AM Radio fading into history
 

A significant point has now been reached in the “passing” of AM radio, as Bauer have now given up Absolute Radio’s national AM licence. This means the 1215Khz (247 metres) frequency that originally bought BBC Radio 1 into our homes & cars will fall silent for the last time.

AM listening now only accounts for 2% of listeners, with most BBC local radio closed on AM, & former ILR AM frequencies dwindling.

I still have a well used AM radio in the car. It’s permanently tuned to Radio Caroline, which, while miles away from their Orfordness AM transmitter still gives reasonable reception here in Hertfordshire. I suppose you could call this a “heritage” service by them now, as to me all the crackling & hissing of weak AM radio is something that has always been associated with listening to the early pirate stations.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

My only distinct memories of AM are it being on in the car on our way to or from holidays and being overcome by static every time we went under power lines (that would have been Radio 2 on medium wave) and Atlantic 252 on long wave in the late 80s and early 90s, which for some reason was preferred over radio 1 amongst most folk I hung around with, and even the bloke who drove our school bus.

“I listen to the best music on long wave radio, Atlantic 252” … (no longer)

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I remember Radio 1 on 247 in my early cars, and something on about 1500 meters ?

I believe Radio 5 is still on 693/909, I last had that on in the car just before the pandemic.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

My wife used to listen to French LW radio stations, despite all the pops and whistles. When her radio died, I could not find a decent portable radio with LW.

She now uses a Bluetooth speaker linked to her mobile phone, working on the home wifi. Also a mains-powered internet radio in the kitchen. Perfect quality, but she says she misses the poor quality of LW!

I don't think I've tuned to an AM station in decades.

According to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, AM and FM broadcasts will continue to at least 2030.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Do you have the right info?

BBC Radio 1 did broadcast where Talksport is broadcasting from right now on AM 1089 - In Central Scotland anyway.

As I did pick up the tests for Absolute Radio - then called Virgin Radio on AM 1215.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I did say originally. 1215 was first used as “infill” for the light programme, as the long wave frequency used for most of the country was very poor in places like London. When Radio 1 launched more transmitters were added, but large parts of the country still remained poorly served due to the interference restrictions of just using one frequency. European frequency replanning in 1978 gave the BBC the chance to give Radio 1 more prominence & they were given the 1089 & 1053 frequencies previously occupied by the World Service & Radio 4 respectively. 1215 was then given to Radio 3, vacating 648 KHz for World Service use. Radios 2 & 4 swapped the remaining frequencies, the former occupying 909 & 693, the latter moving to long wave.

The BBC gave up use of 1215 for the launch of Virgin Radio in 1993.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Due to being a 1981 baby I did not know that - thanks for info.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I'm a bigger fan of LW. Fantastic if you're at sea and like cricket :)

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

think the last time I did anything with AM was illegal CB Radio

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Those were the days, even when they legalised FM, we still kept on AM as well.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Still have fond memories of listening to radio Luxembourg in the evening on an am pocket radio as a teen. IIRC around 1.5MHz. No matter how much power they put up the mast, eventually 1 megawatt, it always suffered from fading due to reflections off the ionosphere.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

| used to drive past the Radio Luxemburg transmission station quite often. You could tell you were getting close when all the radio harmonics started swamping all the other stations.

247khz also 208khz.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Metres rather than Khz. ;)

Thats very sad....... I love AM radio.... I always have!!


:(

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Atlantic 252 gave long wave a real boost as the waveband was seen as on its way out. It changed radio forever with its mix of contemporary pop at a time when Radio 1 wasn't that trendy and youthful and ILR wasn't exactly thriving. Within a few years of its launch, Radio 1 was transformed and ILR on FM started to follow a similar format to Atlantic 252. Consequently, the long wave giant stopped being listened to due to people being able to listen to the same sort of output on FM.

As for AM, that waveband also got several boots at the same time when firstly ILR stations had to launch a separate AM service and then the arrival of two national commercial stations on AM plus Radio 5 and 5 Live.

---------- Post added at 13:21 ---------- Previous post was at 13:20 ----------

5 Live is still very much alive on AM although it is rumoured that this won't be the case forever with a possible switch-off of 5 Live on AM by the end of the decade.

