Author: t_thornes
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Happy Birthday Droitwich!
6th September marks the 90th anniversary of longwave transmissions beginning at Droitwich, which remains an icon of British broadcasting to this day. Read about the 9 greatest milestones over 9 decades of radio history.
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Global IT Failure shows the Importance of Analogue Alternatives
There are many other reasons for retaining longwave radio. But the most critical reason of all is to prevent an information black-out in the event of national disaster. We therefore call upon the BBC to revoke its ill-considered cost-cutting plan to abolish longwave broadcasts, and to keep Radio 4 Longwave…
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Test Match no longer Special as Sport Leaves Longwave
Whatever the weather, one thing that remains a British summer stalwart is Test Match cricket, whether it’s played amidst the English showers or carried to our ears from far-flung parts of the cricketing world. But this summer, after sixty-seven years, for the first time Test Match Special is not available to…
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Longwave closure may be postponed until at least 2025
What has your boiler got to do with your radio? Quite a lot if you use Economy 7 Teleswitching. Introduced in the 1980s, this technology allows central heating systems to be switched on and off using a time signal received by radio. Naturally, with its near-complete reliable coverage of the…
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Celebrating 100 Years of the ‘Pips’
It was on 5th February 1924, at 9.30pm, that the iconic BBC ‘pips’ were broadcast for the first time. Serving as a time signal for 100 years, the six distinctive pips are still broadcast on flagship BBC stations BBC Radio 4 (formerly BBC Home Service) and BBC World Service at…
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Tributes reveal Global Importance of Droitwich Transmitter
The ability of longwave transmissions to travel large distances is well known. But less well-publicised is the ability of the single longwave transmitter at Droitwich, Worcestershire, to broadcast signals across the European continent and beyond. At a time of international tension, it is becoming increasingly clear that this is one…
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Daily Service to become Digital Only
The BBC has announced plans to relegate its longest-running programme, Daily Service, to digital platforms only from the start of April 2024. Axing analogue transmissions could see the demise of the programme after nearly 90 years of broadcasts. First broadcast in 1928, Daily Service was one of the first programmes…
Keep Longwave 