Keep Longwave

The campaign to maintain our radio heritage

BBC plans to abandon its Longwave listeners as early as June

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BBC Radio 4 Longwave will come off the air in the early hours of Saturday 27th June, the BBC has announced – three months sooner than was previously anticipated. The move represents a final abandonment of the BBC’s longest-standing listener base, after just over 100 years of national coverage on longwave.

News of the shutdown date was uploaded to the BBC’s website on Monday 11th May.

Since the closure of longwave was mooted in March 2023, an international campaign has been underway to save it. More than 7500 supporters have so far signed a petition to keep Radio 4 Longwave, and 25 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling for its closure to be discussed in parliament. This is in addition to several more MPs writing to the BBC and to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to raise awareness of the issue. Furthermore, our report Still Speaking to the Nations was handed to the BBC in June 2025, detailing a wide variety of reasons for retaining longwave and including tens of listener comments testifying to why the service is so important.

However, this campaign has fallen on deaf ears, and the BBC continues to push ahead with the closure of its oldest and most widely accessible platform, which can be heard nationwide and across much of Europe. In doing so, the BBC has signalled its disregard for listeners in rural areas under-served by other transmissions, listeners at sea and listeners abroad – including in Ukraine and Russia, where the longwave signal is uniquely able to penetrate without risk of censorship.

Unfortunately, the BBC has not yet responded to our report, or shared publically an ‘impact assessment’ that was supposedly being carried out in 2025 regarding the closure of longwave. Instead, the corporation continues to provide free advertising to purveyors of very energy-hungry ‘smart speakers’ and to push digital ways of listening, many of which are not accessible to much of longwave’s current listenership. The BBC’s interim Director-General, Rhodri Talfan Davies, has been contacted for comment and has not yet responded.

The Campaign to Keep Longwave continues to urge supporters to contact the BBC and to contact your MP to make your views known. We may have now only a matter of weeks to save this vital service.

20 responses to “BBC plans to abandon its Longwave listeners as early as June”

  1. Grammaticus Avatar
    Grammaticus

    Incredibly sad 😦

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  2. Rhys Thomas Avatar
    Rhys Thomas

    I’ve contacted my MP, who’s not responded. I’ve had my comments read out on Radio 4’s “Feedback”.

    I shall miss Radio 4 on Longwave in the car. FM may sound better, but frankly AM for speech programmes is just perfect, and it doesn’t fade or drop out.

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  3. Jensen Avatar
    Jensen

    l will be very sad to see BBC long wave close down. I have listened to the BBC long wave for over 50 years both in the UK and abroad. Certainly an end of an era.

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    1. Ian Hosker Avatar
      Ian Hosker

      SAD

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  4. Mark Lee Avatar
    Mark Lee

    It’s extraordinary that the BBC and the government (and the military) don’t value the LW for its reach into Ukraine, nevermind the rest of europe.

    Such ‘soft power’ has economic as well as cultural benefits.

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  5. inspiring26db9e4d72 Avatar
    inspiring26db9e4d72

    bbc bosses should do what the public want not what they want, they’re employed by us ,so as far as I’m concerned they’re sacked.

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    1. Paul Petty Avatar
      Paul Petty

      The Swiss are maintaining their mast at Beromünster as a “Monument” to it’s importance to free speech in WW2. It actually operated at the lower frequency end of medium wave but had a similar range and status. I suspect they also view it as a valuable contingency. How long before the Droitwich site is bulldozed for housing etc? To be able to maintain communication with the population of the whole country and half of Europe from a single maintainable structure has got to be a national asset worth keeping!

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  6. John Wheatcroft Avatar
    John Wheatcroft

    Funny to think that to cover the whole country you only need 3 AM transmitters. to achieve the same thing on FM you need about 250. Anyone who knows anything about the physics of radio waves will tell you that. Before we start talking about he lack of valves for those transmitters, the BBC bought up the entire stock there were about a dozen. How difficult would it be to manufacture these valves again. I had heard it mooted that there are companies that could and most likely would do it. It would most certainly be a “special order” though.

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  7. Ian Hosker Avatar
    Ian Hosker

    How about the BBC contacting the French authorities who operate the LW 162 khz transmitter in Allouis, France, as it still broadcasts a silent signal, most of England should receive it okay. Just a thought.

