Maybe not immediately …
I believe one of the two R4 Droitwich antenna support masts is isolated from ground, and used to transmit R5Live on the MW. Not sure.
Similar R4/R5Live sharing also occurs at Burghead and Westerglen?
73 Dave
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BBC have today announced Radio 4 long wave going QRT on 27th June:
I have fond memories of visiting Droitwich as a trainee transmitter engineer in the early 80’s and seeing one of the massive marine diesel engine generators fired up. Also in those days the “deferred facilities” all ready for national security backup broadcasting, that was in the days when we took those things seriously.
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Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest…
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…. soon to join those other former LW broadcasters: France International, RTL Radio, Europe 1, Deutschlandfunk and RTÉ (and others) already gone to the big transmitter shutdown in the sky.
I believe that leaves just Poland and Romania still holding the LW torch in Europe with ghostly carriers marking the graves of one or two former broadcasters.
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Châine 3 is still going but for how long?
Sad. It reminds me of the old philosophical thought experiment: “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Same ideal, if you turn off your Long Wave service and nobody is listening, does anybody notice? Or care?
That’s the problem, it’s expensive to run and nobody* is listening.
Droitwich is 500kW carrier. So at 100% modulation peaks that’s 1.5MW and the TX there uses PWM and is 70% efficient. That’s about 1.95MW of electricity 24/7/365. The other 2 fill-in TXs are 50kW and may or may not be PWM. So that’s a lot of electricity for not many listeners.
I give UK BBC medium wave service 3 more years then all the sites will be cleared and sold off for houses. Yes it’s sad but the writing has been on the wall for a long time. Look at how many medium wave commercial stations have closed. In one case it was much cheaper to stop TX and pay the fines to Ofcom for breach of licence than keep the TX running and negotiate a shutdown over months and months.
*For various of definitions of nobody, but essentially not many.
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I’m just hoping they’ve told the UK’s nuclear sub commanders that Radio 4 LW disappearing doesn’t mean we’ve just been nuked.
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This famous conundrum is not a debate with philosophers or physicists. It’s merely a semantic issue as to whether one defines the word ‘sound’ either as a physical phenomenon (pressure waves in a medium) - in which case the answer is YES, or a psychological experience, i.e. auditory perception of a hearing animal like mammals. And If none are in hearing range then the answer is NO.
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It’s probably mentioned elsewhere in this thread but I’m told that there are Economy-7 electric meters using 198 and they keep paying for it to continue. When I was a kid the BBC Light Programme was on there - well 1500m (200kHz) which is near enough - then there was a reshuffle.
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A list of what is left. There was also some test transmissions from Arctic 252 in Finland last year but I don’t think it is going full time any time soon.
I (completely speculate) assume it’s down to running costs and/or that they’d get obliterated by the sheer power coming out of Tipaza from Châine 3 (and Châine 1 from Kéndasa).
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They’re thirsty beasts, big AM transmitters. The cost of all those electrons for a limited audience is better spent in a data centre churning out AI slop.
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The BBC sold the Droitwich LW transmitter and now leases back the use of it. Once the BBC ceases LW broadcasting and ceasing leasing the tx, it makes no financial or technical sense for UK energy suppliers to continue funding its use for the dwindling number of Radio Teleswitching System customers who (hypothetically) were not converted over to new meters by the shutdown date. As the number tends to zero, the cost per RTS customer goes astronomical. I’m confident those companies are rushing to complete the meter conversion by the deadline.
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2000kW (2MW) coming out of Kéndasa! A meagre 1500kW from Tipaza, and even then they ‘dial it down’ to an outrageously stingy 750kW overnight. The cheek! 
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The Artic 252 guy was negotiating to get a different frequency according to one of his last videos. Unfortunately the Rose tinted glasses will have to come off sometime.
I’m currently listening to Radio 4 on LW on a Murphy UH198 Valve radio. The first Valve radio I’ve had from a BVWS meet at Golborne a few years ago.There isn’t much on MW except Talk Sport, Radio 5, Occasionally Radio Derbyshire and at night BBC Radio Scotland. When it’s all switched off it will be of no use except with a pantry transmitter.
Just wait till the digital stuff stops working for what ever reason and some kind of reliable backup with countrywide coverage isn’t available.
Oh well it is what it is.
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It’s about control.
Can’t get football commentaries on BBC local radio any more, online that is. You have to subscribe to listen via the football club website offering which offers the BBC version anyway.
That’s just the sports revenue angle. Then there’s the whole political piece, suppression control of information etc…