Former pirate radio structures in the Thames estuary to feature on Radio 4

 

Former pirate radio structures in the Thames estuary to feature on Radio 4 next week

Interesting blurb on the BBC website about the upcoming Radio 4 Open Country program on 30 May, at 3:00 PM on the Thames forts.

Martha Kearney visits Whitstable to discover the fascinating and mysterious story behind Guy Maunsell’s sea forts at Shivering Sands. Built in the Second World War as air defenses, these towers can still be seen from the shoreline, although they are now in a state of disrepair.

Martha discovers their incredible and strange history. Once home to up to 265 soldiers, these huge metal boxes on stilts later became the base for a broadcasting revolution. In the 1960s, pirate stations such as Radio City, Invicta and the short-lived Radio Sutch (run by the musician and parliamentary candidate Screaming Lord Sutch), broadcast from the sea forts to huge audiences who wanted to hear the latest pop and rock records.

Tom Edwards and Bob Leroi are two of the DJs with fond memories of their time aboard the sea forts at Shivering Sands, but there is also a darker history. David Featherbe’s father was lost at sea after visiting the Red Sands fort and foul play was suspected. These mysteries and the forts imposing physical architecture fascinate historian Flo McEwan and many artists such as Stephen Turner and Sue Carfrae.

Today the forts lie empty and are slowly being lost to the sea, but they remain a source of inspiration to artists and photographers, as Martha discovers.

Repeat broadcast Saturday, 1 June, at 06:07 BST (05:07 UTC) and available as a podcast https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001znl8

(BDXC/Richard Gedye)

BBC announces Radio 4 changes on mediumwave

 

BBC Reception has revised their statement below - R4 programme changes take effect from 1st April. 

MW frequencies stop carrying R4 programmes from 15th April still [will MW channels carry a retuning announcement after 15th April or just be switched off?]. 

On 20/03/2024 22:23, Alan Pennington via groups.io wrote:

BBC Reception website has now added this post this evening about Radio 4 changes. Interestingly, the final sentence states:

"Effective 15th April, Radio 4 will no longer be available on medium wave. Medium wave listeners will need to retune their radio to Radio 4 on FM or DAB, or listen via smart speaker, BBC Sounds or digital television."

BBC R4 medium wave transmitters are as follows:

603 kHz Newcastle upon Tyne

720 kHz Londonderry

720 kHz London (Crystal Palace)

720 kHz Lisnagarvey

756 kHz Redruth

774 kHz Enniskillen

774 kHz Plymouth

1449 kHz Aberdeen

1485 kHz Carlisle 

Full text of BBC Reception post:

Changes to Radio 4 from 15th April 2024

Effective 15th April 2024, the Daily Service and the extended edition of Yesterday in Parliament will be available on BBC Radio 4 Extra on DAB, Digital TV and BBC Sounds.

Upon its return, Test Match Special will continue uninterrupted on Radio 5 Sports Extra on DAB, Digital TV and BBC Sounds.

The Shipping Forecast will continue to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 twice a day (weekdays) and three times a day (weekends). This will be available on all platforms: FM, DAB, BBC Sounds, Digital TV.

Specific changes taking place in April 2024: 

There will no longer be a separate schedule for Radio 4 LW and the BBC is encouraging listeners to transition to alternative platforms. The same content will always be broadcast on Radio 4 on FM, DAB, BBC Sounds, Digital TV.

• Effective 15th April, The Daily Service and extended Yesterday in Parliament programmes will be available on Radio 4 Extra on DAB, BBC Sounds and Digital TV

• Effective 15th April, Radio 4 will no longer be available on medium wave. Medium wave listeners will need to retune their radio to Radio 4 on FM or DAB, or listen via smart speaker, BBC Sounds or digital television.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/work-warning/news/changes-to-radio-4

(Alan Pennington/BDXC)

BBC Radio 4 longwave postpones closedown

 

Translated from French:

The end of BBCR4 LW 198 postponed a year till the end of March 2025 for energy conversions

As I predicted: the end of long waves in Great Britain is delayed by 1 year. (And this time, I can affirm that, unlike RTL and Europe 1, I had nothing to do with it!).

