RTÉ HAS ANNOUNCED that it RTÉ Radio 1 will cease broadcasting on longwave from 14 April.
The LW 252 service caried RTÉ Radio 1 to listeners across the island of Ireland and also into Britain.
It had been earmarked for closures in 2014, but this was postponed after complaints from the Irish diaspora in Britain.
However, RTÉ director general Dee Forbes said the broadcaster can “no longer justify” investment in the long wave transmitter.
She added that considerable investment had been placed in prolonging the life of the transmitter and that the “time has come to bring the long wave service to a close”.
The 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.
RTÉ said its decision is based on “three interrelated factors”.
The first factor, said RTÉ, is the need to “reduce its energy usage in response to the climate crisis, public expenditure efficiency, and to reduce the burden on the national grid”.
RTÉ said the long wave service is “extremely energy inefficient, has a significant carbon emission footprint, and would significantly impair RTE’s ability to meet the emissions reductions target”.
RTÉ also notes that the long wave service makes up around “2.5% of RTÉ’s total electrical energy usage”.
The second factor was the investment that would be needed to maintain a service that caters to a “greatly reduced number of listeners”, as well as the “inaccessibility of longwave radio on newer devices”.
The operating costs of the service was around €250,000 last year, and RTÉ estimates these costs would exceed €400,000 for this year.
RTÉ also notes that long wave is not readily available on new radio sets or audio systems today.
The third factor, according to RTÉ, is the “increased accessibility of RTÉ services and content internationally in a range of other formats”.
Forbes noted that RTÉ Radio 1 is widely available in the UK across television and online services, including on apps and smart speakers.
RTÉ plans to alert the Irish diaspora in Britain of the change by running an information campaign through adverts in some UK titles and 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.
An information campaign on the RTÉ Radio 1 long wave service will also be in operation.
The station used the same frequency that was previously used in the 1980s and 1990s by Atlantic 252.
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