Absolute Radio on 1215 / 1197 to be switched off.

tinytobe

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/01/04/absolute-radio-to-switch-off-all-am-transmitters-across-the-uk/

Absolute Radio on 1215 and 1197 is to be switched off as the UK has very few AM listeners anyway and the choice on DAB is too good.

Irish listeners on 1215 will then have to turn to the internet.

I listen occasionally to Absolute 60s but the constant ads ruin it for me!

Declan A Walsh

Occasionally I listen to Absolute Radio on 1215 kh on the car radio but never for long. I used to listen to it slightly more when it was Virgin Radio.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120066445#Comment_120066445

Virgin seemed to have better choice in music back when they were on 1215.

There is a Virgin radio in the UK again as well, but on DAB.

Back in the early to mid 00s, a big fear of mine was losing the ability to listen to all these uk AM stations if they went DAB only, how things & times have changed, not only have mobile devices like smartphone solved that problem, I wouldn't even ever listen to those UK radio stations on a regular basis anymore as all

Just to add, considering how much the UK Radio industry were really pushing DAB as far back as 2001/2002 with very annoying ads during every ad break telling us how great dab is, AM has had a good run by managing to last until 2023.

I can't really see AM having much life left in it anywhere. The listenership must be dwindling and the transmission costs are pretty high and also the audio quality's rather poor by modern standards anyway.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120066886#Comment_120066886

Me neither. Even in North America AM listening is dwindling. It seems only sports, sometimes news and religious programs have a bit of a longer life, - and then there is Canada with vast distances where AM is still a bit more in use. Sirius XM isn't even remotely as far in terms of audience than DAB is in the UK or in Switzerland.

One of the main problems with AM is the high cost of transmission together with not being able to reach an audience anymore with one single program. Absolute Radio same as Heart or Smooth have a lot of different choices on DAB+ but only one on AM or FM. And then there is the smartphone as an alternative choice.

I would expect that in Europe nearly all AM stations will be gone within a few years, if not faster.

Happening on January 23rd.

https://www.radioworld.com/global/absolute-bids-am-adieu

tinytobe

I think in the Republic of Ireland, BBC R4, R5, Talksport and Absolute Radio are an added benefit on AM. ( LW plus MW )

Sadly we would have to live with the idea that one day they all won't be there anymore, and that "one day" might come sooner than we can all imagine today.....

Infoanon

It's come around very quickly - tonight is the last evening of Absolute Radio on AM.

Apart from a rumoured 'special ' programme at 23.50 it's unclear when the audio will be pulled -midnight 12.15 or later , the TXs themselves will be switched off on Monday apparently.

The ad breaks on AM are announcing the switch off and an appropriate song eg Tom Robinson -Atmospherics,Shakespeare Sister - Hello Hello, Scritti Politti - Absolute

Declan A Walsh

I actually scanned through my stored medium wave stations in my car (yes - sad!) for a short period yesterday evening and I listened to Absolute on 1215 kh. I had forgotten what date it was due to shut down and thought I had found a new UK station!

dxhound2005

Greatest Hits is closing down on a few frequencies as well. The closedown loop is an Irish voice, maybe someone recognises who it is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ1stpvRfVk

Just listened to the last few minutes on my Tecsun R9012. A couple of clips from down through the decades, closing out with Absolute Beginners by David Bowie before switching over to the looped announcement.

Antenna

Absolute is (weakly) still audible in the background of the loop on 1197. Assume some low power 1197 transmitter is being fed by DAB or Freesat rather than the dedicated Absolute AM satellite link

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132483#Comment_120132483

Clearly audible on this SDR in Bedfordshire. Possibly the Oxford TX?

http://remoteradio.changeip.org:8073/index.html

tinytobe

Yes there is a loop stating that Absolute on MW is history.

Just wondering is the shutdown happening all at once, or does a technician have to drive from transmitter to transmitter to shut each frequency down? I think they have 21 transmitters across the UK.

mrunsure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132230#Comment_120132230

That's Simon Ross (Rossie)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Ross

mrunsure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132496#Comment_120132496

That is now on a loop as well.

tinytobe

I suppose the 1215 / 1197 network will remain silent, or will the frequencies be used by some other broadcaster in the future? Is anything known on this?