As explained previously: the transmitter broadcasts a teleswitch signal from the Energy Networks Association. This signal causes the prices of old electricity meters to vary. The contract between Elexon and the Energy Networks Association (ENA) aimed at passing on operational costs, amounting to almost 6 million euros, expired on March 31, 2024. The electricians had to replace all the old meters before this date. That’s far from being the case! Earlier this week, “This is Money” reported that the technology still powers 900,000 old meters.

As a result, the emissions will continue for 1 additional year, ending at the end of March 2025.

As always, we promise, the date will not be postponed again.

As always, the BBC can no longer guarantee operational and maintenance service beyond this date.

Michel Fremy, Radio Magazine FB group (2024-02-15)

(Ydun's MW)

Coast Guard emergency channel blocked with audio from Radio 4

 

Telegraph

By Danielle Sheridan

11 February 2024

A ship accidentally blocked a Coastguard emergency channel by playing Radio 4 non-stop for 12 hours.

The Coastguard in Shetland, one of 300 rescue teams around the UK, had to email the BBC asking for “help” after a sailor afloat somewhere near the Shetland islands accidentally sent the Radio 4 station onto the maritime emergency channel all day.

The team leader of Shetland Coastguard, known as Laura K, realized there was an incident before she handed over her shift at 6:45am.

She told the BBC’s Broadcasting House program on Sunday that in the Coastguard’s policy it states that if a radio station can be heard over the channel, the broadcaster can be contacted and asked to broadcast a safety message to get all vessels in the area to check their sets.

The program aired the message sent out by the Coastguard to alert sailors of the problem. The incident happened on February 5.

The message said: “This is an important safety-related message on behalf of His Majesty’s Coastguard.

“This radio message is being transmitted over VHF channel 16 by a vessel with an open mic. “This is blocking all distress, urgency, and safety broadcasts.

“All vessels in the vicinity of southeast Shetland are requested to check their radios and ensure that the microphone transmit button is not being inadvertently held open.”

Radio 4 eventually stopped being played over the emergency channel at 7pm the same day.

The team leader added that there had been no “incidents” during the 12-hour period the channel was blocked.

HM Coastguards are made up of around 3,500 volunteers, as well as more than 400 trained staff, who respond to over 36,000 incidents each year.

Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres are situated from Falmouth to Shetland and cover more than 11,000 miles of coastline.

Accidents where the emergency channel has been jammed are not unheard of. Twenty years ago a similar incident happened when a crewman on a cargo ship jammed the emergency frequency with Radio 4 for five hours.

Again, an appeal was made through Radio 4 by the Coastguard for the radio station to be turned off.

The Coastguard said: “VHF Channel 16 must be kept clear for distress and urgency traffic only. When mariners inadvertently broadcast on this channel, the Coastguard will take action to clear the channel.

“Mariners should regularly check their radio equipment to ensure that it is in good condition to avoid accidental transmissions.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/11/coastguard-accidental-block-emergency-channel-radio4-bbc/

(Mike Terry/BDXC)

What's happening with longwave ?

BBC Feedback @BBCR4Feedback on Twitter today:

"Coming up on #BBCR4Feedback - what's happening with longwave? While programs like the Shipping Forecast will be broadcast on FM and 

@BBCSounds after longwave closes in 2024, we've been hearing from the people mourning the end of the trusty transmissions."

Presumably refers to the next edition of Feedback broadcast on Radio 4 at 16.30 BST Friday 11 August, repeated at 20.00 BST Sunday 13 August. Also here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001pfps

(BDXC)

BBC Radio 4 begins information campaign to transition listeners from Long Wave

Published: 11:30 am, 29 May 2023

Updated: 11:24 am, 28 May 2023

BBC Radio 4 begins an information campaign to transition listeners from Long Wave 

The BBC has begun an information campaign to help transition listeners of Radio 4 Long Wave (LW) to alternative BBC platforms. 

This follows the announcement in May 2022 that the BBC is to stop scheduling separate content for Radio 4 LW in anticipation of the closure of the LW platform, owned and operated by a third party, which is coming to the end of its life as a technology. 

