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Nov 12th 1978; BBC Radio Wales Starts Broadcasting
old pilot
Posts: 1,910 Forum Member
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Happy 34th Birthday to Radio Wales which started broadcasting on November 12th 1978 with Anita Morgan
presenting AM.
Radio Scotland had to wait another week. (23/11/1978)
presenting AM.
Radio Scotland had to wait another week. (23/11/1978)
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Comments
I always enjoyed AM particularly when it was presented by Chris Stuart.
It's true what Crusher has said above, Radio Wales has always produced some great programming which is both diverse and interesting - far better than the TV programmes that they have produced over the years.
882 KHz comes in weak, but listenable here in N.Yorks (even in daylight hour). Really gets out well. So does R.Scotland on 810Khz at a similar signal strength.
I always enjoy Alan Thompson's evening show when I get a chance to listen and I wish they would use the legend that is Mal Pope a little better (that 'prestigious' 5am on a Saturday morning slot is seemingly his for evermore).
What Owen Money and Chris Needs are doing is having a laugh,and not taking life too seriously,some of the stuff is silly,but still entertaining,i certainly enjoy Chris Needs.:D
I used to enjoy Adam Walton's technology show Mousemat, a shame that programme ended.
Slightly off topic this, but does anyone remember a proposal - in the mid 1980's - to broadcast radios Wales, Ulster and Scotland on AM from Brookmans Park? The thinking was that there are more Scottish people in London than there are in Edinburgh, More Welsh in London etc. etc.
The AM frequencies of 810, 882 and 1341 are allocated for use anywhere in the UK, and co-channel interference with the transmitters in the "home" country was not likely to be much of an issue although reception of Wales from Washford would be affected along the M4 corridor in England.
For whatever reason it didn't happen. I'm guessing that cost would have been the reason, but in the scheme of things I can't imagine it would have been that expensive to install three x 10Kw transmitters and combiners. In the pre-internet/satellite age, would a feed of these three stations have been available in London?
More of an issue would have been matching the three new frequencies to the masts/aerials at Brookmans Park. Not impossible, but very expensive I suspect ?
810 and 882kHz would have been OK but 1341 would have been more difficult; it might have been easier to add a sloping wire radiator or similiar off another tower plus some reject filters for this frequency.
I don't recall this and am not sure 10kW would have been sufficient for "London".
It didn't happen because there was never a proposal.
You have to understand that there are sensitive political issues with all three networks. In a couple of words they are hot potatoes.
If there had been the money available it would have been spent in the stations.
It's worth appreciating that all three provide a lot more output for less money than 20 years ago.
I suspect you would have guessed that the 882kHz signal you are receiving in North Yorks would be from the Penmon transmitter on Anglesey rather than Washford.
To be fair the FM coverage has improved considerably in the past year due to an expansion of 103.9 in south east Wales and with the demise in 2013 of the MXR Wales & Severn Estuary mux the position on DAB coverage should be greatly inproved too particularly in the south Wales valleys.
Which in the early days created null points where the signal cancelled out in mid Wales.
Its a pity they cant put Radio Wales on the BBC National DAB in Wales instead of the Asian Programme.
It may have not been an official proposal, but I certainly remember reading something - may have been in one of the Scottish broadsheets.
What are/were these sensitive political issues? Is it that in the '80's there was a fair bit of annoyance that the BBC was opening local stations is some pretty small towns and cities in England but Scotland, Wales and NI got only one station to cover the whole country.
It will help expand Radio Wales' reach as the frequency will be reallocated to local mux's. The Cardiff and Newport mux has already been earmarked to expand into the Heads of the Valleys area where MXR have infrastructure so at least they won't have to build new transmitter sites. There was a proposal put forward to put Radio Wales on the National Mux just over one year ago (by Tim Davie as it happens) but that idea it seems has since been dropped. If it did go on the National Mux it would be UK wide as Wales does not have a separate frequency for the BBC National Mux.
I'm not sure that it would have been that noticeable as the Washford signal faded around Builth Wells and the Penmon signal was much weaker and intended mainly for the North Wales coast, I have struggled to listen to Penmon much beyond Dinas Mawddwy and without the mid-Wales frequencies I doubt if any Radio Wales signal on 882 could have been recieved with any degree of clarity in Mid Wales.
There's no space, and even if there was they're of very little relevance outside their respective areas. They are not national stations in the sense that they serve the whole UK.
Hmmm... 600,000 Welsh, 800,000 Scots and a fair few thousand Northern Irish all living in England isn't exactly irrelevant. What is irrelevant is the BBC Asian Service broadcasting in these countries when 96% of Asians live in England!
But they're all in another country. Broadcasting, in a particular area, terrestrial anyway, should only cater for people who originate from that area, not outsiders. I would hate Radio Wales broadcasting in England on DAB or Freeview.
Because they're not targeting you?
So everything else that doesn't target you should also be absent - Heart or Radio 1, for instance - few are targeted by both those services.
And let's be quite clear: if you go to Spain, there should be no 'Radio for ex-pat and tourist' English services allowed to broadcast there?
Not at all, I'm not that keen on Radio 1 or Radio 4, but I would never say they shouldn't be there. They are stations that could suit anyone from any part of the country. Radio Scotland, Wales and Ulster though are generally only aimed at listeners from those areas, not the original inhabitants of other areas. They will have news and sport and features relevant only to their respective nations.
I've never been to Spain so I don't know if there is any, but I wouldn't complain if there wasn't considering it's not my country.
Of course there are loads there, but as to whether they are officially sanctioned well, that's certainly still a bit of a grey area.
I notice that there is a French radio station now on DAB in London.
Anyway this is moot - you can get Radio Wales virtually anywhere nowadays via Internet Radios, Mobile Phones etc. and of course via Satellite. If you really want to listen you'll find a way.