Radio World has a long report about longwave radio in the UK, and how it may end soon.
Produced for Oct. 15, 2015, but can air a few days later.
James Careless in Radio World has a long story about longwave radio, and its inevitable demise in England. Longwave, as the name suggests, are large waves, near AM on the dial, and in the UK largely in the 148.5â253 kHz range. Like AM radio, transmitting requires a large antenna to create that big wave, and the sound quality means broadcasting music does not work. Recently, Irish state broadcaster Raidió TeilifÃs Ãireann announced it would end its longwave Radio 1 service to Britain Jan. 1, but the same Radio 1 programming would still be available on the Web and via the Freesat satellite TV service. Longwave loyalists, many of them Irish who listened for Irish news from in England, though, successfully protested and petitioned and persuaded the government to postpone RTÃâs longwave closure until Jan. 1, 2017. It was the third attempt to end longwave in England that was put off. Eventually, though, the transmissions will end. The BBC has bought up the entire world supply of specially-crafted one-meter tall glass valves, but they will run out in a few years. âWe have purchased whatever parts we can find, but the truth is that when our current longwave transmission equipment becomes irreparable, our long-wave service will be off-air for good,â Denis Nowlan, network manager for BBC Radio 4, said. âThe BBC has committed to continue to sustain the medium for as long as the current infrastructure is viable, but thatâs it.â You can read the full story at Radio World.
Longwave radio may end soon in UK for Oct. 15, 2015
Radio news about radio waves.
00:01:58
1
Oct. 15, 2015
Produced at Wave Farm/WGXC in the Hudson Valley, New York.
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