All radios go to hell!

Radio is not the most popular medium in China. According to a 2008 survey by the China HIV/AIDS Media Partnership, only 40 per cent of people listen to radio at least once a week, putting radio in fifth place behind television, newspapers, magazines and the Internet. Radio, like television, is controlled by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) through a licensing system which maintains state-party control at all levels. Radio stations operate at four geographical-administrative levels – national, provincial, prefecture and county. Each comes under the dual control of the technical management, responsible for day to day operations, and the political direction, which is provided by the propaganda department of the corresponding party office.

“All radios go to hell!” is the slogan of Antiwave - http://www.antiwave.net - the award-winning Chinese podcast pioneer launched on 1 May 2005. Founded by bloggers pingke and flypig the project quickly gathered support and interest. We met with flypig today. He gave us a very candid assessment which contrasted with this rather upbeat interview for Danwei in 2007 - http://www.danwei.tv/tag/flypig/ - With just two producers and a commitment to intensive production standards, the project has become difficult to maintain and no longer distributes programmes on a regular basis. It remains one of the few examples of independent, Internet-based sound broadcasting in China – a platform which could still take off but is yet to find a model for sustainability and development.