#AMERICA RADIO NETWORK FREE#

It was run in partnership with KCRW in California and NPR, which is partly funded by the U.S. вЂњNow, I kick myself for not having organized a fundraising.вЂќД¬ORRECTION: This article has been corrected to clarify the relationship between KCRW Berlin and the U.S. вЂњI had no idea they had these problems,вЂќ said Charles Gertmenian,В a Californian from Pasadena who has been living in Berlin for 20 years. The snap announcement of KCRWвЂ™s closing prompted hundreds of listeners to contact the station, with many offering to help. Ultimately, however, the American public station model proved unsustainable, especially during a crisis. In 2017, Kornblum helped lure KCRW to take over from NPR. The вЂњlistener supportвЂќ that sustains American NPR stations - voluntary financial donations collected during regular funding campaigns - is a foreign concept in Germany, where households pay nearly в‚¬20 per month for public broadcasting. Still, NPR Berlin struggled to stay afloat.

The station enjoyed a loyal local following, both in BerlinвЂ™s burgeoning international community as well as among long-time Berliners. Jeff Rosenberg, the founding father of NPRвЂ™s only self-managed station abroad, campaigned for years to get a frequency.В вЂњTears were running down my faceвЂќВ when NPR Berlin went on air in 2006, he said. brought American public radio to the German capital. Then, in the early 2000s, NPR - which serves as a national syndicator to over 1,000 radio stations in the U.S. AFNвЂ™s BerlinВ frequencyВ was sold off to a rock station that carriedВ Voice of America newsВ broadcasts. RIASвЂ™ radio operations were rolled into German public station Deutschlandradio, while its television arm went to Deutsche Welle, GermanyвЂ™s state-funded international broadcaster.Д«ut that wasnвЂ™t the end of American broadcasting in Berlin.

#AMERICA RADIO NETWORK FREE#

also operated German-languageВ RIAS (Radio in the American Sector), whichВ served as an antipode toВ the pro-SovietВ radio programming in the East, calling itself вЂњaВ free voice in a free world.вЂќДЄfter the Cold War ended and American troops left Berlin, AFN was eventually shuttered. Ambassador to Germany John Kornblum, who also helped start KCRW Berlin, told the station recently.Дuring the Cold War,В the U.S. The old post-war AFN network was вЂњprobably the best foreign policy instrument the U.S. That was especially true in the 1950s, when rock вЂnвЂ™ roll emerged as the WestвЂ™s most powerful cultural weapon. In a country that had been force-fed a steady diet of HitlerвЂ™s favorite brass-band marches and Wagner for more than a decade, AFNвЂ™s American sound В- from George Gershwin to Billie Holiday - was new and titillating. forces were headquartered.В The stationвЂ™s mission was to keep the thousands of American troops stationed in the city informed and entertained, but its audience was much wider.ДЄfterВ GermanyвЂ™s unconditional surrender to the alliesВ in 1945,В the countryвЂ™s radio stations were firstВ shut downВ andВ thenВ reorganizedВ with the aim of helping to вЂњdenazifyвЂќ the country. The tradition of U.S.В radio in GermanyВ beganВ when the American Forces NetworkВ (AFN)В went on airВ in the summer of 1945В from Berlin-Dahlem, a leafy suburb where U.S. вЂњThe pain that we are feeling with KCRW Berlin going away is something that is not necessarily felt in the U.S.,вЂќВ the stationвЂ™s program directorВ Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson said.Д«ut even in its home city, the stationвЂ™s death received little attention Berlin media barelyВ took notice of KCRWвЂ™s shuttering or what it signified, noting the move only in passing. government, to save the Berlin operation. Former station officials say it would have been up to KCRW in California and NPR, which is partly funded by the U.S. KCRW Berlin wasnвЂ™t eligible to receive any of the billions in broadcast fees the German government collects in order to finance domestic public television and radio. The longtime allies have recently been at odds across a range of issues, from climate policy and trade to foreign policy. and Germany following years of Donald TrumpвЂ™s attacks on Berlin.

The closure comes at a time of deepening estrangement between the U.S.

America radio network