Keep Longwave

Numerous tributes are being made to longwave radio in what could be the last week of BBC broadcasts on 198 kHz. The BBC has announced both online and during frequent interruptions to its longwave Radio 4 service that ‘this service is closing’ on 27th June. Users who rely on the service or simply enjoy its rich quality are eagerly making use of their longwave sets – some of which have been operational for decades – while they still can.

Today, the petition to keep Radio 4 Longwave – which now has 7,807 signatures – was sent to the BBC Director General with a last-minute plea for a change of heart. This is the second time the petition has been handed in; in June 2025 it was handed physically to the Director General’s Office, when it consisted of just over 5,000 signatures. The petition at its current stage is too lengthy to print sustainably.

A quick search for Radio 4 Longwave on Youtube reveals several informative videos about the history, qualities and impending closure of the channel. These include Mike Gardiner’s ‘Long Wave Challenge’ in which he records Radio 4 on Longwave on a different wireless every day, and Ringway Manchester’s informative summary of the story of longwave and its closure.

At this poignant time, I have made recordings of my own two favourite vintage longwave radios. Each recording lasts a little over five minutes, and features the ‘This Week in History’ programme broadcast on Radio 4 at 8.55 on a Friday evening, and the message announcing the closure of longwave at one minute to the hour. I hope that you enjoy these recordings of radios that have been receiving longwave since the 1930s, and still sound wonderful today. Many thanks to the late John Philips, former Droitwich engineer, who put the radios into good working order some years ago now.

The ‘Little Maestro’

The ‘Big Maestro’

Whilst vintage radios like these will still be able to receive Radio 5 on medium-wave in most areas, the closure of Radio 4 longwave will mark a major loss and be a great sadness to many, as well as removing a vital national landmark and link.

One of my fondest memories of longwave is listening to the long-running series Home Front on what I know affectionately as the ‘Big Maestro’ above on many Friday evenings between 2014 and 2018. Its warm glow and warm sound really brought the programme alive.

Please use the comments on this page to record your own memories of longwave if you would like to do so.