BBC radio 4 LW will close due to lack of investment.

mike65

Its only a paragraph but a damned important one for me!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15165926

There will be reductions in medium wave transmissions for local radio in England where coverage replicates FM. There will also be no re-investment in Long Wave, which will lead to the end of Radio 4 on LW in the long term.

Badabing

mike65 wrote: »

Its only a paragraph but a damned important one for me!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15165926

Disaster, What will i listen to 70% of my time now?

Manach

Back before this internet fad, I remember listening with pleasure to the LW BBC4 stations. A sad day if this comes to pass.

padd b1975

I wonder how long exactly do they mean by long term, I only listen to Test Match Special to be honest.

donegal11

Why would the bbc invest in LW when there are newer alternatives such as satellite, internet radio, DAB, DRM and even FM. It's a waste of resources for the bbc to invest in a declining niche market.

padd b1975

donegal11 wrote: »

Why would the bbc invest in LW when there are newer alternatives such as satellite, internet radio, DAB, DRM and even FM. It's a waste of resources for the bbc to invest in a declining niche market.

I wonder how long before RTE do the same with their long wave service.

Donahg

donegal11 wrote: »

Why would the bbc invest in LW when there are newer alternatives such as satellite, internet radio, DAB, DRM and even FM. It's a waste of resources for the bbc to invest in a declining niche market.

Im sorry you have no idea what you are talking about, First Drm is dead never took off. FM and Dab is useless for overseas listeners. How many people have internet radio or satellite radio in their car ?

cml387

Donahg wrote: »

Im sorry you have no idea what you are talking about, First Drm is dead never took off. FM and Dab is useless for overseas listenes.

Ah but overseas listeners don't pay a licence fee.

I'd guess this is a salvo from the BBC ("Look what you'll lose") about their licence fee.

donaghs

I always associate BBC Radio 4 with the LW sound. Slightly duller, bits of hiss and whine now and then. Compared with the sharper crisper Irish FM stations.

Even now when listening to it through the Internet, feel nostalgic for my old Radio with LW.

Mongarra

padd b1975 wrote: »

I wonder how long exactly do they mean by long term, I only listen to Test Match Special to be honest.

+1

Great on long winter nights when England on tour.

280special

When we were touring in southern France the only way to find out what was going on was by listening in to BBC R4 on LW late at night.

Digital ? Dont make me laugh...its ok where you have coverage and even then I am still not convinced that it is much better than FM...and we cant get any BBC although we are approx 35/40 miles south-west of Belfast !

Internet...Great...when the blasted broadband works ! and no damned good when you are out and about !

What do we do when we are driving down through Kildare and on southwards towards Cork ? Listen to that self opinionated muppet Joe Duffy ?

donegal11

Donahg wrote: »

Im sorry you have no idea what you are talking about, First Drm is dead never took off. FM and Dab is useless for overseas listeners. How many people have internet radio or satellite radio in their car ?

How many people listen to R4 LW? and how many of them don't have access to it in another medium? and how many of them pay the british tv license? Why would the bbc care about overseas listeners to radio 4 ? Any overseas remit is serviced by world service.

LW is dead, How many new stations or even existing stations are on it? and as far as car radios go the majority only have FM or AM options now and exceeding that are more likely to have DAB then LW. The only reason rte broadcast in it is because they had access to the leftovers from Atlantic 252 and want to service UK expat listeners, the bbc have no such want.

Im sorry but you have no idea what you are talking about:rolleyes:

mike65

An awful lot of people listen to BBC LW in France, Benelux, Holland, and Ireland.

europa11

280special wrote: »

What do we do when we are driving down through Kildare and on southwards towards Cork ? Listen to that self opinionated muppet Joe Duffy ?

I may be wrong, but that's about the nicest compliment anyone on boards has ever paid to Joe Duffy.

SEPT 23 1989

For me Radio 4 LW is the purest form of Radio

Wertz

Thank f*ck I can get it on FM despite the efforts of iRadio. I get the impression that if it weren't for Irish regional stations all the beeb FM stations would be available a bit further south.
Listening to the shipping forecast on LW still brings me back to my childhood. I know what some people mean about it not sounding "right" in FM.

torrentum

I.love R4. Any questions, Any answers, PM, News at 10pm, Moneybox, I could go on and on here, but what an amazing station. And yes, I know what everyone means about the nostalgic hiss on LW, it's a sound that's accompanied me all through my life.
I always listen to PM and news at six in the car coming home from work.

I know there's always podcasts when LW is gone (my broadband is crap and wont stream for long before going dead), but I REALLY will miss this station, by far the best, most informative and interesting station ever.

Vunderground

That's very sad news. I had been thinking of buy a Robert Roberts radio as a relatively cheap treat for myself. Won't be now

easychair

Vunderground wrote: »

That's very sad news. I had been thinking of buy a Robert Roberts radio as a relatively cheap treat for myself. Won't be now

R4 is my station of choice also, and I've been listening for years. I bouight a roberts radio especially so I could get it on wifi , so why buying a Roberts Radio should exclude you from listening to R4 seems uncertain.

