RTÉ, the national broadcaster, has announced that RTÉ Radio 1 will cease broadcasting on Long Wave 252 (LW 252) from Friday, April 14 — next week.
A statement from RTÉ said that listeners can continue listening to RTÉ Radio 1 on Freesat (channel 750), Sky (channel 0137) and Virgin Media (channel 917*), and on the RTÉ Radio Player and Irish Radioplayer apps.
The full range of listening options is available on www.rte.ie/keeplistening and details of how to voice search RTÉ Radio 1 on Alexa or Google smart speakers are available on www.rte.ie/voice
Despite pleas from several organisations and individuals particularly in Britain, the phasing out of the Long Wave service has gone ahead.
It was one of the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission Report which was published by the Irish government in July 2022.
RTÉ Director General, Dee Forbes said: “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. 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.”
