Seanad debates

Wednesday, 18 June 2008

Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed)

 

3:00 am

Photo of Joe O'TooleJoe O'Toole (Independent)

I want to put this matter in simple terms. If we do not make progress, I will bring it back on Report Stage in more technical terms. I will speak as simply as I can.

This concerns broadcasting and has much to do with the fact we are changing from medium wave to long wave. While this is not the business of the legislation, it is what prompted me to bring this issue forward. When RTE decided to kill medium wave and change over to long wave, I supported that approach because long wave is a clearer and better signal than medium wave. At that time, I recognised it would be better.

There was a huge issue for emigrants in Britain in particular, who felt they could no longer listen to GAA matches on a Sunday and various other programmes during the course of a weekend. Although long wave is clearer and one can listen to it on a car radio throughout the UK, the problem is that at night time it is subject to greater interference. I was in the UK some months ago and noticed that in parts where I should have received long wave on my car radio, I could not receive it. I raised this at the Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and with RTE.

Since then I have discovered something which has made me quite angry, and it is an issue of importance to the GAA, emigrant groups, cultural groups, Irish language groups and so on, namely, reception. I discovered we have capacity to broadcast on long wave at 500 KW. That is the power output that was being sent from the Summerhill transmitter when it was operated by Radio Tara and owned by an independent music broadcaster based in London. Nowadays, apparently, it is only sending out a 250 KW signal which, consequently, cannot be picked up in parts of London. I tried it last weekend in north London and I could barely get a signal although it should be easily received.

I will explain why it should be easily received. The station which is interfering with RTE long wave at night is Radio Morocco or Radio Algeria — I have forgotten which.

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