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120137485#Comment_120137485

they will remain silent, unless LPAM is licensed over there or the odd community service is licensed (they seem to be changing to DAB or FM where possible)

maybe the odd pirate from wherever might appear but who knows.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120141888#Comment_120141888

I am surprised how long they remained on AM considering the cost of the transmission and the ultra low listenership figures on AM. They may have had more listeners in Ireland than in the UK, I suppose.

Incidentally on DAB, Virgin Radio is back on air in the UK, has been for a couple of years. They have 3 channels on DAB running 3 different programms.

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120144764#Comment_120144764

They apparently got a good deal from Arqiva to keep the AM outlet going.

Many of the sites 1215 used are shared, now that one operator is gone that may potentially increase the costs for Talksport/BBC

Apparently TalkSport want to remain on AM for as long as the BBC do to prevent 5 Live cannibalising their audience

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132884#Comment_120132884

Most of the transmitters (there was obviously at least one exception) would be receiving the same feed so it would be simple to cut the feed to the closedown loop. The actual switching off of the transmitters would probably be done by Arqiva since they own them. I don't know for sure but I imagine it would be possible to switch them on and off remotely these days. I wonder if they were still using Harris DX50s?

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120145039#Comment_120145039

Talksport and Radio 5 do still have a bit of an AM listenership in the UK. I would suppose that Talksport makes a good profit out of sports coverage, thus the cost of transmitting on AM is not so much of a burden as it was for Absolute Radio.

Also the Talksport AM listenership figures are mainly down to older cars not having DAB in their cars. Talksport being the stronger signal than BBC Radio 5 and Absolute Radio also makes for decent reception in Ireland as well. With Absolute Radio you always had that echo in Ireland as well.

Around 10 years ago DAB was really taking over in the UK, and Absolute Radio's AM listenership dwindled continuously.

I am wondering how long Capital Gold or Smooth radio will last on AM. I don't know anybody in the UK listening to these stations on AM anymore.

Infoanon

The AM listenership figures put forward by Absolute as part of the 'good' reasons to cease AM are slightly misleading.

Listenership of 2% is overall AM listenership of the ALL radio stations ,including FM and DAB.

Absolutes true AM figure is closer to 25%.

Since dropping the coveted London FM frequency it's been obvious for a while that Absolute was going in a different direction.

Ofcom could advertise for a new national AM service but ,when compared to the costs of DAB, would there be any interest .

As an aside Spirit are still off AM and 252 must be the best maintained TX and mast given the amount of downtime for essential servicing (of a relatively new TX)

Spirit radio and the Bai are apparently in the tricky situation that as the licence is officially for an national AM service (with some FM relays) there isn't officially a way for them to quit AM but keep the licence. So we have this farce of their AM tx getting switched on for a a week or two every 6 months.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120146354#Comment_120146354

Ever since the 2010s I haven't known anybody in the UK who listened to Absolute Radio on MW. Anybody, except a couple of DX mined radio enthusiasts. I don't think the listenership was anywhere near 25% at all. At some point over the last couple of years Absolute Radio reduced power of their MW transmitters.

Even at night time the signal was abysmal in the 1990ies especially in the South East of the UK, mainly due to Kaliningrad Russia which was also using the 1215.

Glaceon

1215 (or 1214 as it was back then) was never a good frequency, hence BBC Radio 1 being moved off it in 1978.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120148523#Comment_120148523

Later on they put Radio 3 on that frequency. Imagine classical music on AM and Kaliningrad constantly disturbing the signal. I believe also Spain is on 1215 as well. Possibly COPE? Must have been some classical concert on Radio 3.

dxhound2005

Absolute appears to be completely gone now. Last closedown loop from Lisnagarvey off air at 14:16 26 January. It was a lovely clear signal when on its own, unlike the echos and mush when there were multiple transmitters. Which is what makes Talk Sport and 5 Live unlistenable where I am much of the time.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120148600#Comment_120148600

Yep, must have been some shock to move from 647 which was a clear frequency for the most part. Although I recall reading that even as early as 1978, most Radio 3 listeners were on FM so it wasn't as much of an issue.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120161191#Comment_120161191

True.

Incidentally, Absolute Radio on 1215 from Northern Ireland is now also turned off. It was the last frequency still on air. Apparently the technician had to take the ferry or the airplane to get there....

Infoanon

Shortly after the last TX was turned off Bauer informed the UK regulator that it had turned off its AM transmitters.....8 years ahead of schedule !