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  8. Andrew Rutter Avatar
    Andrew Rutter

    I’ve sent a letter to my MP who represents the constituency that has Droitwich Transmitter within it! With the turmoil in the Government at present I’ll be surprised if the DCMS have it at the top of their lists of ‘things to do.’ But we can hope!

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  9. Paul Gregory Avatar
    Paul Gregory

    In such a volatile world of today, it’s unfortunate to forfeit the stability of BBC LW service. Someday in the not-to-distant future, someone will propose a brilliant concept: a reliable censure-free platform where necessary information reaches UK rural, mariner and European publics, all to the benefit of British “soft power”.

    Sigh….

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  10. russellbinns Avatar
    russellbinns

    This is reminiscent of the Beeching cuts. A piece of world-heritage that has witnessed some of humanity’s greatest moments over the last century, thrown away for short-term economic arguments. I have contacted my MP and written twice to the BBC. Spread the word everyone – so at least you don’t regret being a silent spectator to history in years to come!

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  11. Barry Young Avatar
    Barry Young

    I wrote to my MP, Feral Clark who said ” Be assured that I will continue to bear your thoughts in mind ” but it was up to the BBC.

    I’ll be sad to see LW go, especially since my main radio is LW / MW only as is the one in my car. No more rRadio 4 for me.

    Barry Young

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  12. David Isbister Avatar
    David Isbister

    A few points:

    Smart Speakers: What happens to your Smart Speaker (today) when the internet goes down? My internet frequently drops out. Now imagine how the internet might function in a conflict situation.

    FM and DAB: What is the cost of maintaining and operating the huge number of FM and DAB transmitters throughout the UK? Compare these costs with those associated with the three long wave transmitters. The answer might be surprising, especially when taking into consideration years of under-funding of the LW transmitters.

    Politicians: I wrote to my MP to ask for her support in the Early Day Motion. I got a polite reply directing me to the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport. In other words, the Government position is that it is a fait accompli.

    BBC: I even contacted the BBC through one of their listener surveys (a year, or so) and gave them a precis of why I thought it prudent to maintain LW transmissions. They they didn’t reply. No surprise there.

    Technology: I have built loads of long wave receivers in my lifetime, the first when I was fourteen, the most recent when I was 71. The transmitted signal is relatively powerful and propagates as a ground wave. Even the most simplest of technologies can effectively yield a viable receiver. Try building a DAB receiver!

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  13. Shaton ford Avatar
    Shaton ford

    I drive to work at 4/5am.. channel 4 is a real link to news, events, what is going on in the world….it will be a hideous loss for me personally.

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  14. Samuel kirkbride Avatar
    Samuel kirkbride

    How incredibly ignorant those at the BBC, for over a year when they announce how to receive the BBC the long wave option has not been mentioned as though it’s some dirty little secret – or more likely to discourage new listeners . The bright boys at the BBC see long wave as not ‘modern’ enough for them to be associated with it, irrespective of how important this frequency is to many English speaking people in their daily lives. Shortage of the correct type of high power valves? Good grief BBC, you used to be at the forefront of broadcasting technology, come on just convert the electronics!!

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  15. Alwyn Seeds Avatar
    Alwyn Seeds

    I have written to my MP, Labour in a marginal seat. He refused to sign the early day motion, said it was a matter for the BBC and trotted out the usual nonsense line about being unable to keep the transmitters operating due to a lack of spare valves. Econoco rebuild such valves, as a matter of routine. There are plenty of solid-state Long Wave transmitters available if transmitter replacement to save energy is required.

    This is yet another example of how people in power ignore those who pay for their decisions.

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  16. Yvonne Gosme-Stuart Avatar
    Yvonne Gosme-Stuart

    Another facet of “soft power” is the ability of Radio 4 to vastly reinforce the feeling of “Britishness” felt by British expats who listen to it.

    That’s a lot of ambassadors in many different countries and a great asset which the UK ignores at its peril.

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  17. Mike Frsser Avatar
    Mike Frsser

    long wave is for communication, VHF, for local information. One longwave transmitter will cover hundreds of square miles, a VHF, just a few. Where are the economics in such a decision?

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  18. Peter Vaughan Avatar
    Peter Vaughan

    I’m really sad to learn this! LW has good coverage across most of Britain, better than FM. Especially away from towns and sources of interference, reception is decent. I have several radios that I listen to Radio 4 on LW – many without VHF. As for DAB, in the car, it’s dropout after dropout!

    The heritage value is important, too – news items of gravity seem more fitting to be heard through the medium of trusty AM radio.

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