Category: news
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Campaign begins to keep BBC Medium-wave broadcasts
A week after the BBC ended transmitters on 198 kHz longwave, a campaign is beginning to ensure that the BBC’s medium-wave broadcasts do not face the same fate. Although we continue to campaign for the reinstatement of longwave broadcasts in some form, medium-wave represents a next-best option, providing essential radio…
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Longwave transmissions cease after 102 years
Today, 30th June 2026, was a momentous day for British radio broadcasting, and sadly not in a positive sense. Transmissions on the longwave band were finally brought to a close after 102 years, truly marking the end of an era. Yet, even as hope remains alive for longwave to be…
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Goodbye R4LW… we will miss you
BBC Radio 4 Longwave shut down at 0100 BST this morning, Saturday 27th June, in spite of our best efforts to save this iconic service. The audio clip above records the shutdown on the Little Maestro 1930s wireless set, including Sailing By, Shipping Forecast and the National Anthem.
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Radio 4 Longwave set to close tonight
The BBC still expects to close Radio 4 Longwave overnight tonight, the latest updates suggest. This marks a cessation of Radio 4 broadcasts on the frequency that have been in operation since 1978, and comes ahead of a shutdown of all BBC transmissions on longwave after over 101 years. The…
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Tributes made to Longwave radio as BBC end-date approaches
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…
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Ofcom encourages AM listening even as BBC longwave hangs by a thread
The UK’s media regulator has published an article on its website encouraging sports fans to use AM (which includes longwave) and FM radio. In a piece timed to coincide with the World Cup, Ofcom urges spectators to ‘keep up with play and avoid the delay’ by avoiding watching or listening…
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BBC plans to abandon its Longwave listeners as early as June
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…
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This is Our BBC: But new Longwave ‘opt-out’ suggests its closure
The BBC has begun broadcasting an occasional short message on Radio 4 Longwave, suggesting that it will soon close. All the help and support we can get is urgently needed. Otherwise, our BBC may simply cease to exist.
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BBC Longwave set to close in September
The BBC still intends to close down its Radio 4 Longwave broadcasts in September 2026, in spite of over 7000 people so far signing a petition to keep BBC Radio 4 Longwave, and 23 members of parliament supporting an Early Day Motion that questions the move.
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Motion on the Future of BBC Radio 4 Longwave tabled in Parliament
A motion ‘that this House notes with concern the BBC’s intention to cease broadcasting BBC Radio 4 on Longwave’ has been tabled in Parliament, the first time that this issue has been brought up there since the BBC’s 2023 announcement that it planned to shut down longwave.
Keep AM Alive 