Transmissions
A number of items in the BBC Radio 4 schedule are carried on the long-wave (LW) frequency only: these include Yesterday In Parliament at 0835–0900 on Tuesdays to Fridays, The Daily Service at 0945–1000 on Mondays to Fridays, the Shipping Forecast at 1201–1204 daily and 1754–1757 on Mondays to Fridays, and Test Match Special during international cricket games.
The Radio 4 LW signal also carries radio data encoded using phase modulation, giving a time-of-day signal, and control signals for Economy 7 electric-heating systems.
BBC Radio 5 Live is broadcast on 693 kHz medium wave (MW), providing coverage for most of the English Midlands and Wales at a signal strength (150 kW) which is one of the strongest for that station, equal to Brookmans Park and second only to Moorside Edge.
During World War II coded messages, read during normal programme broadcasts, were sent to the French Resistance using the transmitter.
In 2011 as part of the BBC cuts it was announced that there would be no re-investment in long wave which will mean an eventual end to BBC Radio 4 in this part of the radio spectrum. It was later announced that the transmitter relies on a pair of metre-high glass valves that last between one and ten years. There were less than ten remaining in the world, and it was not feasible to manufacture new ones.
Read more about this topic: Droitwich Transmitting Station