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BBC 198 kHz longwave closure date?

I guess I'll never be able to get 198 here. It's the off-season for AM DX.
RIP, Radio 4. Too many of us geeks here will miss the Shipping Forecast. :cry:
 
The shipping forecast will stay - although it hasn't been used by shipping for some years now, it's more of a programming feature and a punctuation mark in the broadcast day. Shipping uses satellite delivered forecasts, or forecasts that are delivered regularly on marine radio, rather than waiting for the 2-3 times a day that Radio 4 broadcasts it.

It costs zero to broadcast, though - the content itself comes from the government, and it's read by an announcer who is already in the building to do general announcing on the station, so there's no cost to it and it stays, partly just to prevent the wastage of acres of newsprint that would inevitably ensue were it to be dropped.
 
The novelty of hearing it on longwave is what a lot of us will miss. For many of the East Coast DXers, decent signals from Algeria, BBC 4 and other LW stations were indicators of good TA MW DX (i.e., TalkSport on 1089, Lithuania 1386, and of course the dozens that are now defunct...like 1215 Absolute and 1134 Croatia, not to mention many Spain stations that left us last year)
 
Miss Tuned said:
The shipping forecast will stay - although it hasn't been used by shipping for some years now, it's more of a programming feature and a punctuation mark in the broadcast day. Shipping uses satellite delivered forecasts, or forecasts that are delivered regularly on marine radio, rather than waiting for the 2-3 times a day that Radio 4 broadcasts it.

It costs zero to broadcast, though - the content itself comes from the government, and it's read by an announcer who is already in the building to do general announcing on the station, so there's no cost to it and it stays, partly just to prevent the wastage of acres of newsprint that would inevitably ensue were it to be dropped.
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So it's basically radio reliquiae being perpetuated to avoid rousing the dead who fell asleep listening to it in the previous century.

Maybe they should make the shipping forecast great again by switching it to covering the Strait of Hormuz.
 
cc333 said:
Unless they're in politics. Lots of rousing going on there....

c
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"Don't rouse the elderly, they might wake up and vote Reform UK". 🧟

I realised when I saw this announcement that since I moved house, I haven't had a radio that can pick up any kind of AM (MW or LW). I'm sure there's one somewhere in a box at the back of a closet, but I never unpacked it when I unpacked my stuff and don't have ready access to it.

This whole thing exercises radio geeks, but it will have zero impact on any radio listeners other than those who like to moan at any kind of change. Past AM closures have led to almost no listener comment or complaint, because the programming is available elsewhere and nobody was still listening to AM.
 
Miss Tuned said:
This whole thing exercises radio geeks, but it will have zero impact on any radio listeners other than those who like to moan at any kind of change. Past AM closures have led to almost no listener comment or complaint, because the programming is available elsewhere and nobody was still listening to AM.
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I suspect the shutdown of 198 kHz will barely be noticed in the UK. Curious if the carrier remains on temporarily for the few remaining TeleSwitch meters, similar to what TDF did with 162 kHz in France as a time reference.

Recall a few years ago when it was announced that RTE’s 252 kHz signal would be shut down. Radio geeks were screaming that the world would come to an end, and that elderly Irish expats in the UK would be wandering aimlessly on the streets like lost zombies. But when the station finally signed off, nothing but crickets. The audience was already gone and had moved to other platforms years earlier. Same situation with other European LW broadcasters that have left the air over the past 15 years.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
I suspect the shutdown of 198 kHz will barely be noticed in the UK. Curious if the carrier remains on temporarily for the few remaining TeleSwitch meters, similar to what TDF did with 162 kHz in France as a time reference.

Recall a few years ago when it was announced that RTE’s 252 kHz signal would be shut down. Radio geeks were screaming that the world would come to an end, and that elderly Irish expats in the UK would be wandering aimlessly on the streets like lost zombies. But when the station finally signed off, nothing but crickets. The audience was already gone and had moved to other platforms years earlier. Same situation with other European LW broadcasters that have left the air over the past 15 years.
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I mostly remember that one as the border blasting "Long Wave Radio, Atlantic 252"! They used to promote that they played "Long Waves of Hits". I like this aircheck because it sounds exactly as I remember it, with the constant slight hum.

aircheckdownloads.com

Simon Nicks Mar 8th 1993 (6'50) - Atlantic 252

Listen and download at AircheckDownloads.com
aircheckdownloads.com aircheckdownloads.com

I dug out my only remaining analog radio, a nice 1990s Sony ICF-SW7600G which rarely sees daylight nowadays as most broadcasting here is digital. The 198 LW signal sounds the same as it ever did, warm and bassy, and it cuts through the modern electrical/electronic noise just fine, about 100 miles from the transmitter. It's perfectly serviceable as a radio signal, its time has just come.