---------- Post added at 13:24 ---------- Previous post was at 13:21 ----------

Correct - it was forced to do so by the Government.

The resulting issue was where test match Special was to go. In 1992 it was broadcast on Radio 3 FM, in 1993 the morning's play was on radio 5 with the afternoon coverage on radio 3 FM and by 1994 it had been moved to radio 4's long wave frequencies where nearly 30 years on, it remains.

Also at the same time, a number of BBC Local stations lost their AM frequencies. Some such as BBC GLR, BBC GMR and BBC WM, were given to commercial radio but others such as BBC Radio Cleveland's AM frequency, were, for some unknown reason, were never reused.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

There were two other factors to the downfall of Atlantic 252. One was the location of the mast at Clarkestown, west of Dublin which lost a lot of groundwave propagation due to Wales standing between it & London. The other was the 252 frequency being given clearance for use by a 1.5 megawatt Radio Algeria service, which used to swamp reception in southern England, especially at night when Clarkestown was restricted to 100kW output.

When the radio Cleveland frequency was dropped in 1992, the ILR service for that area (Radio Tees) was already established using 1170kHz. I can only speculate that two changes occurred around this time with other ILR services that may have caused contention issues, as both Radio Forth & Radio City had to re-site their 1548 masts due to local issues.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I always thought it odd that two Liverpool stations (City and BBC R Merseyside) had AM frequencies consisting of the same four numbers (1548 and 1485). :spin:

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

The issues you describe re Atlantic 252 meant that it wasn't able to get a signal to the London area. Iirc the signal stopped being satisfactory to the eats of a line running from The Wash to the Bristol Channel.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Just about as close as they can get to each other without interference. The same was true in London although slightly further apart (BBC Radio London on 1458, Capital Radio on 1548).

As far as Radio City is concerned, this was the biggest AM blunder the IBA made as regards radio sites. The original AM site was a 3 mast directional array at Rainford. However, the IBA had not accounted for the fact that the phased signal would cross the water, hit north Wales & come back out of phase. There were many comments that reception was better in Blackpool than in Merseyside. The mast was moved to a new site next to Port Sunlight (Bebington) a few years later.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Back in the day, BBC Merseyside and City both preferred to advertise their AM service as metres rather than KHz. I guess they just fitted better on window stickers. The BBC was on 202 and Radio City was 194 - which was the basis of their name and their main jingle well into the 1980s when it was our evening listening of choice (they went deep into the comedy jock genre with this bloke who called himself Cousin Matty IIRC, may have been (but probably wasn’t) American, had an echo effect permanently on his mic and had people phone in to pledge allegiance to him (I will have no other leader!).

One … Nine … Four … Radio Ci-tyyyyy!

Around the mid-late 80s the BBC’s on-the-hour preamble to the news was a lot more pedestrian, something along the lines of “On fourteen eighty five kilohertz, and ninety five point eight FM VHF in stereo, this is Radio Merseyside”. This was my mother’s station of choice.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

and there were several different stations across the UK using both frequencies and this would not have helped with reception, especially after dark.

It always seemed strange that so many frequencies on MW across the UK never seemed to get used.

---------- Post added at 12:35 ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 ----------

I always assumed that the removal of all of the MW transmitters for BBC local stations in the early 1990s was so that they could be re-used for news commercial stations rather than just those surrendered by BBC Radios GLR, GMR and WM.

---------- Post added at 12:36 ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 ----------

as did Radio 1, which was seen as bring on 275 and 285 rather than 1089 and 1053. However, BBC 5 Live always said 909 and 693.

---------- Post added at 12:39 ---------- Previous post was at 12:36 ----------

In the USA there were stereo broadcasts on AM (MW and not LW as radio in America didn't use long wave). I wonder if it would have worked in the UK and if so, if it might have extended the lifespan of AM, and maybe stereo broadcasts might have been very helpful to the gold AM stations, Virgin 1215 and Atlantic 252.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

It was tested by the IBA in the early 1990s (an ex school friend/work colleague who worked for the IBA was involved in the Foxhall Heath C-QUAM tests) & was successful. However, as with most new technology it was expensive kit & with better quality available on FM, plus the release of more frequencies in the upper sub-band up to 108Mhz it never took off.

