Who really listens to all of this religious crap on shortwave radio. I can't imagine there's that

[RKP5637]

6. Hmmmm... I was just thinking. Likely they can broadcast large distances in the US on SW than the

limitations/regulations of FM/AM. Here is an interesting link ... https://lggagnon.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/the-religious-mess-that-is-shortwave-broadcast-radio-today/

But now back to the topic of this blog: the off-putting, blatantly Christian religious ultra-right wing garbage now being spouted off, particularly by USA based extremely wealthy religious nonsense shortwave stations. One has to really hear this garbage to believe it. These shortwave radio stations are polluting the airwaves with fundamentalist lies, political propaganda, fear-mongering and anything else insane that one could think of. It makes my blood boil the crap these stations emit. If you thought that some of the right wing AM radio stations in the USA are wing-nuts you really need to listen to shortwave to see just how mild they are in comparison. This is a summary of some of the lies transmitted by these stations:
– Christ will return in a Rapture on May 21, 2011
– President Obama is the AntiChrist
– global warming is not happening
– all peoples on earth who have not been born again into a life with Christ will burn in eternal hell-fire
– America is God’s Chosen Nation
– Evolution has not happened
– the earth is about 6000 years old
– science and reason are to be treated with great suspicion

What amazes me is the money that must go in to powering such stations. Let us analyze one typical example – and remember this is ONLY the money required to power one transmitter, not the entire station and ancillary services nor staff, nor rents etc. Assume a 500KW transmitter operating 12 hours per day, 365 days per year and the cost of electricity at 15cents per KWh. Also assume the transmitter is 70% efficient. The cost of electricity alone for just the one transmitter would be about $470,000 per year. That does not include any depreciation and eventual replacement costs for the final transmitter tubes. Many of the wealthier Christian stations have more than one transmitter. This translates to yearly budgets in the multi-million dollar category for just one station.