Radio 4 LW is starting to run targeted on-air trails from today, giving listeners plenty of advance notice of the coming changes.   

All programmes on Radio 4 LW -  Shipping Forecast, Daily Service, Yesterday in Parliament and Test Match Special – will continue to be available on other BBC platforms. 

Digital listening has grown significantly over the past decade as the range of alternatives has become easier to switch to, and listeners are increasingly accessing content elsewhere on the BBC. The audiences for Radio 4 LW are small, but we know there are some who still tune in on LW for their favourite programmes. 

The BBC is working with key organisations so that specific audiences will be notified how they can switch to other BBC platforms to hear programmes between now and the end of Radio 4 LW separate scheduling in March 2024. 

The Shipping Forecast will cease to be broadcast four times a day, and will instead be available via the Radio 4 FM simulcast twice a day (weekdays) and three times a day (weekends) as well as on DAB and BBC Sounds. 

Additional story at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/articles/2023/bbc-radio-4-long-wave-transition

BBC Radio Group Club granted special callsign during 2022

 

To mark 100 years of British broadcasting, the BBC will be putting on special events throughout 2022. As part of the celebrations, the staff amateur radio club, BBC Radio Group, will be active throughout the year using the special callsign GB100BBC.

BBC Radio 4 announcer/newsreader, Jim Lee, launched GB100BBC, from the BBC's Broadcasting House, in London, at exactly midday on 1 January. Within minutes amateur radio stations around the UK and throughout Europe were clamoring to contact the special BBC station and secure a prized entry in their logbook.

The London BBC Radio Group has been granted an extended special event radio license by the regulator Ofcom, to operate the station throughout 2022. Ofcom has permitted operation from club members’ home stations, as well as from BBC premises around the UK, and locations associated with BBC broadcasting such as transmitter sites. 

Operators can be present and retired BBC staff or those who now are working in former BBC or privatized successor premises, for example, the Woofferton transmitter site.

The BBC Radio Group was launched in 2017 by a handful of radio enthusiasts to revive a long and rich history of amateur radio at the BBC dating back to the Second World War. The ‘radio shack’ at the BBC’s headquarters, Broadcasting House in central London, was officially opened by the then Director-General, Lord Tony Hall.

In addition to online QSL options, a traditional commemorative QSL card will be available via the RSGB bureau. View the GB100BBC page on QRZ.com for more information and look for GB100BBC on all bands and modes. E-QSLs will be available by registering at:

https://www.eqsl.cc/QSLCard/Home4G.cfm No direct reports - paper QSLs will only be sent via the RSGB bureau.

(RSGB/ Dave Porter, Jonathan Kempster)

(BDXC-Jan 2022/U.K. & Ireland News via Dave Kenny)

Times to launch radio station to challenge BBC Radio 4

The Guardian
28 January 2020

The Times has confirmed plans to launch its own speech radio station later this year, with the aim of luring listeners away from BBC Radio 4 and 5 live at a time when the public broadcaster is facing cuts.

The long-rumoured launch will involve the newspaper creating a station with a “daily schedule of news, analysis and commentary with a lineup of high-profile presenters” broadcasting nationally on DAB radio, online and via smart speakers, such as Amazon’s Alexa.

Management told employees that Times Radio would “target those disenfranchised by BBC Radio 4 and 5 Live” and was expected to launch in the spring featuring “great names of broadcasting”, according to those present at a staff meeting.

Stig Abell, the channel’s launch director, told the Guardian he wanted to break free of the standard radio debate format where two individuals with opposing views shout at each other. “We want to have different voices with different opinions but we don’t necessarily want that kind of format.”

Rather than have phone-ins, the station’s programmes would allow listeners to learn “something you didn’t know before”, with a focus on conversations covering all aspects of news and current affairs. “We want people to tune in because they’ll get what’s going on in the world.”

Additional story from The Guardian at https://tinyurl.com/rltoke7

BBC Loses Pride of Place as Top UK Radio Platform

(via BBC) 

Defections of star BBC announcers to private radio signal changing times

James Careless, 05 Oct 2018
LONDON — The defections of top-rated BBC Two radio morning show host Chris Evans and BBC Radio 4 news host Eddie Mair to privately-owned Virgin Radio and LBC respectively, signal that the BBC is losing its status as the United Kingdom’s top radio platform.

