Medium wave and longwave: further shutdowns in the UK and Denmark

At the end of the month, British private radio group Global Radio switched off several medium-wave frequencies of its Smooth Radio and Gold programs.

Greatest Hits is broadcast on Channel Gold on medium wave only in London (1548kHz) and Manchester (1458kHz). Locations Derby. Nottingham, Northampton and Peterborough/Cambridge will be taken offline. Other places were already offline. Smooth Radio is also removing most of its medium wave spectrum on June 30 – affecting Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Plymouth and Essex. The final hours for the medium tide in Great Britain are slowly approaching. At the beginning of the year, Bauer Radio had already canceled all medium wave frequencies of its entire radio program. Not long after, Talksport, owned by NewsUK, used it to slim down its AM platforms.

At the end of the year, the era of long waves in Denmark came to an end. Then the transmitter at Kalundborg in Zeland is switched off. Public Danmarks Radio still broadcasts on 243 kHz for a few hours a day. The British BBC is also preparing for a slow farewell to longwave. The public service broadcaster broadcasts its Radio 4 program on 198 kHz – supplemented by a number of special programs such as marine weather reports, church services, a longer version of “Yesterday in Parliament” and cricket broadcasts. From March 2024, in a first phase, these programs will not be telecast on long wave. Cricket fans will soon be able to enjoy BBC Radio 5 Sports Plus digital radio, which already simulcasts the games. Daily services and a longer version of the Parliamentary program are moving to digital channel BBC Radio 4 Extra. A long wave should be completely turned off for a long period of time.