RTÉ to give free and half-price radios to needy after station changes wavebands

RTÉ IS to give away free radios to the most needy and half-price radios to those who request them following the closure of its medium wave service.

The service shut down at 3pm yesterday at the end of a nostalgic hour-and-a-half long programme presented by veteran broadcaster Brendan Balfe.

It ended with a song that was the theme tune of the old Radio Éireann programme Hospital Requests and by coincidence a song as old as the service itself.

Someone To Watch Over was first recorded in 1926, the same year that RTÉ's medium wave service began on what was then known as 2RN.

RTÉ has faced a barrage of criticism from politicians, elderly groups and emigrants over its decision, which will save the national broadcaster €1.5 million a year. Critics have said it will deprive elderly people who only have MW radios, those living in areas with poor FM coverage and the Irish living in Britain of a radio service.

RTÉ claims the service is unnecessary given that the vast majority of people listen to Radio 1 on either FM or long wave and it needs the money to fund its new digital audio broadcasting (DAB) services.

Last week RTÉ began transmitting seven DAB services, including a children's channel and a 24-hour news service, on a trial basis in the Cork and Limerick region. It is already giving DAB trials in Dublin and the northeast.

An RTÉ spokeswoman said the station had not received any substantial complaints from the public about the end of the medium wave service, but had taken the decision to make radios available to those who might need them following consultation with St Vincent de Paul and the major religious denominations. RTÉ is making vouchers available for €50 Roberts radios which can be bought for €25, while there is an undisclosed number of free radios for those who cannot afford to buy them.

Fine Gael communications spokesman Simon Coveney said there should be a review of how the radio services were working after a month to see what effect it had had and what uptake there had been on RTÉ's offer of subsidised or free radios.

"I'm sceptical enough that this is going to work. The issue for me is that there are many people who have no idea that medium wave is being turned off unless they were listening yesterday. We are going to have to wait and see if the effect is as negative as many people are fearing.

"I don't think the numbers are massive, but I do think that the people involved are people who would be more reliant on their radio than perhaps some of the rest of us would be."

Age Action spokesman Eamon Timmins said many elderly people would be put out by the fact that the Mass, which used to be broadcast on medium wave, would now be broadcast on long wave on Sunday mornings, although many elderly people did not have long-wave radios.

"This is supposed to be part of RTÉ's public service broadcasting remit and RTÉ are failing in their responsibilities," he said.

The Emigrant Advice Network has called on RTÉ to boost its long-wave signal to compensate for the loss of medium wave for Irish emigrants living in Britain. It says the signal was weakened last year to make way for DAB broadcasting.

RTÉ has confirmed that it has been unsuccessful in its attempts to stop an Algerian radio station, Tipaza, drowning out its signal on LW252 at night in Britain.