Bauer now have to explain their actions which will see the AM licence revoked and a fine .

How big that fine will be is unknown , and there is an additional issue around DAB coverage as the DAB distribution was a result of holding the AM licence.......

Separately there have been a few reports of Bauer turning down the power on some of its FM outlets but nothing official.

Re 5 live & Talk sport, the last Rajar showed 40% AM listenership.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120167485#Comment_120167485

I've read about that fine somewhere. However that fine is a possibility, not a yet a given fact. I don't think this would catch Bauer by surprise, they must have calculated with that, after all they renewed the 1215 / 1197 only in 2021 and must have been aware of the small print. I think the AM license would have been until 2031 or so?

I would doubt very much that BBC Radio 5 Live and TalkSport would have a 40% listenership on AM. Possibly just negative coverage to discredit DAB or so? Reports I've read were that TalkSport would no longer be commercially viable on AM from 2025 and onward and the BBC already announced plans to shut down AM completely, but a date hasn't been given yet. Or I think I've also read something about 2030 or 2032 or so?

Infoanon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120167635#Comment_120167635

The figures are the official figures, not anecdotal or an attempt to discredit DAB !

Talksport will not leave AM before 5 live.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120167893#Comment_120167893

Apparently, they Talksport wants to reduce AM coverage also due to dwindling AM listenership.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0038/189749/talkSPORT-statement.pdf

Infoanon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120168069#Comment_120168069

'Declining ' not dwindling.

There proposal was a reaction to Absolute switching oFF some of its AM TXs.

If 40% of your audience are listening on AM and your main competitor is also on AM you are not going to be leaving AM anytime soon.

Annascaul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120168209#Comment_120168209

AM radio has a similar future as the steam engine had. It's dying! Whether it's a slow death or a quick death, whether it's declining or dwindling is up for debate. It certainly is not a growing market anymore and the usage of AM is clearly downward with no indication of an upward reversal.

In the end it's a question on how many listeners do I reach and what cost do I have in transmitting. The majority of UK listeners listen via some digital device, whether it's DAB or a stream doesn't matter and transmitting via AM isn't exactly the cheapest option. Even FM is declining in the UK.

Absolute Radio or Virgin Radio as it was called on 1215 was very popular on AM in the 90ies, but then listenership numbers on AM declined continuously.

I would expect all British AM stations to go by 2027 at the latest. High cost and one crisis after another will probably do it sooner.

http://www.frequencyfinder.org.uk/Opinion_AM.pdf

British AM radio is also not there to cater for listeners in the Republic of Ireland, their market is the UK.

TAFKAlawhec

Re: The "investigation" by Ofcom by Bauer switching off their MW network for Absolute Radio - it was confirmed back when they were seeking (and got) permission to close some low power sites and reduce the ERP of the main high power sites from Absolute Radio that at any stage the owners of the station could formally hand back the INR2 MW licence without penalty at any time. If Bauer are playing stupid gits by not formally handing back the INR2 licence ASAP or with notice, then they deserve to be fined (plus it'll not help their relationship with Ofcom in the future if they want some concession etc.) but it's largely a storm in a tea cup for now and any fine is likely to be negligible in the greater scheme of things. As concerning capacity on the Digital 1 DAB ensemble, the rules as I understand it for the INR stations are that they are given "priority" preference for any available capacity. In theory, were the INR2 licence to be re-advertised and awarded, then the new licence holder would be able to gain preference to any newly available capacity on Digital 1 were it to become available - but this wouldn't affect Absolute Radio in its current form as long as they remain on the platform. In any case, Ofcom haven't signalled any intention to readvertise the licence, though wherever it might be forced legally to do so due to the conditions in the UK Broadcasting Act 1990?

To to MW listening concerning BBC 5 Live & Talk Sport, the last figures I seen for both stations gave around 30-35% of their listeners or listening hours accessing the station via MW transmissions. I suspect that most such listening cases are in cars where the radio hasn't DAB available, or with bedroom clock radios. Otherwise they're available on DAB, Freeview, satellite (both Sky & Freesat), Virgin Media & online for home listening. As more older cars get taken off the road and newer cars are being fitted with DAB as standard in all cases, even a relatively low bitrate MP2 DAB broadcast is almost always better than listening to the MW broadcasts from both stations with suffer a lot from co-channel interference & fading where recent observations of both networks shows that co-channel transmitters are well out of sync with each other. 2027 is the provisional date being penciled in for the shutdown of all MW broadcasts in the UK (with a few exceptions possibly for community broadcasters - I can see Radio Caroline wanting to keep going), and Talk Sport have already shut own a few of their low-powered fillers inc. the one in Derry. Another issue for these broadcasters is that in terms of equipment, maintenance & electricity costs, MW transmitters are relatively expensive to run for a declining audience, something like 2% of the total radio listening in the UK but 35% of the electric & maintenance costs.

