Reinstate Longwave, and Keep Mediumwave
The campaign to keep BBC Radio 4 on Longwave was launched in the summer of 2023 in response to the BBC’s announcement that it intended to cease longwave broadcasts. The BBC ceased separate programmes on Radio 4 Longwave and Radio 4 FM from the end of March 2024, and Radio 4 Longwave ceased transmissions at 0100 BST on Saturday 27th June 2026. We continue to campaign for the reinstatement of the longwave signal, either by the BBC or by an alternative broadcaster, and for its safeguarding as a piece of Critical National Infrastructure.
In addition, in the absence of longwave we are campaigning for the retention of mediumwave broadcasts by the BBC. These broadcasts do not cover the same area as longwave, but are a second-best option as a means of transmitting information over long distances that could be crucial during a time of crisis. It is also useful in remote areas that cannot receive other signals, which is why we are campaigning for BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio Wales to remain on medium-wave as well as BBC Radio 5 nationwide. No switch-off date has been set for medium-wave, but the campaign to keep mediumwave exists to ensure that no such date is set – at least, not while longwave is still off-air.
The campaigns to reinstate longwave and keep mediumwave, both forms of AM transmission, are running concurrently, and for this reason we are now calling this website Keep AM Alive in the UK.
The reason given for the switch-off of longwave was that the transmitter is in need of maintenance which would be costly at a time of squeezed budgets. This is no way to treat a 90-year-old national treasure that has reliably provided The Shipping Forecast, Daily Service and Test Match Special amongst other programmes to multiple generations over the decades.
Not only is longwave a key part of our broadcasting heritage, it also remains a critical piece of national infrastructure, carrying information across the UK and beyond via non-digital means that would prove invaluable during an internet shut-down or national disaster. Current tensions around the world show that now is not the time to be closing down reliable analogue broadcasts. Radio 4 Longwave was the BBC’s flagship output, and should be the last broadcast to go, not the first. We therefore call upon the BBC to reverse its decision, and maintain broadcasting on longwave for the foreseeable future.
Please sign our petition to reinstate longwave .
Please sign our petition to keep mediumwave.
Keep AM Alive 