A quick survey of medium wave at my location brings out just four stations: BBC Radio 5 Live (909), TalkSport (1089) and two local South Asian stations (963 and 1413, the latter pretty weak with bad audio). That's it.
 
Miss Tuned said:
A quick survey of medium wave at my location brings out just four stations: BBC Radio 5 Live (909), TalkSport (1089) and two local South Asian stations (963 and 1413, the latter pretty weak with bad audio). That's it.
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There is a MW station in the UK that I enjoy streaming. It's "Manx Radio" from the Isle of Man. 1368 as well as 4 FM's, and DAB. They are a public broadcaster, but they air commercials??? They are also in hot water due to violating a rule that requires public broadcasters to air 40% spoken word during the day.

I know this is off topic, but wanted to give them some recognition. I love how the morning host gives the background and history of the music. Visiting The Isle of Man, and Norway are on my bucket list for family ancestry reasons.

Manx Radio

The Isle of Man's Number One Radio Station
www.manxradio.com www.manxradio.com
 
crainbebo said:
The novelty of hearing it on longwave is what a lot of us will miss. For many of the East Coast DXers, decent signals from Algeria, BBC 4 and other LW stations were indicators of good TA MW DX (i.e., TalkSport on 1089, Lithuania 1386, and of course the dozens that are now defunct...like 1215 Absolute and 1134 Croatia, not to mention many Spain stations that left us last year)
Click to expand...

909,693, 1053 and 1089 are all audible in Iceland now. I'd get their quick though because DAB penetration is high enough it's only a matter of time before those go digital only as well.
 
Atlantic 252 had up to 6,000,000 listeners weekly in the UK by 1993-1994. But FM killed this station and it dropped big-time.
 
KilowattKat said:
There is a MW station in the UK that I enjoy streaming. It's "Manx Radio" from the Isle of Man. 1368 as well as 4 FM's, and DAB. They are a public broadcaster, but they air commercials??? They are also in hot water due to violating a rule that requires public broadcasters to air 40% spoken word during the day.

I know this is off topic, but wanted to give them some recognition. I love how the morning host gives the background and history of the music. Visiting The Isle of Man, and Norway are on my bucket list for family ancestry reasons.

Manx Radio

The Isle of Man's Number One Radio Station
www.manxradio.com www.manxradio.com
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you NEED to check out Sundown with Judith Ley Sunday nights.. shes been there for years 9pm to 1am

And it is just the absolute perfect show to wind down or relax to (depending on the time zone of the listener) on a Sunday. I've been a fan/listener on and off for YEARS. The atmosphere she creates, her presentation style.. and like a gathering of friends over a coffee table or a fireplace. And she appears to just be a lovely lady

I find it interesting Manx Radio is in violation of a rule that the government itself set. The government that set the rule is the owner of Manx Radio

They split the AM and FM alot more in recent times.. they didn't use to. But they run some Manx gaelic on the AM and air stuff from Radio Caroline on the weekends
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
you NEED to check out Sundown with Judith Ley Sunday nights.. shes been there for years 9pm to 1am

And it is just the absolute perfect show to wind down or relax to (depending on the time zone of the listener) on a Sunday. I've been a fan/listener on and off for YEARS. The atmosphere she creates, her presentation style.. and like a gathering of friends over a coffee table or a fireplace. And she appears to just be a lovely lady

I find it interesting Manx Radio is in violation of a rule that the government itself set. The government that set the rule is the owner of Manx Radio

They split the AM and FM alot more in recent times.. they didn't use to. But they run some Manx gaelic on the AM and air stuff from Radio Caroline on the weekends
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I'll definitely check that out. I just have to remember the time difference. Lol.

Considering they are the only public broadcaster on the isle, don't why they are being so strict. Manx Gold, which is all music, is completely separate from the main station. I also don't understand the commercials (definitely don't come across as underwriters), unless that's somehow allowed.
 


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