{"id":66460,"date":"2026-06-28T02:01:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T06:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=66460"},"modified":"2026-06-28T02:01:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T06:01:53","slug":"the-end-of-bbc-longwave-news-and-the-final-off-air-recording","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/the-end-of-bbc-longwave-news-and-the-final-off-air-recording\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of BBC Longwave: News and the Final Off-Air Recording"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Droitwich Transmitter Site (Source: Wikimedia Commons)<\/p><\/div>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor David Iurescia, who shares this BBC article<\/a> <\/strong>about the end of an era in British broadcasting: the BBC has permanently switched off its longwave Radio 4 service after nearly a century on the air. The closure marks the end of longwave broadcasting in the UK, with the historic 198 kHz transmitters at Droitwich, Westerglen, and Burghead now falling silent after decades of service.<\/p>\n

For many radio enthusiasts, this represents far more than the retirement of an aging transmission system\u2014it is the closing chapter of one of broadcasting’s most iconic services, one that carried everything from the Shipping Forecast to Test Match Special and reached listeners across the British Isles and beyond.<\/p>\n

Click here to read the article.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Many thanks as well to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor Andy Wang, who shares this off-air recording capturing the final hours of the BBC’s longwave service before the transmitters went silent:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/bbc-4-0.198-mhz-26-june-2026-1958-utc\/BBC4-0.198MHz-26June2026-1958UTC.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor David Iurescia, who shares this BBC article about the end of an era in British broadcasting: the BBC has permanently switched off its longwave Radio 4 service after nearly a century on the air. The closure marks the end of longwave broadcasting in the UK, with the historic 198 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2436,3],"tags":[11143,104,1347,4895,5931,4123],"class_list":["post-66460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-longwave","category-news","tag-andy-wang","tag-bbc","tag-bbc-radio-4","tag-david-iurescia-lw4daf","tag-droitwich-transmitting-station","tag-longwave"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-hhW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57637,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/08\/radio-waves-sibc-receives-new-generator-bbc-longwave-petition-hamclock-fun-and-cbs-board-game-nostalgia\/","url_meta":{"origin":66460,"position":0},"title":"Radio Waves: SIBC Receives New Generator, BBC Longwave Petition, HamClock Fun, and CBS Board Game Nostalgia","author":"Thomas","date":"August 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Radio Waves:\u00a0 Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to the\u00a0SWLing Post\u2019s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio.\u00a0Enjoy! Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dennis Dura, Rick Murray, Uli Zehndbauer, and David Iurescia for the following tips: New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Norelco-Dial-Angle-Dark-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Norelco-Dial-Angle-Dark-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Norelco-Dial-Angle-Dark-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Norelco-Dial-Angle-Dark-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Norelco-Dial-Angle-Dark-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46382,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/11\/photo-emerges-of-droitwich-mast-and-lf-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":66460,"position":1},"title":"Photo emerges of Droitwich mast and LF antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"November 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter, who writes: This picture [above] has just emerged, photographer unknown but most likely a rigger from the top of one of the 700' masts there! This was taken at Droitwich sometime after colour photography came in (late 1960's) and before 1986 when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Longwave"","block_context":{"text":"Longwave","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/longwave\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/01-Droitwich-Antenna.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24033,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/dave-once-forced-the-shipping-forecast-to-repeat-a-broadcast\/","url_meta":{"origin":66460,"position":2},"title":"Dave once forced the Shipping Forecast to repeat a broadcast","author":"Thomas","date":"February 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Our post yesterday regarding the Shipping Forecast reminded me of a\u00a0story\u00a0SWLing Post contributor, Dave Porter (G4OYX) once shared. Dave writes: I worked at the Droitwich Transmitting Station through 1972-1974, the home of the BBC UK Long Wave 1500 m\/200 kHz service as it was then. In the summer of 1973\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Droitwich-transmitter-station-963x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Droitwich-transmitter-station-963x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Droitwich-transmitter-station-963x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56938,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/bbc-radio-4-campaign-to-transition-from-long-wave\/","url_meta":{"origin":66460,"position":3},"title":"BBC Radio 4 campaign to transition from long wave","author":"Thomas","date":"May 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Chris Greenway, who shares the following article from the BBC: BBC Radio 4 begins information campaign to transition listeners from Long Wave (BBC Media Centre) BBC Radio 4 begins information campaign to transition listeners from Long Wave\u00a0 The BBC has begun an information campaign\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Longwave"","block_context":{"text":"Longwave","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/longwave\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1280px-Droitwichtransmitter-e1685368184500.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1280px-Droitwichtransmitter-e1685368184500.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1280px-Droitwichtransmitter-e1685368184500.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/1280px-Droitwichtransmitter-e1685368184500.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24144,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/kris-also-forced-the-shipping-forecast-to-repeat-a-broadcast\/","url_meta":{"origin":66460,"position":4},"title":"Kris also forced the Shipping Forecast to repeat a broadcast","author":"Thomas","date":"February 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Kris Partridge (G8AUU) who shares the following comment in reply to our post about Dave's experience forcing the Shipping Forecast to repeat a broadcast: Hi Dave, G4OYX, et al Not the only time the Shipping Forecast has had to be repeated for \u2018Operational Error\u2019\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/The-Shipping-Forecast-Beaufort-Scale-1024x573.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/The-Shipping-Forecast-Beaufort-Scale-1024x573.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/The-Shipping-Forecast-Beaufort-Scale-1024x573.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14959,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/the-demise-of-longwave-could-lead-to-the-end-of-the-shipping-forecast\/","url_meta":{"origin":66460,"position":5},"title":"The demise of longwave could lead to the end of the Shipping Forecast","author":"Thomas","date":"September 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Erica, who writes: \"I saw this article about the demise of the Shipping Forecast on Radio 4 Longwave and thought readers might be interested: http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/culture\/tvandradio\/bbc\/11892805\/End-of-Shipping-Forecast-on-long-wave-radio-could-leave-sailors-high-and-dry.html I'm not a fan of DAB radio and my bedroom radio aerial has to be positioned just so to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Longwave"","block_context":{"text":"Longwave","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/longwave\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"shipping-forecast-locations","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/shipping-forecast-locations.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/shipping-forecast-locations.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/shipping-forecast-locations.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66462,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66460\/revisions\/66462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}