I listen as often as not now on the net, and haven't listened on LW for quite a long time. It's now available on LW, MW, FM, and on the net (via wifi or with any internet connection), and the loss of FM will, I suspect, be less of a loss that we might imagine.

Vunderground

easychair wrote: »

R4 is my station of choice also, and I've been listening for years. I bouight a roberts radio especially so I could get it on wifi , so why buying a Roberts Radio should exclude you from listening to R4 seems uncertain.

Wifi is not available where I would have been using it. LW is the only option unfortunately.

easychair

Vunderground wrote: »

Wifi is not available where I would have been using it. LW is the only option unfortunately.

Thats sad, so you were one of the poor unfortunates who had to put up with cricket all these years!

I've discovered tunein which is an app I have now on my phone and on my tablet. It's wonderful and I can tune into stations from all over the world, including radio 4 on LW or on FM.

As a radio fan, I'm like a child with a new toy! I also have a Roberts wifi radio which I have loved for almost 2 years, but now I have the same facility on 3g on my phone, or on my tablet on wifi which is much more portable than the Roberts, and means I can now carry it around the house like I used to with a transistor radio.

Fuzzy Clam

Vunderground wrote: »

Wifi is not available where I would have been using it. LW is the only option unfortunately.

R4 LW won't be going anywhere soon. As long as they have spares in the cupboard for the transmitters it will remain on air.

mike65

If I win the euro lotto I'll buy it off them and rent the signal

sgb

mike65 wrote: »

An awful lot of people listen to BBC LW in France, Benelux, Holland, and Ireland.

Yes they do but they do not contribute via the licence fee

easychair

sgb wrote: »

Yes they do but they do not contribute via the licence fee

Nor does anyone who listens to R4 in the UK. In the UK , a licence fee applies only to tv sets, and not to radio.

mike65

Thats a very pedantic and silly point to make, the money goes to the BBC for everything they do.

Vunderground

easychair wrote: »

Thats sad, so you were one of the poor unfortunates who had to put up with cricket all these years!

I loved the cricket. Especially when rain stopped play and they would talk about cake. I love cake even more

Wertz

sgb wrote: »

Yes they do but they do not contribute via the licence fee

So what about the World Service then? Still going strong around the globe on MW FM and sat, all with no licence revenue. Same with the BBC websites.

mike65

Actually the Foreign Office will no longer fund the World Service in the next few years

Mycroft H

What about people who need the shipping forecast? Your not going to get internet radio off the coast of scotland......


I will miss it if it drops off the long wave.....

Corsendonk

No mention of the Archers! I always for years would listen LW Saturday morning line up of "From our own correspondent" "Week in politics" and the holiday show which I can't remember the title of. The 6.30 comedy slot, Brain of Britain and Just a Minute.

Not to forget the end of the night sign off music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFdas-kMF74

mike65

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hr4xwpZYJ0

cml387

BX 19 wrote: »

What about people who need the shipping forecast? Your not going to get internet radio off the coast of scotland......


I will miss it if it drops off the long wave.....

Shipping Weather forecast available via other radio methods.

donaghs

Seeing as Radio 4 LW's days are numbered, I've been thinking more about getting an internet radio for futureproofing, and for more convenient access to good international radio stations.

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent low-price one? I can listen on laptop for free, but want the convenience of a bedside radio I can switch on and off quickly, with pre-set stations. I'm not too bothered about DAB - its basically just a selection of Irish only stations? (Unless you just happen to be living in a location thats convenient for picking up UK DAB ststions). Any ideas? thanks.

easychair

donaghs wrote: »

Seeing as Radio 4 LW's days are numbered, I've been thinking more about getting an internet radio for futureproofing, and for more convenient access to good international radio stations.

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent low-price one? I can listen on laptop for free, but want the convenience of a bedside radio I can switch on and off quickly, with pre-set stations. I'm not too bothered about DAB - its basically just a selection of Irish only stations? (Unless you just happen to be living in a location thats convenient for picking up UK DAB ststions). Any ideas? thanks.

I have a roberts wm 202 and likt it a lot. however, i now also have a Motorola Xoom which cost not a lot more than the Roberts and is more portable, has a good battery life, and is also an android computer which has an app for an internet radio. If you have a few more £'s to spare ( not too many), I think its a better option and its much more portable!

Greenman

donaghs wrote: »

Seeing as Radio 4 LW's days are numbered, I've been thinking more about getting an internet radio for futureproofing, and for more convenient access to good international radio stations.

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent low-price one? I can listen on laptop for free, but want the convenience of a bedside radio I can switch on and off quickly, with pre-set stations. I'm not too bothered about DAB - its basically just a selection of Irish only stations? (Unless you just happen to be living in a location thats convenient for picking up UK DAB ststions). Any ideas? thanks.

I have this one nearly a year and find it excellent. Its a Aluratek AIRMM01 Internet Radio and I got it at amazon.com