Signal overspill on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Signal overspill is the receiving of a broadcast signal outside of its geographical target area.
Radio frequencies
Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the upper ...
have no way of obeying geographical borders and licensing arrangements, and the extent of overspill depends on where
broadcast transmitter
A broadcast transmitter is an electronic device which radiates radio waves modulated with information content intended to be received by the general public. Examples are a radio broadcasting transmitter which transmits audio (sound) to broadca ...
s are sited and their power. In addition to traditional transmitters, overspill occurs when the
footprint of a satellite is greater than that needed to serve its target audience.
Transmitters located near to international borders may overspill into a large part of a neighbouring country, for example the signal from
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
broadcaster
2RN's
Clermont Carn
Clermont Carn (), also known as Black Mountain, is a mountain that rises to in the Cooley Mountains of County Louth, Ireland. It is at the border with Northern Ireland, and is also the location of the Clermont Carn transmission site. The moun ...
site can be picked up in a large swathe of
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, and vice versa
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
broadcasts can be picked up in the Republic.
Overspill is usually welcomed by listeners and viewers as it gives them additional choices, when for example the Republic of Ireland began to migrate to a digital platform measures were put in place so that viewers in Northern Ireland could continue to receive the channels they had become used to.
However, legally and often politically overspill can be unwelcome. Broadcast rights are sold on a per territory basis, and overspill can be seen as harmful to the commercial and intellectual property rights of creators.
Politically some governments may be wary of their own populace becoming too familiar with the culture of a neighbouring country or territory and feel threatened by it. For example, in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
prior to its reforms, television dramas from
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
could be easily picked up in neighbouring
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
, and helped spread the desire for greater liberty and material goods in Guangdong. Cross border radio and television reception was an
important influence on political developments in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
during the
cold war
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
.
Overspill may have an accidental
soft power
In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power). In other words, soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. A defin ...
effect, for example for many years listeners in the Netherlands were able to pick up BBC radio signals, listeners wanting to learn English would tune into the BBC leading to a British cultural influence on the Netherlands. Some nations will purposefully site transmitters and broadcast at a higher power than strictly necessary as a purposeful exercise in soft power. With regards to television, countries wishing to prevent this will choose a television
encoding system incompatible to that of its neighbours.
Overspill is used as a cover by stations, such as those known as
border blaster
A border blaster is a broadcast station that, though not licensed as an external service, is, in practice, used to target another country. The term "border blaster" is of North American origin, and usually associated with Mexican AM station ...
and those of the
radio périphérique, where the audience supposedly accidentally receiving a broadcast is actually the intended audience. The transmitters used are positioned and are very much more powerful than that needed to serve their licensed audience.
See also
*
Rimshot (broadcasting)
References
Broadcast engineering
International relations
Broadcast transmitters
{{broadcasting-stub