
RT RADIO 1 TO CEASE BROADCASTING ON LONG WAVE
KEEP LISTENING TO RT RADIO 1 | WWW.RTE.IE/KEEPLISTENING
RT has today announced that RT Radio 1 will cease broadcasting on Long Wave 252 (LW 252) from Friday 14th April 2023.
In Ireland, listeners can continue to enjoy RT Radio 1 on FM, on Saorview and Saorsat and on their preferred audio streaming service, including the RT Radio Player and Irish Radioplayer apps.
In the UK, listeners can continue to enjoy RT Radio 1 on Freesat (channel 750), Sky (channel 0137) and Virgin Media (channel 917*), and on their preferred audio streaming service, including the RT 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 RT Radio 1 on Alexa or Google smart speakers are available on www.rte.ie/voice. Listeners can also contact the RTE Information Office on +353 12083434 or by emailing info@rte.ie for information.
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.
RT 's decision to take the Long Wave service off air is based on three interrelated factors:
Like all businesses RT is seeking to reduce its energy usage in response to the climate crisis, public expenditure efficiency, and to reduce the burden on the national grid - and LW consumes significant energy.
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.
The increased accessibility of RT services and content internationally in a range of other formats, which are reaching a wide audience.
Additional detail regarding RT 's decision is provided below.
RT Director General, Dee Forbes said: While RT has invested considerably in prolonging the life of the transmitter to broadcast RT Radio 1 on Long Wave 252, we can no longer justify this investment. Not only is RT 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, RT 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.
RT is supporting this announcement with an information campaign on RT 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 RT 's social media channels.
Information on how to continue to listen to RT Radio 1 in Ireland or in the UK is available on www.rte.ie/keeplistening. The RT Information Office is available to answer questions regarding the Long Wave service on +353 12083434 or at info@rte.ie.
*May vary depending on your Virgin Media set-top-box.
ADDITIONAL DETAIL REGARDING RT 'S DECISION TO CEASE BROADCASTING ON LONG WAVE 252:
Listener behaviour is changing
Widespread availability of connected devices, which gathered pace during the global pandemic, is giving access to almost unlimited choice.
RT must adapt to meet this growing demand for a diverse range of audio services and must be able to make choices regarding investment.
In September 2022 RT launched a new RT Radio App on mobile devices (iOS and Android) the beginning of a substantial upgrade over the next two years of RT 's digital audio products and content offer.
Energy Costs in Outline
Over and above the capital requirements of LW, the annual operating costs of RT Radio 1 LW in 2022 were approximately 250,000 most of this was for electricity.
Given the price increases in energy, the operating cost for 2023 could be double this. Initial estimates for 2023 suggest these costs will exceed 400,000.
The LW service is extremely energy inefficient and today represents approximately 2.5% of RT 's total electrical energy usage (2021 figures from SEAI M&R system). Ceasing the service will bring a material reduction to RT 's electrical energy consumption, equivalent to approximately one-year average energy reductions required to hit 2030 targets.
LW is a legacy technology:
LW is not readily available on new radio sets or audio systems today.
There are few LW services in Europe, notably one in Iceland, and one in the UK for BBC Radio 4, which the BBC has announced it is closing.
With the energy crisis, broadcasters are seriously considering switching off LW radio services as they are energy intensive, costly to run and deliver small numbers of listeners, bringing into question the sustainability of LW.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
22/11/2025
The deadline for entries for the 2025 Best in Market Awards has been extended to 23:59 PST on November 28, 2025....
22/11/2025
Clear-Com announced the upcoming launch of its 4-Channel HelixNet beltpack, a next-generation advancement of its widely used 2-channel model. The new beltpack...
22/11/2025
Marshall Electronics is showcasing the latest additions to its CV600 Series of PTZ cameras, the CV625 and CV612, which both feature AI track and follow capabili...
22/11/2025
At this year's European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress, held at the RAI Amsterdam, LiveConnect delivered an ambitious and technically complex live produ...
22/11/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS), a leader in wireless frequency coordination and RF system design, provided a comprehensive wireless gear package and onsite...
22/11/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced the release of ARGUS v2.3, which introduces Live Look, a powerful new feature that e...
22/11/2025
Peer Software today announced significant advancements across its enterprise data orchestration and analytics platform with new releases of Peer Global File Ser...
22/11/2025
At InterBEE 2025, Atomos announces a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monit...
22/11/2025
Today, AWS announces the general availability of AWS Elemental MediaConnect Router, a new capability that enables broadcasters and content providers to dynamica...
22/11/2025
Rise, the award-winning advocacy group for gender diversity in the broadcast media technology sector, is delighted to announce the winners for this year's R...
22/11/2025
Lightware, industry leader in signal management, is strengthening its Taurus UCX product family with the introduction of the new HC60 lineup. The new product li...
