BBC radio switching off Long Wave Shipping Forecast forces sailors to install new alert system.
The nautical world is being told to prepare for BBC plans to switch off medium and long wave transmissions.
Sailors could be left all at sea if they can’t pick up the Shipping Forecast when the BBC switches off long wave transmissions, maritime bodies have warned.
The BBC, the Met Office and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency are preparing to launch a public information campaign to alert mariners that they need to have receivers able to pick up weather warnings from alternative sources when long wave is switched off, i understands.
Many amateur sailors still rely on the Shipping Forecast, broadcast on long wave, which can be received far from the British mainland.
The shift to digital means the BBC will end AM radio transmissions – including long wave and medium wave – currently still accessed by an estimated 6.5 million listeners each week. The Government is keen to get it switched off.
BBC Radio 5 Live’s medium wave frequencies will fall silent by the end of 2027.
The BBC plans to stop scheduling separate content for Radio 4 long wave, meaning much-loved offerings such as Test Match Special and the Shipping Forecast, first transmitted via telegraph signal in 1861, will disappear from 198kHZ, ahead of the closure of the long wave platform itself.
Read the entire article from “i news” here
https://inews.co.uk/culture/radio/bbc-radio-switching-off-long-wave-shipping-forecast-install-new-alert-system-2151199
Ydun Ritz (2023-02-16)