MN.10.02.2000: RAE Argentine International Radio Profile

Buenos Aires is a truly amazing city, a mixture of Paris, Madrid and London all rolled into one. The Brits built the communications infrastructure in the country during the first part of the last century. That explains the UK style phone and postboxes. Each time I have visited, I have dropped by at the studios of Argentine National Radio tucked away in the heart of the city. I found the tour to be fascinating because although it is very old, it seems to work. One floor houses the external service and in this edition of Media Network, broadcast in February 2000, we compiled a portrait of the English service of RAE as it was then. They are still on the air in English, with a broadcast to Europe at 3 PM (BA time - 18 hrs UTC) on 9690 and 15345 kHz. Actually, I listen on a Pure Evoke wifi radio and get much better reception. The website hides a lot of the history of what's going on. The city oozes music, poetry, dance, and mystery. I can spend hours wandering around, soaking it up. Having followed the Falklands-Malvinas "conflict", I confess a fascination for the English Tower, which for many years rang out with the Westminster Chimes. Not anymore, of course. Today the tower is closed, there is graffitti at the base, and the monument to the Argentines killed in the war stares at the tower from across the road. I have done video interviews at the station, as well as some of the local stations in the city. Let me know if I should put these up.