22/11/2025
CARSON, Calif. IDX has introduced the IDX CUE-J Series battery/charger kits, including the CUE-J98, CUE-J150 and CUE-J198....
22/11/2025
The NBA has released encouraging viewing and social media data that the beginnings of its $76 billion deal with NBC/Peacock, Prime Video and ESPN are paying off...
22/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has set deadlines for comments on its newest proposals for NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0, with comments due on Jan. ...
22/11/2025
Seeking Advice for a New Opera, Laura Kaminsky Consulted the Experts: Her Studen...
21/11/2025
Platinum White Paper: Appear Shares Why Media Exchange Is the Missing Link in So...
21/11/2025
NWSL Championship 2025: CBS Sports To Deploy Two-Point FlyCam for Match Coverage...
21/11/2025
NWSL Caps 2025 Season With Awards Show, Skills Challenge ProductionsA team of 70 is on the ground in California to produce both eventsBy Mark J Burns, SVG Contr...
21/11/2025
USL and NEP Ready for Largest USL Championship Final Production EverThe broadcast from Tulsa, OK, will air CBS and TUDN on Saturday at 12 p.m. ETBy Jason Dachma...
21/11/2025
With Two New Teams, PWHL Boosts Production Workforce and Central Review for Seas...
21/11/2025
Jared Lank and his mother in the '90s...
21/11/2025
Fans have been counting down the days until the final theatrical chapter of Wicked is revealed. To celebrate the highly anticipated release of Wicked: For Good ...
21/11/2025
Last week, Spotify turned up the volume in Seoul with the return of Spotify Hous...
21/11/2025
Wiesbaden, November 21, 2025. The SGL Carbon site in Meitingen has reason to celebrate as one of its trainees received a special award. Elias Stemmer was honore...
21/11/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Nov. 21, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has announced this year's LHX Excellence Awards, the company's most prestigious recog...
21/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission by a 3-0 vote opened a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to advance Congress's mandate to clear a minimu...
21/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission by a 3-0 vote adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to advance Congress's mandate to clear a minim...
21/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. Charter's Spectrum has expanded the devices that can offer 4K content on the Spectrum TV app to compatible Apple TV 4K and Roku devices....
21/11/2025
NAPERVILLE, Ill. Media industry employers are continuing their multiyear trend of increasing salaries for all worker segments but lag general industry raises, s...
21/11/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters said it is accepting nominations for the 2026 NAB Technology Awards, honors that recognize excellence in bro...
21/11/2025
American Amplifier Technologies has released a vector network analysis module....
21/11/2025
The Best Movie Musicals on Every Streaming Platform From Wicked to The Sound of Music, heres where to stream all the classic movie musicals and recent hits on...
21/11/2025
The agreement creates a platform for joint collaboration, technology integration...
21/11/2025
Sky Media's £2m award-winning sustainability initiative crowns its first charity as this year's standout changemakerFriday 21 November 2025
GoodGym nam...
21/11/2025
As COP30 draws to a close, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), ...
20/11/2025
MLB Media-Rights Shakeup: NBC's New Three-Year Deal Covers Sunday Night Bas...
20/11/2025
MLB Media-Rights Shakeup: New Deal Will Bring 30 National Games to ESPN's Li...
20/11/2025
MLB Media-Rights Shakeup: Netflix Lands Opening Night, Home Run Derby, Field of ...
20/11/2025
MLB Media-Rights Shakeup Overview: ESPN, NBCU, Netflix Ink Three-Year DealsESPN gets new 30-game package, MLB.TV; NBC extends Sunday nights; Netflix adds tentpo...
20/11/2025
SVG Students To Watch: Henry Thuss, Indiana UniversityThe Southern California product has his goals set on the front benchBy Brandon Costa, Director of Digital ...
20/11/2025
Done+Dusted's Guy Carrington on Creating the Spectacular League of Legends W...
20/11/2025
FIA Extreme H World Cup Host Broadcaster Aurora Goes Inside the Production of th...
20/11/2025
Platinum White Paper: Amagi Utilizes Cloud Production for Sports Events - Multi-...
20/11/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Marc Herklotz, Steady Hand Behind the Sce...
20/11/2025
NFL Deep Dive: How 32 Cameras at Each Stadium Drive Virtual Measurement, Boundar...
20/11/2025
Charlie Shackleton attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Zodiac K...
20/11/2025
Your playlists are personal. They're the soundtracks to your road trips, your quiet mornings, and your biggest celebrations; collections of memories and dis...
20/11/2025
Spotify, uzun s redir zerine al t T rk m zik k lt r n n ikon haline gelmi ...
20/11/2025
For the first time, Spotify has teamed up with The Hollywood Reporter to cohost ...