BBC switches off Long Wave, ending the era of its oldest broadcast service

The BBC is retiring Long Wave radio, the transmission technology behind its longest-running service and once the main way it reached the whole country. Radio 4’s 198 kHz signal, broadcast from the Droitwich transmitter, blanketed all of Britain and reached well out to sea and across the Channel, carrying fixtures such as the Shipping Forecast and cricket commentary to listeners who could pick up little else.

The shutdown is driven largely by ageing hardware. The transmitter depends on bespoke valves that are no longer manufactured, making the system costly and risky to keep alive. The 198 kHz frequency also carried the Radio Teleswitch Service, which flips older electricity meters between peak and off-peak tariffs — a dependency that repeatedly pushed back the switch-off date while energy suppliers migrated affected customers onto newer metering.

With audiences long since consolidated onto FM, DAB and online streaming, ending Long Wave closes a chapter of 20th-century broadcasting infrastructure. The move reflects the broader retirement of legacy analogue networks as their specialist components, engineering expertise and remaining use cases all dwindle.