Trans World Radio

   Trans World Radio broadcasts Christian programs to most of the world, through a series of powerful, strategically placed transmitters. it grew out of the concern of Paul Freed (1918-96), a worker for Youth for Christ, about the situation of Protestants in Spain in the 1950s. Having documented persecution from Catholic authorities under the regime of Francisco Franco (1892-1975), he raised funds to start a radio station in Tangiers, Morocco, to broadcast into Spain. it opened in 1954 as the Voice of Tangiers, and quickly expanded to other countries far beyond Spain. By the end of the decade it was reaching Romania, Hungary, and even the Soviet Union.

   In 1959, Tangiers came under the control of the Muslim-led Moroccan government, which closed down the station. The station moved its operation to Monaco and changed its name to Trans World Radio. As the station grew, the number of languages in which programming was offered steadily increased. it was eventually heard across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. A network of studios emerged in different countries to produce shows that were taped and flown to Monaco for broadcast.

   In the 1970s, Trans World opened a facility on the island of Bonaire, off the Venezuelan coast, to broadcast programming to South America and the Caribbean, and in 1978 began broadcasting to the Indian subcontinent from Sri Lanka. An additional facility was opened on Guam to reach into China.

   As the 21st century began, the facilities built around Trans World's 13 primary transmitting sites and satellite hook-ups reach about 80 percent of the world's population. The station broadcasts more than 1,800 hours of Christian programming a week to more than 160 countries in some 180 languages.

   See also religious broadcasting.

   Further reading:

   ■ Ben Armstrong, The Electronic Church (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 1979)

   ■ Norah Freed, Cupped Hands: on Trans World Radio From Monte Carlo (London: Trans World Radio, 1981)

   ■ Paul E. Freed, Towers to Eternity: the Remarkable Story of Trans World Radio as Told by Its Founder (Cary, N.C.: Trans World Radio, 1994).