Also, to be fair to Absolute & Virgin before it, they knew when they launched nearly 30 years ago that they had a sub-standard transmission network even back then, so they were often one of the first in the UK - if not thee first - to use or promote alternative listening methods. For example, Richard Branson was looking to get the station on to FM by replacing BBC Radio 4's FM network (Good luck with that! Although by that stage the 105-108 MHz portion of the FM Band was still empty of broadcasts in the UK), they got an FM licence for London, they made sure they got in plenty of low-powered filler stations in key population centres that had reception issues on 1215 kHz, they promoted receiving the station on analogue satellite in the 90's more than pretty much any other national station did that also was available (it used two audio subcarrier channels on the same transponder as Sky News) and later on were on Sky Digital pretty much from the start, they started internet streaming in the mid-90's (1996 I think) and even more than 20 years ago they were promoting their availability on DAB, giving away receivers as prizes on air, to promoting high-bitrate internet streams including lossless FLAC & OGG formats - unfortunately Bauer taking over the station saw these high-bitrate streams close down, with the "free" streams now limited to MP3 & AAC formats, 128kbps at best.

We're well in the twilight years of MW & LW radio in this part of the world, even the Spanish broadcasters aren't replacing any MW transmitters that are breaking down., and scanning the MW band here at night would see about half of all frequencies if not more occupied by a Spanish TX The only country that seems to be maintaining their multiple AM networks for now is Romania (as well as Ukraine & Russia bring out some TXs that were mothballed - though these are extraordinary circumstances and it's debatable wherever these broadcasts have more than a negligible effect in terms of propaganda/narrative).

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120170283#Comment_120170283

Romania has many AM transmitters still broadcasting, whether they are really listened to, I don't know. Technology is also advancing in this country.

Spain is an interesting one, they do have more than good coverage on FM across the country, but have the same broadcasts simultaneously on AM? And that for no real apparent reason.

Radio Caroline is interesting. I'd say, if they had a more solid financial background then maybe they might even be interested in the 1215 network. Incidentally Radio Caroline is one of the radio stations which will always be associated by their audience with AM, they used to broadcast from a vessel on AM way back when, similar to Veronica in the Netherlands.

I was always surprised why Richard Branson wanted the BBC Radio 4 network for Virgin Radio or more, and also why the UK had such limited options on FM? Given the fact that the UK is also an island and they would have had many choices to coordinate another FM network for the whole of the UK it's actually quite a surprise to consider taking one BBC network. They have no neighboring countries to deal with, except maybe bits of France near Calais or the Republic of Ireland but the rest is pretty much open space for the UK to get many more FM transmitters coordinated, especially back then in the early 90ies. In the end, FM radio took also a lot longer in the UK to get established, - until 1993 many BBC stations were not on FM nationwide, only on AM.

The only problem Absolute Radio will have regarding reception on DAB is in Scotland, especially the North of Scotland and the Scottish Borders, where DAB coverage is limited, - for whatever reason. AM would have been the better choice, or they finally invest in more transmitters in these areas?

Older cars will probably leave British roads a lot sooner, environmental regulations will see to that and a lot more cars in the UK which are 10 years or older do have DAB at this time already.

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120168069#Comment_120168069

This is old news from 3 years ago, 2020 and was already implemented then.

It was the closure of 7 smaller sites (the southwest of England being particularly impacted with 4 sites there closed) :

"closing seven transmitter sites. These transmitters are located at Rosemarkie (Inverness), Redruth (Cornwall), Redmoss (Aberdeen), Londonderry (Northern Ireland), Occombe (Devon), Plummers Barracks (Plymouth) and Pearce’s Hall (Devon). "

The closure of the Derry 1053 transmitter would obviously have impacted neighboring Donegal as well with areas which would have had a good reception from it (the site continues to transmit BBC on MW:.

