Radio has become the place to hear late breaking news, interviews, religious programs and an eclectic blend of Western and Russian music heard all over the radio spectrum.
Radio bands In addition to the regular AM/MW band, the Russians and Europeans broadcast on the LW band of 150-350 Khz. LW (long wave) and SW (short wave) bands are sometimes described in "bands" in wavelengths of meters rather than frequency of kilohertz & megahertz. Russia and CIS countries originally used an FM band of 64 to 74 instead of the Western FM band of 88 to 108 Mhz. Now the larger cities such as St. Petersburg and Moscow, broadcast in the "tradiotional" higher band widths as well.
Radio receivers for Russia A small, good-quality multi-band radio with US FM, short-wave (SW), middle wave (MW/AM), long wave (LW) bands and, if possible, VHF"TV" bands, will enable you to tune in to all local stations as well as BBC & Voice of America. If you want access to all the FM radio stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, bring a portable American radio that tunes not only the regular US FM stations, but also the US VHF (ordinary) TV band. On this band, you can then tune in the old Russian FM band from 64 to 74 Mhz (by tuning through channels 3-5).
A radio with digital tuning should be able to tune in at 9 Khz intervals also on the AM band (e.g. 549, 558, 567, etc.), and both the even and odd points on the FM band (e.g. 88.1, 88.2, 88.3, 88.4, etc.). If the radio only tunes 540, 550, 560, etc. on AM and 88.1, 88.3m 88.5, etc. on FM, it will not tune in all of the stations!
What to listen to in St. Petersburg. There are five official (government) stations which broadcast in St. Petersburg.: Radio 1 Ostankino (programming from Moscow), Radio Rossii (programming from Moscow), Mayak (programming from Moscow), First Program of St. Petersburg Radio (from St. Pbg.), Radio Klassika (from St. Pbg.). Now there are a good number of private stations including Europa Plus, Radio Modern, Radio Baltica. Currently no Russian AM or FM radio stations broadcast in English.
Foreign broadcasts are aired by Radio Paris International (French) on AM 1450, Deutsche Welle (German) on AM 1200, and Voice of America and BBC (English) on short wave. The BBC World Service broadcasts in English and Russian on AM 1260.
The best stations for popular music are Europa Plus, Radio Baltica, Radio Modern and Radio Klassika. Most radio stations can be contacted through Petersburg's 5th Channel. Magic Radio has closed.
Some apartments still have the old Russian wall-mount radios with three selection buttons. This transmission system is still operated by GTS (Gorodskaya Translyatsionnaya Set) and carries Peterburg-5yy Kanal and Otkrytyy Gorod
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