Radio Moments - Clips

Radio Moments - Clips

By David LloydSociety & CultureArtsPerforming Arts
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Radio Moments - Clips episodes

  • 1092: Radio 3 changes frequency in 1978

    1978 saw stations packing their trunks and moving homes up and down the band, both commercial and BBC. My good friends at Trent quietly moved 1kHz from 998 to 999 AM – as the separation between channels became a neat 9 kHz - but other changes, not least at the BBC, were more substantial.

    On 23th November 1978. Radio 2 waved farewell to Long Wave, making way for Radio 4. 693 and 909 kHz became Radio 2; and Radio 1 moved off its old 247 wavelength – over to 275 and 285; leaving 247 for poor old Radio 3. I use wavelengths, rather than frequencies, in the latter clause as the digits are but so familiar, thanks to generations of jingles.

    The UK was also given 227 kHz, but did not rush into using it. I recall during my time at the Radio Authority, the regulator debated, rather quickly, whether to bother.

    The frequency changes were a major project. The BBC plonked little stickers through the doors of all households. Indeed, some lucky old radio sets may still have them on.

    Enjoy here a beautifully cynical view of the whole thing from John Holmstrom on Radio 3 as it looked forward to a new home on Radio 1's former home at 247.

    2 min
  • 1092: Radio 3 changes frequency in 1978
    1978 saw stations packing their trunks and moving homes up and down the band, both commercial and BBC. My good friends at Trent quietly moved 1kHz from 998 to 999 AM – as the separation between channels became a neat 9 kHz - but other changes, not least at the BBC, were more substantial.
    On 23th November 1978. Radio 2 waved farewell to Long Wave, making way for Radio 4. 693 and 909 kHz became Radio 2; and Radio 1 moved off its old 247 wavelength – over to 275 and 285; leaving 247 for poor old Radio 3. I use wavelengths, rather than frequencies, in the latter clause as the digits are but so familiar, thanks to generations of jingles.
    The UK was also given 227 kHz, but did not rush into using it. I recall during my time at the Radio Authority, the regulator debated, rather quickly, whether to bother.
    The frequency changes were a major project. The BBC plonked little stickers through the doors of all households. Indeed, some lucky old radio sets may still have them on.
    Enjoy here a beautifully cynical view of the whole thing from John Holmstrom on Radio 3 as it looked forward to a new home on Radio 1's former home at 247.
    2 min
  • 1091: Plymouth Sound early swap shop & David Bassett

    The old days on commercial radio were just about perfect, so some say. Listening back though, one wonders whether the output of some stations would still have commanded such impressive audiences, had there been anything else decent on FM to choose from.

    Judge for yourself, with this delicious unintentionally hilarious extreme example of the daytime phone fare offered by Plymouth Sound in its early days. A lengthy swap shop, from the days when one gave out one’s phone number on air, delivers a list of things to be swapped from desperate callers. Whether any listener ever on any radio station managed to get exactly what they wanted in exchange for something they didn’t want, we shall never know. And I just wonder whether the woman calling ‘Mr (David) Bassett’ for a ‘grumble’ about ‘jumble’ was Margaret Thatcher. Certainly sounded that way.

    9 min
  • 1091: Plymouth Sound early swap shop & David Bassett
    The old days on commercial radio were just about perfect, so some say. Listening back though, one wonders whether the output of some stations would still have commanded such impressive audiences, had there been anything else decent on FM to choose from.
    Judge for yourself, with this delicious unintentionally hilarious extreme example of the daytime phone fare offered by Plymouth Sound in its early days. A lengthy swap shop, from the days when one gave out one’s phone number on air, delivers a list of things to be swapped from desperate callers. Whether any listener ever on any radio station managed to get exactly what they wanted in exchange for something they didn’t want, we shall never know. And I just wonder whether the woman calling ‘Mr (David) Bassett’ for a ‘grumble’ about ‘jumble’ was Margaret Thatcher. Certainly sounded that way.
    9 min
  • 1092: Radio 3 changes frequency in 1978
    1978 saw stations packing their trunks and moving homes up and down the band, both commercial and BBC. My good friends at Trent quietly moved 1kHz from 998 to 999 AM – as the separation between channels became a neat 9 kHz - but other changes, not least at the BBC, were more substantial.
    On 23th November 1978. Radio 2 waved farewell to Long Wave, making way for Radio 4. 693 and 909 kHz became Radio 2; and Radio 1 moved off its old 247 wavelength – over to 275 and 285; leaving 247 for poor old Radio 3. I use wavelengths, rather than frequencies, in the latter clause as the digits are but so familiar, thanks to generations of jingles.
    The UK was also given 227 kHz, but did not rush into using it. I recall during my time at the Radio Authority, the regulator debated, rather quickly, whether to bother.
    The frequency changes were a major project. The BBC plonked little stickers through the doors of all households. Indeed, some lucky old radio sets may still have them on.
    Enjoy here a beautifully cynical view of the whole thing from John Holmstrom on Radio 3 as it looked forward to a new home on Radio 1's former home at 247.
    2 min

About Radio Moments - Clips

From the publisher's feed

Vintage clips from UK radio - and more recent broadcasts of note.