THE MYANMAR BROADCASTING SCENE

Shortwave still makes up an essential part of the media landscape in Myanmar. However, confusion can sometimes arise when discussing the range of services operating in the country and broadcasts targeted directly to the Myanmar people by external stations. The following information may be helpful.

There are two national or government-operated networks plus one station (also two networks) under the control of the country's military.

NATIONAL STATIONS:

The first is the Myanma Radio National Service on 5985 and 9730 kHz in Burmese with 50 kW transmitters in Yangon, the country's former capital, until 2006. The schedule is:

0130-1130 on 9730 in Burmese

1130-1730 on 5985 in Burmese

2300-0130 on 5985 in Burmese and occasionally in English.

The second is Myanma Radio's Minorities Service on 5915v kHz from 2330 to 1400 UTC via a 50kW transmitter. It can be heard in Karen, Shan, Mon and other local languages. The transmitter site for the Minorities Service is in Naypyidaw, Myanmar's capital and third-largest city, about 320 km north of Yangon. Both the National and Minorities networks offer a mostly reliable service.

UPDATE 1: Since January 10, this service has been noted up on 5919 kHz by Ron Howard (CA, USA) and myself. It remains to be seen if this will be a permanent change. UPDATE 2: On January 13, noted back on 5915v at 0120 via the excellent LA6LU Kiwi SDR in Thailand! Strange! UPDATE 3: January 13 - Contrary to various lists, 5915 signed off at 0530 UTC (12:00 noon Myanmar time). Then noted again just prior to 0700 reverting to 5919 kHz! All a bit weird! UPDATE 4: January 14 - 5915 kHz - Signed off at 0530 UTC. Then signed back on at 0635, this time on 5915 kHz, not 5919 as it did yesterday. Then suddenly off again at 0641! THEN, back on one minute later on 5919 kHz. WHAT ARE THEY DOING?

MILITARY BROADCASTER:

Then there is Thazin Radio, the broadcaster owned and operated by Myanmar's military. Thazin Radio's Main Service is on 6030, 6165 and 9460 kHz between 2330 and 1500 UTC. Programming is mainly Burmese, but English can occasionally be heard.

Thazin Radio also offers a Minorities Service on 6165, 7345, and 9590 kHz between 2330 and 1430 UTC in local languages. The 50 kW transmitters are located in the town of Pyin Oo Lwin in the Mandalay region of the country, about 580 km north of Yangon. The Thazin Radio broadcasts can be irregular and with a variable schedule. Plus, it often suffers co-channel and adjacent channel interference from more powerful broadcasters.

EXTERNAL BROADCASTERS BEAMING TO MYANMAR

There are extensive services beamed to Myanmar by external broadcasters, including VOA, BBC, Radio Free Asia, CRI, Radio Japan, Reach Beyond Australia, AWR, FEBC and Akashvani (formerly All India Radio). Some have religious outreach programs, while others deliver news and commentaries to a politically volatile and isolated country. Since it gained independence in 1948 from British colonial rule, there have been long periods where Myanmar (Burma) has suffered political and civil unrest. Often during those times, BBC and VoA have beamed special additional broadcasts to provide some sort of independent news to the country's citizens. It is unclear how successful these extra broadcasts have been given that few shortwave receivers are owned by local residents.

OPPOSITION STATIONS

Perhaps the more interesting external stations are the so-called opposition or clandestine broadcasters set up to target listeners in Myanmar. There are three of these:

Mizzima Radio: 21710 kHz via the Dhabayya (U.A.E.) relay at 1200-1300 UTC in Burmese. This station has an interesting background. It is very happy to use shortwave as one of its many media mediums. You can read the story behind Mizzima Radio in an earlier article of mine, "Clandestine Stations Under the Microscope - Part 1"
Radio NUG: 17790 kHz via the Paochung (Taiwan) relay at 0200-0230 UTC and 11940 at 1400-1430 UTC in Burmese. This is a relatively new station that began broadcasting in late August 2021. NUG stands for National Unity Government. This opposition broadcaster to the Myanmar military government has been widely heard globally with its 30-minute transmissions.
Burma News International (BNI): 21710 via the Dhabayya (U.A.E.) relay at 1130-1200 UTC in Burmese. BNI is a major independent news-gathering organisation established in 2003 with four Burmese news organisations based on the western border of Burma, India and Bangladesh. It was later expanded, with other Burmese news organisations based in Thailand and the Thai-Burma border areas joining. It currently has fifteen independent Burma media/news organisations as members. NOTE: Since early January, I have noted that there have been no broadcasts on this frequency from this station. Worth watching to see if it returns on this or another channel.

Finally, there is an excellent (and very readable) summary of Myanmar's recent political, military, ethnic and economic history, plus a summary of its relationship with China and the U.S., on the Council on Foreign Relations website. Check out Myanmar's Troubled History: Coups, Military Rule, and Ethnic Conflict.

73 and good DX to you all,

Rob Wagner VK3BVW