An explanation of how the system worked went out in the IBA weekly “digest” for the TV & Radio trade at the time, a copy of which is on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg3X6dVAYBs

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

All UK MW radio station frequencies are divisable by 9

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Yep! As set up by the Geneva Frequency plan of 1975, all European MF services were standardised at 9 KHz. Previously they had varied between 8 & 10 KHz, which produced an audible “whistle” on some receivers due to inter-carrier interference.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Out of curiosity I went looking for a demo of what AM stereo sounded like. I was amazed at how much of an improvement there was over AM mono.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Thank you for that reply Nodrog.

I recall seeing an edition of Engineering Announcements on YouTube which featured AM stereo hut as you say it never really got beyond testing. I never saw AM stereo receivers being available, and thinking back the best way to introduce AM stereo would probably have been through car radios.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

When you consider costs only go down through mass production. No other countries in Europe were testing it, let alone promoting it. Who would pay a premium to upgrade their car stereo when a far superior transmission method (FM) was already available & fitted to the cars already. The system was also never tested on national AM network, where phasing between adjacent transmitters on the same frequency could have been a problem. The BBC have always synchronised their transmissions across their AM networks so that audio sync & carrier interference was kept to a minimum. The national commercials have never done this, which is very noticeable in fringe areas. Indeed if you listen to TalkSport at night, even turning a directional radio away from the good signal, you will usually hear out of sync audio coming from adjacent transmitters. It was even more noticeable with Virgin & then Absolute.

Also with more expensive kit going in at transmission sites, there would have been inevitable increases to the IBA rental charges & therefore operating costs for the stations involved.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Top band on AM those were the days

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I think AM stereo in cars would have been rolled out gradually initially for high end vehicles.

However your point about out of synch audio is one of the reasons why MW was always not an easy listen, especially after dark. Maybe this was less of an issue in the USA which is why AM stereo got off the ground.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

More bad news for fans of AM radio. TalkSport want to close 4 of their sites immediately, with another 17 to follow on a rolling programme that will only leave 5 high power sites remaining.

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/02/tal...s-am-coverage/

Thats sad.... Why cut off listeners??

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Indeed, and of course Bauer are also closing down their local MW outlets, albeit gradually, and I would imagine that Bauer will no longer be transmitting anything on MW by the middle of the decade.

And I wonder for how much longer any BBC Local Radio stations will continue on MW and the BBC stated that it sees the transmission of 5 Live on MW ending later in the decade. However, they have not indicated a possible closedown timeline of Radio 4 on 198 LW.

I wonder if Ofcom will look to re-advertise 1215 AM for another station, thereby giving a national station an analogue outlet and if so, I guess a station like LBC might consider it especially as Global seems to be much more AM-friendly as they haven't closed down any MW transmitters unless there were extenuating circumstances.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

198 Long Wave is currently still being used by the Radio Teleswitch service. One of the reasons the BBC still maintain it. The current agreement ends in march, but as some electricity meters still depend on the signal it may be extended further.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_teleswitch

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

The LW frequency is atomic controlled and used by (some) frequency measuring equipment as a reference. It also has a far reach hence the use of it to broadcast the shipping forecast.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I'd also imagine that before long the remaining BBC Local AM transmitters in England will soon be switched off.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Its unlikely to be long before 1, 2 & 3 below are closed. The others are likely to remain for a while longer.

1) BBC Radio Cumbria AM - Local DAB now available to the entire region having been delayed due to COVID.

2) BBC Radio Jersey/Guernsey AM - Likewise.

3) BBC Radio Somerset Taunton AM - DAB coverage now extended but FM remains poor.


4) BBC Radio Derby AM - used part time for the BBC Asian Network services, so may stay until the other AM sites at Langley Mill, Sedgely, Freemans Common & Gunthorpe are closed.

5) BBC Radio Norfolk West Lynn AM - Remains as FM & DAB reception continues to be poor in this area.

