many of our sta-
'.tions in the middle-sized cities.
At present there are 33 private broadcasting stations, situatel as follows:
Shanghai. 22, Canton 3, Chungking 3, Ning-po 2, Peiping 1, Tientsin 1, Tsingtao 1.
Their combined power is at least 13,000 watts.
The distribution of receiving sets is e. matter which also deserves attention;
According to the best data available, it is estimated that there are in the ccun-
try between one and 1.1 million receiving sets. Of these, al-,ut half are Japanese-
made medium-wave sets having three or four tubes. It is believed that the Nor.'.-
east and East China regions each have from 350,000 to 400,000 sets; North China,
200,000 sets, mostly in Peiping and Tientsin; other regions, about 100,000. In
addition, it is estimated there are in the entire country as many as 200,000 sets
which, if repaired or reconditioned, could by made usable.
Only a very small proportion of the million or more sets are owned or enjoyed
by people of the working class. The chief purchasers of receiving sets and re-
placement parts are business concerns, schools, military units, social organiza-
tions and indiviCluals with comparatively large incomes. Receiving sets in the
hands of military personnel are largely those confiscated from the public since
liberation, and since that time it is estimated that only from 10,000 to 15,000
new sets have been purchased. The trend is to,.ard large sets to be used. by groups
or large bodies; and for such sets there is an unprecedentedly large market.
CONF1BCE 1AI
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CONFIDENTIAL
The five factories for the manufacture of radio receiving sets under the
management of the Radio Broadcasting Bureau are able to produce 20,000 sets per
year, providing raw materials are available and they are operated at full ca-
pacity.
The 48 people's stations other than the Central Station are classified as
regional, provincial, and municipal stations. There is cne regional station
in each of the large administrative regions; these regional stations have the
authority and responsibility for directing the operations of the provincial and
municipal stations under them with the exception of those in North China which
are directly 'under the Broadcasting Bureau.
The Central Station is responsible for broadcasting news, cultural enter-
tainment, and social educational material. The regional and provincial stations
report or announce regional and provincial news and government notices and orders.
Municipal stations issue local news reports and social educational material.
More than half of the persons engaged in the broadcasting industry are in-
experienced, and do not compare favorable with persons in the newspaper industry.
Since April 1950, broadcasting for domestic reception and broadcasting for
foreign or international receptive have been separat'd. For the former purposes,
seven wave lengths are in use (there will soon 'ie eigit) during 151 hours. News
items occupy about half of the time, and the other half is almost equally di-
vided between social education and cultural entertainment. Railroads and fac-
tories operate on broadcasted time signals.
The Central International Broadcasting Station's call number is that of the
Peiping Broadcasting Station. Since 10 April 1950, it has broadcasted in six
languages, English, Japanese, Annamese, Indonesian, Burmese, and Siamese, and
for the benefit of overseas Chinese listeners, in the dialects of Amoy,
Chao-chou, Canton, and the Hakka. After the end of May there will also be
broadcasting in the Korean, Mongolian, and Tibetan languages. At present for-
eign broadcasting occupies some 7 hours a day; this will soon be increased to
15 hours. For domestic reception, the Central Station relies on regional or
other stations to relay signals. For foreign broadcasting, however, where
short wave lengths are used, its power is such that its signals are distinctly
heard in Japan, the South Sea Islands, New Zealand, and elsewhere. By the use
of beaded transmission, Moscow may receive our signals. Thus, San Francisco,
Switzerland, Denmark, and Sweden zcmetimes enjoy good reception.
There is one station that transmits 4 times a day, 26 transmit 3 times a
day, 12 transmit 2 times a day, and 9 once a day. According to data for Feb-
ruary 1950, the total number of hours of broadcasting by all the stations was
over 480 a day. The station broadcasting most is Shanghai, with 36J hours a
day.
Not enough attention is given by local stations to supplying educational
and cultural material adapted to the interests and needs of particular types
of people, such as .-.iners at Tang-shan, Hopeh, and steel workers at An-sha.
Liaotung. Not only must more suitable material be presented, but steps should
be taken to organize groups of people to listen to the broadcasts. Last year
Tientsin had 470 such groups. A larger number of persons of various types
and talents, such as workers, farmers, soldiers, scientists, physicians, should
participate in broadcasting. The Peiping, Tientsin, and Shanghai stations, in
the course of half a year, have each used several thousand persons. Fourteen
stations broadcast lectures or instruction in the Russian language. It is es-
timated that not less than 40,OnO listeners take advantage of these opportuni-
ties.
. CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENT IAL
REPORTS PROGRESS OF RADIO LISTENING POSTS IN NORTHEAST -- Canton Nan-fang
Jih-pao, 22 Jul 50
Mukden, 19 July (Hain-hua) -- Considerable progress has already been
made in the establishment of radio listening posts under the eight people's
radio broadcasting stations in the Northeast; the Tung-pei, M g
u stations. -
ch'un, Harbin, Ch'1-ch'1-ha-erh, Kirin; An-tung, and Ac-
cording to a preliminary survey of the progress of broadcasting service under
the Harbin Radio Station, as of early July, there were 15 hsiens, two cities,
and eopmining village in erated by 200 persons, and serving naetowhich tal uf1140 organizations. In
posts, Harbin alone, 11,000 listeners have already been organized; of this number,
.,3,000 listen to cadre training courses, 5,936 to children's programs, and
others to workers' programs. Russian-language classes, etc.
The Ch'i-ch'i-ha-erh Radio Station reported that it now has 170 persons
registered with tLe station to become operators for listening posts, while
the Chang-ch'un Radio Station reported that, under its network operated by
169 persons, there are 99 organizations listening to its programs.
RADIO SETS CONFISCATED IN TUNG CHIANG -- Hong Kong Kung-shang Jih-pao,
16 Jul 50
Hai-chou, Kwangtung, 15 July -- It has been reported that since the
outbreak of the Korean war, people of the Tung Chiang area have been deeply
interested in the news. Local Communist authorities have ordered that all
radio receiving sets be confiscated. Those who do not comply with the order
face prison sentences of 5 to 15 years. Some who are unwilling to surrender
their sets have thrown them into the river or hidden them in the ground. Re-
cent arrivals from the Tung Chiang area report that people there are so hun-
gry for news that they are willing to pay as much as 10 Hong Kong dollars,
for a copy of a Hong Kong newspaper.
TO BROADCAST IN TIBETAN LANGUAGE -- Canton Nan-fang Jih-pao, 13 May 50
Peiping, 12 May (Hsin-hua) -- The Central People's Broadcasting eta-
tion at Peiping on 22 May 1950 will start broadcasting a program in the
Tibetan language. For the present, this will be heard three times a week
(Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). The wave length will be 428.57 meters
at a frequency of 700 kilocycles; 29.34 meters at a frequency of 1026 kilo-
cycles; and 19.92 meters at a frequency of 1506 kilocycles. Broadcasting
time will be 2330 - 2400, Peiping time.
CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
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