Thomas Falconer, radio industry researcher at IBISWorld, a market research firm with offices around the globe, attributes the BBC’s declining status to changes within the UK’s radio industry; both outside of and within the public broadcaster.

According to Falconer, BBC Radio’s greatest undoing has been the U.K.’s transition to digital radio and the wealth of new content options the medium is offering U.K. listeners.

Additional story from Radio World: https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/bbc-loses-pride-of-place-as-top-uk-radio-platform

Wanted - Old Tapes!!

Do you have any tapes and cassettes in your attic or under the stairs that contain old family recordings?

If so we'd like to hear from you and possibly include some of your material in our programme Home Recorded Voices which is being transmitted on BBC Radio 4 this Christmas. We are particularly interested in `domestic recordings' like family audio letters, holiday tapes and stories. [We are not looking for off-air recordings of TV and radio programmes]

Maybe you have recordings of family and friends making their own radio programmes or experimenting with their tape recording equipment? Or perhaps you have boxes of tapes hidden in a dark corner somewhere that you can't play and have no idea what they contain – then perhaps we might be able to help you find out!

If you think you might be able to help please contact us by email on:-
voices@soundscapeproductions.co.uk or call on: 01904 731300 and leave a message and we'll get back to you.

This is in connection with this planned programme:

BBC Radio 4 – transmission date to be confirmed
Sean Street delves into the world of domestic home recordings revealing a fascinating social history from wax cylinders to 'myspace' Domestic and semi-professional tape machines have only been around for just over half a century and by the late 1950s people with money or a passion for sound were beginning to purchase these machines and start to recording sounds in their own homes. But now in the 21st Century tape has become old technology and boxes of tapes take up a lot of space!

For the past 10 years Richard Harrison has been trailing around car boot sales, skips and auctions finding boxes and boxes of 1/4" tapes and has now established an unusual archive of 'domestic recordings' from around the UK. In this Archive Hour Sean Street joins Richard as he hunts out piles of boxes at Car Boot sales and listens to tapes many of which are being heard for the first time in decades and probably for the first time people outside a close circle of family and friends. These are recordings of unique moments in time and situation never before broadcast. But who are these voices? The programme will also follow Sean, Richard and other collectors and `domestic' tape recordists as they tell the story of Home Recorded Voices.
(Source: Mike Barraclough/World DX Club)

BBC Radio 4 launches new media show October 1

A reminder that BBC Radio 4 launches its new weekly media show on Wednesday 1 October at 1230 UTC. Its brief is to cover what is happening in newspapers, television, radio, and the Web. Steve Hewlett will present it live, and unlike previous media programmes on Radio 4 The Media Show will run for 52 weeks of the year. Listen on demand will be available via the website.
(Source: R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

BBC Radio 4 website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/themediashow/

The Media Show: new weekly program on BBC Radio 4

Journalist and former TV executive Steve Hewlett is to present BBC Radio 4’s new topical program The Media Show, to be broadcast live all year round from 1 October 2008 every Wednesday at 1.30pm UK time. The show will focus on the fast changing world of media in all its forms – print, television, radio, online and telecommunications.
The programme will engage with key players from within the industry, including those making the decisions, driving the changes and developing the latest technology. Subjects such as creativity, culture and censorship within the media will be discussed alongside those of business and ethics. As the media world converges, with newspapers expanding into audio and video while radio and TV networks move online, The Media Show will shed light on the issues faced by the industry at large.
Steve Hewlett says: “I hope the program will be able to lift the lid on many of the current stories within the media, offering genuine insight and intelligence, making this show a must-listen for both those within the industry – but always accessible to a wider audience of those interested in a subject that effects all our lives.”
The Media Show will be available via podcast. BBC Radio 4’s former media programme The Message ran from 1998 until May 2008, in three series a year. The new show is to run 52 weeks a year which will enable Steve Hewlett and his guests to react to current industry stories and issues of importance to the media world.
(Source: Radio 4 Publicity/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)