6) BBC Radio Gloucestershire Berkeley Heath AM - Likewise.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Bauer Radio did axe Clyde 2 for Greatest Hits Radio on April 3rd here in Central Scotland.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

and I would imagine that Bauer will soon start closing down its remaining AM frequencies as GHR appears on FM and DAB in more and more parts of the UK.

---------- Post added at 13:07 ---------- Previous post was at 13:05 ----------

It is slightly surprising that BBC Radios Jersey and guernsey still broadcast on MW.

Shutting down BBC Radio Cumbria on AM is less easy due to the rural nature of many parts of the county which won't have satisfactory FM coverage.

I was slightly surprised that some of the AM transmitters which carried BBC Asian Network during the evening were closed down. It might have been more logical for those AM transmitters to have been switched to broadcasting BBC Asian Network full time, like is the case in Leicestershire.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

They rebranded 7 Scottish heritage networks to GHR. On-air they call it Greatest Hits Radio Scotland but there are 7 optouts. On DAB my local one is GHR Tayside.

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/01/bau...st-hits-radio/

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

From what I can gather those opt-outs consists of daytime news bulletins lasting 90 seconds consisting of a mixture of international, national and local news plus a localised weather forecast at the end of that bulletin, travel information at peaktime and localised commercials.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

There are DJs for Scotland at certain times of day e.g. Breakfast and Afternoon sandwiched between Ken Bruce and Simin Mayo. So not Tayside-level local, in my case, but not UK-wide either.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Northsound 2 closed on AM in 2018, so only existed on DAB. The lease on the Nigg site was terminated by the owner & I assume Bauer had no interest in moving to the nearby Redmoss site.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Thanks. I recall reading about that, I think. Didn't know which stations it affected though, other than not my local area.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Thanks for that information regarding by Bauer closed won Northsound 2 on AM.

I seem to recall that the small number of AM transmitters that Global has switched off were for similar reasons as I don't think that Global has switched off any AM transmitters because they want to, like Bauer has done.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

When I worked I listened to Radio 5 Live on DAB, mainly because Niahl use to go to my school, and was in the same house as my cousins wife.


But I can only get it on 909 on my dads car.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

RTE have now closed 252 long wave. The last transmissions were heard on 14.04.23.

RTE have cited rising costs & technical issues as the reason for closure.

https://about.rte.ie/2023/03/31/rte-...player%20apps.

Thats sad......... So they went off air for good??

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

RTE Radio 1 is still on FM. The significance for UK radio listeners isn’t with RTE directly, it’s that during the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s the frequency was leased by a commercial radio station called Atlantic 252 which was essential listening for teens and young adults at the time (like me). Although it was based in Ireland the station could be received across much of the western side of Great Britain, and it was the British rather than the Irish audience they were after. After Atlantic 252 closed down the frequency reverted to RTE, the Irish state broadcaster. I guess they have been using it for their main radio output since then.

For Atlantic 252 fans the end of the era was really when that station closed down, however there is something poignant in the frequency itself going permanently silent. The mast that was used to deliver it is being decommissioned and nothing will replace it. So it’s really gone for good.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

When the licence for the frequency was awarded to Ireland, one of the conditions was that any service carried must not be aimed at any audience in the Republic. In other words it is an external broadcast frequency. RTE entered into a joint venture with those that used it, but eventually ended up carrying the can, so used it to broadcast to Northern Ireland & ex-pats in the UK.

They tried to get a licence from OFCOM to operate on DAB over here, but it never got anywhere.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

and me :)

---------- Post added at 23:46 ---------- Previous post was at 23:42 ----------

Atlantic 252 closed won at the start of 2002 after it became clear that pop music on long wave was no longer commercially viable, similar to the view taken by RTL a decade earlier when they closed down Radio Luxembourg.

The frequency used later in 2002 by a sports news station called Teamtalk 252 but that only lasted a few months.

Eventually, RTE started using the frequency to broadcast not only to Irish ex-pats in the Uk but also to carry the AM opt-puts such as religious programming and additional sports coverage.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

and to underline this trend, Radio 4 is expected to stop broadcasting on long wave next year, shortly after the LW opt-puts end.

