RTÉ has today announced that RTÉ Radio 1 will cease broadcasting on Long Wave 252 (LW 252) from Friday 14th April 2023. In Ireland, listeners can continue to tune to the station on FM, on Saorview and Saorsat and on their preferred audio streaming service, including the RTÉ Radio Player and Irish Radioplayer apps.
RTÉ Director General, Dee Forbes:
“While RTÉ has invested considerably in prolonging the life of the transmitter to broadcast RTÉ Radio 1 on Long Wave 252, we can no longer justify this investment. Not only is RTÉ Radio 1 widely available in the UK across television and online services, including apps and smart speakers, the energy costs involved along with the cost of replacing the transmitter mean that, in line with the recommendation of the Future of Media Commission Report, the time has come to bring the Long Wave service to a close.”
In the UK, listeners can continue to hear RTÉ Radio 1 on Freesat (channel 750), Sky (channel 0160) and Virgin Media (channel 917), and on their preferred audio streaming service, including the RTÉ Radio Player and Irish Radioplayer apps.
The phasing out and closure of the Long Wave service was one of the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission Report which was published by the Government in July 2022. This was part of a wider recommendation aimed at ensuring RTE could invest available resources in innovation and digital services. Further investment into the mast and transmitter, which is no longer fit for purpose and has a significant carbon emission footprint, would significantly impair RTE’s ability to meet the emissions reductions target required to contribute to the National Climate Action Plan.
RTÉ’s decision to take the Long Wave service off air is based on three interrelated factors. Firstly, RTÉ is seeking to reduce its energy usage in response to the climate crisis, and public expenditure efficiency. To reduce the burden on the national grid as LW consumes significant energy. Secondly, the required investment to maintain the mast is very significant and given the greatly reduced number of listeners and the inaccessibility of longwave radio on newer devices means that this is a cost which is unfortunately no longer sustainable. And thirdly, the increased accessibility of RTÉ services and content internationally in a range of other formats, which are reaching a wide audience.
RTÉ Director General, Dee Forbes:
“While this may be disappointing to some listeners, RTÉ must continue to invest in critical projects underpinning our production, distribution and business activities, as well as digital projects which are essential to ensure we continue to deliver value to our audiences.”
RTÉ is supporting this announcement with an information campaign on RTÉ Radio 1 Longwave, through ads in relevant UK titles, via posters and flyers which will be distributed to a number of community organisations via the Irish Embassy in London and the Irish Consulates in Britain, and across RTÉ’s social media channels.