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.0052288,-7.3680819,3a,75y,190.26h,102.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAAjCqo3_8DNwvODYZJUDzw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=890

Annascaul

It may be old news but this news certainly doesn't spell growth on AM for Talksport.

Also wondering, is it possible that Virgin Radio might return to the 1215? They are on DAB in the UK.

AM might be dead but Bauer Media Group definitely see life in FM because they are trying to get Greatest hits radio on as many FM frequencies as possible before Ken Bruce starts. Indeed Chris Evans and Graham Norton haven't done well at all in the rajars on DAB only stations

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120161397#Comment_120161397

That sounds like an 'internet myth' put out that someone had take take the ferry or airplane over from GB to just power it down. Where did you get that from? Do you think they (Arqiva) have no staff based within Northern Ireland who couldn't do this, despite all the TV (Freeview) , FM, DAB transmitters they as well maintain in Northern Ireland?

Some significant engineering work may well involve additional expertise being brought in. But just powering one of these transmitters down, no.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120354986#Comment_120354986

As I wrote "apparently".

And this additional expertise may also be true. I think they have an old Blaw Knox mast there? It's probably one of the last remaining ones in Europe. I think Hungary as one as well and one in Bulgaria. In the US they may still have 5 or 7 of them left?

TAFKAlawhec

The Lisnagarvey site is the HQ of Arqiva's Northern Irish operations. The idea of them "having to send" someone over by plane or boat to switch off the 1215 kHz TX is close to idiotic - it's not a TX site located on some remote Scottish island, besides I'd say it could be turned off remotely if needed. In saying that, the last few hours of 1215 kHz from Lisnagavery with the closure announcement running did sound like it was on reduced power.

Also, yes there is a Blau-Knox mast at Lisnagarvey as well as a more generic T-aerial slung between two lattice masts. To the best of my knowledge only the Radio 4 LW service on 720 kHz is broadcast now from the Blau-Knox tower, with BBC 5 Live on 909 kHz and Talk Sport on 1089 kHz being radiated from the T-aerial.

(P.S. The Blaw-Knox mast at Lisnagarvey is "decapitated" as when it was opened it originally used a lower frequency (somewhere around 900 kHZ I think) before it eventually settled in the 1950's on 1151 kHz, a frequency shared with the BBC Home Service North-East England region. When the BBC Home Service (NI Region) was then moved to 1340 kHz, the radiating length of the tower was too long for the wavelength being broadcast (beyond 5/8ths of the wavelength), causing a significant upward transmitting lobe and thus the fading areas (where groundwave & skywave from the same radiator mix together) was awfully close to the TX site so the only effective remedy was to shorten the tower so its radiation pattern didn't throw so much skywards and kept most of it at/near ground level.)

(P.P.S. When it was on 1215 kHz, Absolute Radio was transmitted from the T-aerial).

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120355540#Comment_120355540

Nothing is idiotic here.

The Blaw Knox mast is self radiating, as I am sure you know. I've read about modified ones where they had some kind of motor inside, so change the height with a change of frequency ( I believe that was in Vienna before the war), as they believed it would be better. They may have decapitated the mast in NI for the same reason?

TAFKAlawhec

The original Blaw-Knox mast at Lisnagarvey did have an adjustable pole at the top with a round capacitive top-hat that would have allowed it to be "tuned " to supposedly provide the best groundwave or anti-fading coverage. From the link below, the original operating frequency was 977 kHz - and also pointed out how the flaws of the shape of the radiating mast meant that the BBC never commissioned another such mast anywhere else.

https://www.bbceng.info/Install/Transmitter%20Projects/Reminiscences/Lisnagarvey/Lisnagarvey_Blaw-Knox.htm

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120357906#Comment_120357906

One could say the size of the mast is directly related to the frequency they broadcast on.

The Blaw Knox mast in Vienna Austria had a similar adjustable pole but it wasn't chopped off like the one in Lisnagarvey.

The mast in Vienna was destroyed during the war.

I believe the Blaw Knox mast in Hungary is the 873 kHz whilst the 540 kHz is the Soviet made transmitter?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120145695#Comment_120145695

Talksport on 1089AM from Lisnagarvey (Lisburn) has a horrible echo on it here in Dundalk (on a car radio) which makes it impossible to listen to. BBC R5 on 909 from the same location is ok. During the day I get good reception for Talksport on 1107. Comes from Wallasey (Merseyside) I think.