It will be interesting to see how much longer Radio 5 Live continues on MW with one suggested date being 2027. Same with BBC Local and national Radio on MW.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Global to turn off FOUR AM transmitters from June 30th broadcasting Gold:

*Gold’s AM frequencies covering:
*Peterborough/Cambridge (1332 kHz),
*Derby (945 kHz),
*Nottingham (999 kHz) &
*Northampton (1557 kHz)

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/06/glo...nd-manchester/

Very very sad.....

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

and many of Smooth Radio's AM outlets are being switched off on the same day with the remainder expected to close a short while later.

It's a shame that Ofcom isn't reusing any of these AM frequencies that Global, Bower and the BBC are vacating for community or various other types of stations.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Radio 5 live is likely to be the last to close owing to it having no FM outlet as the other BBC nationals have. I am surprised that the BBC have not done the obvious & made Radio 1 a digital only service, then given the frequencies to 5 Live. Radio 1 is after all a youth oriented station & most of their audience probably listen on their phones anyway.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

The phrase "listen on their phones" when I see it is usually used when talking about an internet connection. But given many phones have an FM tuner in them it's not actually as useful a shorthand as it may first seem.

For example, I only listen to live radio on the FM tuner on my mobile. I do listen to other things but those are predownloaded before I leave the house.

And I still listen to Radio 1 occasionally, I'm not that old.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I was talking to my grandchildren about Radio 1 and none of them listen to it, they all seem to listen to music that they stream or have stored on their phone.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Come to think of it, how many times do you hear the BBC promoting their DAB services now? All the adverts seem to say is “listen on BBC Sounds”. They also quite happily “dumped” a lot of their Radio 3 FM listeners in Wales in order to all but shut Radio Wales AM services.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

DAB is a bit of a dud. Poor coverage and, as per, quantity over quality with notably inferior sound compared to FM thanks to bit rates that are simply too low for good quality music. It also puts much more of the power requirement onto the receiver which makes a DAB radio a poor replacement for any small portable FM one. So whether you want good quality audio on your home equipment or good battery performance on your portable radio, it’s inferior in every way.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I agree with that, and I think that the rest of the BBC local and national stations will stop broadcasting on AM in the middle of the decade with 5 Live being the last BBC service to leave AM later in the 2020s.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Global has confirmed that GOLD's London AM transmitter will be turn off on August 31st.

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/08/gol...h-anniversary/

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

The original Global announcement page was updated today (15th Aug) & states a closure date of "end of September". Somebody's got it wrong.

https://www.goldradiouk.com/radio/gold-am-listen-how/

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Your list is for GOLD stations outside London that was close on June 30th.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

The linked page was UPDATED on 15th August as highlighted below. I have been told their current maintenance contract at the Saffron Green site runs out end of September, so that is most likely the correct closure date.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Both the former Atlantic 252 mast at Clarkestown & the ex RTE Radio 1 AM mast at Tullamore were demolished within 2 days of eachother at the end of July.

This leaves only one remaining AM mast in the Irish Republic (Spirit Radio 549 from Carrikroe)

Clarkestown demolition 27/07/23:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8vEQltlaJQ

Tullamore demolition 25/07/23:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6OCCPlkSaQ

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

At 23.52 last night, Gold played out “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel. This was the first track ever played on Capital Radio when it launched in London back in 1973. When it finished 1548 kHz from Saffron Green went silent for 20 seconds, followed by a continuous retune ad loop being played.

Smooth Sussex AM services from Bexhill (945 kHz) & Brighton (1323 kHz) will also close this weekend.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Bauer to turn off AM services in Scotland, Ireland and northern England

The Greatest Hits Radio AM frequencies being turned off in the next six weeks are:

990 Doncaster, South Yorkshire (was Hallam)
1035 Ayr, Prestwick, Irvine & Kilmarnock, Ayrshire (was West Sound AM)
1107 Inverness, Highland (was MFR)
1152 Newcastle, Sunderland & County Durham (was Metro / GNR)
1152 Glasgow (was Raio Clyde)
1161 Dundee & North Fife (was Tay)
1305 Barnsley, South Yorkshire (was Hallam)
1548 Edinburgh, Lothians & South Fife (was Forth)
1548 Sheffield, South Yorkshire (was Hallam)
1584 Perth, Perth & Kinross (was Tay)

(data from jack-bromby.com)

Global is also in the process of turning off its AM services, whilst the BBC has been doing it for many years, including BBC Radio Scotland in 2020, and has plans to turn off 5 Live on AM and BBC Radio 4 on LW in the near future.

