The End of an Era : The day Long Wave died.

[Lean'n'mean]

Well, here we are folks, a historical moment...BBC Radio 4 (LW) is no more as of today. Ever since I arrived in France in august, 1984 I have been listening to Radio 4 (LW) on a transistor. A lot more often when I lived in Paris but even now, out in the sticks...I often tuned in & got my dose of old Blighty. I even went to sleep listening to it on my bedside tranny. LW being all I can get here. It warned me of approaching thunderstorms too, as it would crackle with the lightening strikes, the more crackles, the closer the storm was getting.
The reason the BBC gives for the switch off is that Long Wave is old technology & coming to the end of it's serviceable life & would not be cost-effective to upgrade or renew it, given the dwindling listening figures. The LW infrastructure was operated by a third party & was only used by the BBC, not owned.
I can still listen to Radio 4 online but it's not the same. The disconnection from the ruddy internet had it's own rewards.
Oh well, it was good while it lasted & hopefully, Britain's 92 year (1934 - 2026) Long Wave broadcasting history & in particular the role it played during WWII, won't be forgotten.

 

[Woody girl]

It's so sad how they keep switching off old tech and putting everything on line. I'm old tech, and now my bedside radio 4 listening is gone.
I can't listen online, but luckily I do have a dab radio.
I often used to fall asleep listening to the shipping forcast.
Unfortunately my dab radio is now on all night long, as it doesn't have a timer to switch off like my clock radio.
My landline no longer works when the power is off, nor does my mobile phone.
Upgrading?????? My a**e!!!!!!!!
One emp or major solar blackout and everything is gone. How clever these idiots are!

 

[C_Claycomb]

Aye, my mum is grieving for it. She has always complained that FM has an SSssssss sound which she doesn't like.
I was vaguely hopeful that DAB would be good, but then they changed to DAB+, so most of the digital channels that come up on my nice, expensive, 14yo stereo are no longer active. I bought my mum a DAB when they were coming out and LW programs were getting cut back....and I don't think she can get anything on it anymore.

Apparently, hardware obsolescence doesn't work fast enough, even in todays world of intentional enshitification, so now hardware is made obsolete by software and system updates....and there are complaints about the amount of e-waste. Grrrr.

 

[Damascus]

That’s sad, I have found memories listening to "sailing by"just before the taking the shipping weather in the military and listening to radio 2 on LW in Norway, as you could only listen to MW at night due to atmospherics, happy days!

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Radio 4 (LW) was for decades part of the British nuclear protocol, in that if the nuclear submarines could not receive Radio 4, it was likely London had been nuked by the Ruskies. Long Wave was the best option as the signal penetrated deep into Europe & hundreds of miles out to sea. FM & digital signals just evaporate over long distances & are far more fragile to meteorological & atmospheric conditions.

 

[nigelp]

With the clamour for the licence fee to be removed it won’t be long before FM transmitters and live TV goes!

 

[Seagull]

When seagoing in the 60's and 70's, "Being the first get the Long wave BBC" ,was ever a part of the ritual of approaching the UK.

In the scrabble to get improved reception on your Pye Cambridge, Nordemand, or Eddystone EB35, all manner of covert antenna were commonly, discreetly rigged.

It was necessary to keep close watch on the working schedule of the R/O, and disconnecting your antenna, otherwise there was a very good chance of having your set blown up whenever Sparks flashed-up the main transmitter.

On that, I was late once and had my Grundig Satellite permanently wrecked.

Shame that BBC on 198 is no longer.

Regards All
Ceeg

 

[Falstaff]

Very sad, and DAB+ is downright poor.
I wonder what the subs are going to listen for now, for signs of life in the UK? (If they ever get out of Faslane docks that is. I gather all 5 nuc subs are currently U/S).)

 

[Nice65]

With the clamour for the licence fee to be removed it won’t be long before FM transmitters and live TV goes!

Strange how so many of us are quite happy to pay for Netflix, Prime, Apple TV by sub but not an annual fee for a service.

Sad day, I loved the gentle sound of the shipping forecast, or listening to test cricket.

 

[nigelp]

Strange how so many of us are quite happy to pay for Netflix, Prime, Apple TV by sub but not an annual fee for a service.

Sad day, I loved the gentle sound of the shipping forecast, or listening to test cricket.

Exactly. Once again they’ll get everything they wish for…

Ad free radio would be missed. I’d pay a fee for that. Tv not so bothered about.

 

[Falstaff]

Ad free radio, yeah I'd pay for that. Sadly the BBC advertises their stuff all the while..

 

[nigelp]

Ad free radio, yeah I'd pay for that. Sadly the BBC advertises their stuff all the while..

Not really the same.

 

[ijohnson]

Not really the same.

Some might say worse!

 

[nigelp]

Really? No commercial advertising at all? No ads injected between songs? A few bbc promotions for other programs during the day but none within say a half hour programme.

 

[Falstaff]

Really? No commercial advertising at all? No ads injected between songs? A few bbc promotions for other programs during the day but none within say a half hour programme.

Yup, exactly that.
Beeb add's are repetitive, and cover the same obsessional subjects that I personally have no interest in. e.g. football, foot ball, football, womens football, womens rugby/cricket and TV trailers for soaps etc. and non-stop politics. Maybe these are the interests of the masses, but I'd happily pay to get rid of those.

I find their reporting and views on politics to be weighted and often only focus on what the govt. of the day wants them to focus on. (The clue is in their name, as Al Murray would say). They are not alone in that, and I try to get as wide and diverse a news/political news feed as I can, to try to balance out the bias's and form my own view.

 

[nigelp]

I listened to 3/4 hours of six music yesterday and noticed 4 ‘ads’ for other shows and one for a TV programme. Probably less than 2 minutes in all. Over an hour of radio news programme there were two ‘ads’ for other currant affairs programmes.


I don’t watch live TV so have no experience of other ads.

They must be doing something right because every spectrum of politics says they have a bias towards the other!

 

[Falstaff]

It varies depending upon the perceived audience for each channel. True, you do have to look beyond the petty name calling between spectrums, and sort the limited wheat from a lot of chaff.

 

[nigelp]

Beware what people wish for when they clamour to destroy the BBC. Recently I had to make several trips to the hospital. I’m not judging, but observed on numerous occasions the struggle some folk had entering their car registration, confirming and then touching their card to pay. Huge numbers of people will lose radio and TV access if it goes online or behind a paywall without massive support to work out how to do so.

 

[slowworm]

I think the BBC doesn't help itself. Having been subject to its bullying tactics when I had no TV, so no need for a licence, I'm not a fan of the licence fee. It's also a bit laughable suggesting people may.struggle if it goes behind a paywall as many people can't access it without splashing out on extra technology as it is. We have no reception and have to pay extra in order to watch anything via the internet, mum struggles with even a basic internet so has to use freesat etc.

Now we do have a licence I don't.think we've watched any live TV for over a year as the BBC just doesn't cater for much of the population. If we want to watch anything interesting we'll take out a short subscription.

I expect there's a lot of very highly paid staff at the BBC that could be trimmed down before some of the services are.cut.

 

[bobnewboy]

All broadcast TV and most radio is going online in any case, despite there having been a government ‘consultation’, where fewer than 3 in 10 of the public are aware of it. According to almost any paper online, Freeview and Freesat are currently scheduled to be taken off the air in 2034.

The broadcasters intend to make this less of a wrench by currently broadcasting nothing but depressing soap operas, inane game shows, and massively over repeated content.