The long wave signal on 200 kHz / 1500 metres was transmitted fromDroitwich in theEnglish Midlands[6] (as it still is today forBBC Radio 4, although adjusted slightly to 198 kHz / 1515 metres from 1 February 1988)[7][8] and gave fairly good coverage of most of theUnited Kingdom, although a number of low-powermedium wave transmitters (using 1215 kHz / 247 metres) were added later to fill in local blank spots.[9][5] Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, the Light Programme (along with the BBC's two other national stations – theBBC Home Service and theBBC Third Programme) gradually became available on what was known at the time asVHF, as the BBC developed a network of localFM transmitters.[5]
From its first day of broadcasting in 1945 until Monday 2 September 1957, the Light Programme would be on the air from 9:00 a.m. until midnight each day, apart from Sundays when it would come on the air at 8:00 am until 11:00 pm.[10]
There was, however, a period of a year when the Light Programme was forced to end its broadcasting day one hour earlier at 11:00 p.m. This commenced in mid-February 1947 as an effect from the appallingwinter of 1946–1947 which saw a fuel shortage in the country with the government enforcing electricity saving measures, one of which was losing one hour of broadcasting per day from the Light Programme.[11][12] Even after the fuel shortage had ended by spring 1947, the 11:00 closedown each night continued asBBC Radio found itself in financial problems and needed to save money. The midnight closedown of the Light Programme resumed one year later from Sunday 11 April 1948.[13][14] The long-running soap operaThe Archers was first heard nationally on the Light Programme on New Year's Day 1951,[15] although a week-long pilot version had been broadcast on theMidlands Home Service in 1950.[16]
From Monday 2 September 1957,[citation needed] the Light Programme's broadcasting hours would start to increase, with a new early morning start time of 7:00 a.m. until midnight, later moving to 6:30 a.m.[17] from Monday 29 September 1958.[citation needed]
In 1964, broadcasting hours were increased even more, with a new morning start time of 5:30 a.m. from Monday 31 August. Up until September 1964, the Light Programme would always end its broadcasting day at midnight; however this changed on Sunday 27 September 1964, when a new closedown time of 2:02 a.m. was introduced.[18][19][20][21][22][17]
The Light Programme closed down for the last time at 2:03 a.m. on Friday 29 September 1967.[23][6] At 5:30 a.m., it was replaced byBBC Radio 2 and at 7:00 a.m. byBBC Radio 1 on medium wave.[24][6]
^abcdefghijklmnoBriggs, Asa (1979).Sound and Vision(PDF). The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom. Vol. IV. Oxford University Press. pp. 55–56, 61, 113,543–545, 849. Retrieved28 February 2024.
^"SUNDAY Light Programme".Radio Times. No. 1278. 9 April 1948. p. 9. Archived fromthe original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved28 February 2024 – via BBC Genome.
^"MONDAY Light Programme".Radio Times. No. 1221. 7 March 1947. p. 11. Archived fromthe original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved28 February 2024 – via BBC Genome.