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/11/bau...thern-england/

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

So the last remnants Tay AM/Tay 2 analogue are disappearing. Shame, but the local elements had already been minimised as I understand it, so it was a shadow of its former self.

Thats incredibly sad...... 1.548Mhz has been on for years!


I think AM sounds much better for music than FM where you mostly hear heavy bassed digital garbage that to me doesnt sound good!!!!

I love listening to the AM stations I can get in my area.....

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I had a listen to the AM SW bands last night there certainly isn’t as much activity as there was even 10+ years ago.

No the AM mode seems to be disliked for some reason........

I think 10K for music sounds excellent when all I can get is worse sound on FM WIDE stations! (About 100k)

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Iirc Global now only retains one MW service - Gold in Manchester, and they are bound to switch this off by the end of the year.

Next year will likely see the cessation of Radio 4 on long wave and the remaining BBC Local MW outlets are likely to go very soon, leaving only TalkSPORT and Radio 5 Live on AM.

I do find it surprising that Ofcom chooses not to re-advertise any of these frequencies. AM radio is continuing in America so why let it die in the UK?

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Because the USA is a huge country, with lots of open spaces which can be better served by AM, whilst (most of) the U.K. can be covered by FM/DAB.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I wonder whether these frequencies are now longer available or if someone could apply to use them despite them not being advertised?

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I'm afraid its difficult to see an application for the longer wavelength frequencies, most radio can now be served via VHF and although this is limited to line of sight a radio station can simply put its content on the internet for a wider audience.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Global also operates Smooth Kent, Hampshire & Cheshire, which will close by the end of the year (when the local ad contracts run out). This leaves LBC News in London as the last Global AM service.

US AM services have survived by operating a hybrid digital service (IBOC) in a similar fashion to the AM Stereo transmissions that are described earlier in this thread. Therefore there are also the same drawbacks that stopped AM Stereo taking off in the UK. The US also does not have the option of using DAB, as Band III is fully occupied by TV operators both on & off cable.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I am not sure if when Global and Bauer switch off these MW outlets, they still retain the licence to operate a service on these frequencies. The only time that either has paid a financial penalty was when Bauer switched off Absolute Radio's MW transmissions so therefore, it can be suggested that 1215 AM is the only frequency available.

The BBC's situation is ppssibly different. They can switch off any analogue service without facing any penalty and in the 1990s, the MW frequencies they surrendered were repurposed for commercial stations.

---------- Post added at 13:22 ---------- Previous post was at 13:20 ----------

Thank you for the correction. I'd forgotten about LBC News still broadcasting on 1152 MW in London.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

All the Scottish GHR AM services & the one in Newcastle have now switched to retune loops, as has Downtown Radio in Belfast. This just leaves the South Yorkshire licence group (Sheffield, Barnsley & Doncaster) still carrying the GHR AM service.

When local commercial AM services are closed, the licence to use the frequency at that location is handed back to OFCOM. The only way for Bauer or Global to retain a licence is to ask permission to modify the service, as Global did when they migrated Gold stations to Smooth sometime ago. Frequencies are not allowed to go "silent" & still be retained by an licencee.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Thank you that input.

Interesting that Bauer or Global face no consequences for switching off these stations. They did have to pay a small fine when they switched off the MW transmissions for Absolute Radio.

I still find it surprising that Ofcom hasn't offered any of these frequencies for use by another station.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

There is a vast difference between local licences & national ones. under OFCOM rules any local analogue provider that duplicates the same service on a local DAB mux can renew the relevant analogue licence automatically without having to re-apply.

As far as higher power (over 100 watts) analogue AM equipment is concerned, there is not a lot of it about now. Most is produced specifically for the US market. When Radio Caroline first got their 1kW licence, they had to extensively modify the Nortel unit purchased for them in order to operate it at 648kHZ, as all US AM stations operate in multiples of 10kHZ.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

That's true, and it has made life even easier for Bauer and Global.

As you rightly say, AM is being wound down across Europe although apparently it is still going strong in America. But here in the UK, will there still be any AM broadcasting of any kind by the end of the decade?

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

UK’s population density is such that the technology isn’t necessary in the same way it is in the US. Outside of the main population centres most of the states have relatively few people spread over enormous distances. AM is better suited to that environment.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

That's a very good point when you bear in mind how far a good AM signal can travel. In comparison, FM signals generally only travel approximately 50 miles before the signal starts to deteriorate.

Thinking about it, it does surprise me that America never adopted long wave as LW signals travel even further than MW.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

The US also prizes localism, possibly once again due to its immense geographic spread and relatively sparse population in most places. An AM transmitter in the principal town in any given locality would serve that town and also any outlying communities that considered themselves its satellites. There would be no need to try to reach the next principal town as they would have their own (and if one of the many standard tropes of American popular culture is to be believed, every small American town loathes its near neighbours anyway, so wouldn’t be interested in listening to their radio stations).

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

LW sets were produced for the US market in the 1930s, but never took off. The band is in use for NDBs (Non Directional Beacons) to aid navigation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Cb0s-OF3eiw

The US never introduced DAB as the TV stations refused to give up their Band III capacity. Therefore IBOC & HD radio has become the only option.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

The AM radio masts are huge in the USA and the radials take up a large amount of land, if I remember correctly the FCC monitors the efficiency of the broadcast signal so theres no skimping on the radials.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

As far as mast height is concerned, the higher the frequency used, the shorter they can be. The issue most US stations have are nighttime restrictions, which necessitate directional arrays being employed in addition to power reductions.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Even at the top of the US AM frequency range, 1750Khz, the antennas are BIG, the FCC are very proactive in monitoring and the penalties for those who break the rules are large.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Sunshine 855, Ludlow, which has broadcast on AM for more than 30 years has announced that it will be ending its MW transmissions in a few days. I wonder how long it will be before the BBC Local radio stations which still broadcast on MW will also end AM transmissions, given that Radio 4 on long wave is due to end shortly.

All this will leave on AM are the London commercial stations, such as LBC News, TalkSport and BBC Radio 5 Live on AM, and possibly the odd one in various areas, such as Gold in Manchester. My guess is that 5 Live will be the last to go, before the end of the decade.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Radio 4 MW fillers will close on 15th April 2024. The teleswitching service carried on 198 LW is scheduled to continue until March 2025, so is likely to carry R4 audio for some time to come.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/help...ges-to-radio-4

Its good to hear .198Mhz is not dropping!!!

I have a radio that goes that low,I should see if I can pick it up some night...

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Yes the delights of the Shipping Forecast, interspersed by bouts of Test Match Cricket, the Archers and Thought for the Day. Radio doesn't get any better.

LW can travel 11,000 miles so it must confuse many foreigners, who think we're bonkers ( and they're right !)

No your not Bonkers mate,I think alot of stuff about your country IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE USA!!!

Gun laws for one thing.... You guys dont have the violence we do here........ (Gun violence)

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

I think you are right - Radio 4 will continue to broadcast on long wave until the teleswitching service no longer uses the long wave signal.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Happy memories of listening, on long wave, to the test match in Australia whilst in bed in the early hours. The results don’t bring very happy memories though ��

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Until every fishing boat has satellite receivers the R4 LW frequency (198 Khz) gets the shipping forecast out where it's needed.

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

The majority of the info on R4 is already available via coastguard channels:
https://assets.publishing.service.go...018_August.pdf

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

Even the cricket 😂😂

Re: AM Radio fading into history
 

And it appears as though Radio 4 on long wave will continue for around another year with the possibility of a switch-off in summer 2025.

Lets hope by mid 25 they will reconsider and leave it on.... Still many people with radios that can get them.........