Changes To Times of BBC Shipping Forecasts Due To BBC Managing COVID

[Deleted member 36384]

Maritime Safety Information (MSI) reduced service: BBC Radio 4 Weather Bulletins: -

https://assets.publishing.service.g...MSI_Service_Reduction_Plan_BBC_Radio_4_V2.pdf

Slight changes to BBC Shipping Forecast broadcast times

From Monday (18 January) there are some changes for the foreseeable future to the way the BBC will broadcast the UK Marine Weather Service – including the Shipping Forecast – owing to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19).
On weekdays, there will be three broadcasts on LW and FM, 0048, 0520 and 1203, with one further broadcast on LW only at 1754.
At the weekends, there will be three broadcasts, all on LW and FM at 0048, 0520 and 1754. Her Majesty’s Coastguard will be broadcasting as normal via NAVTEX and MF/VHF marine radio. Strong wind and gale warnings will still be available as and when needed.
Andrew Colenutt, Head of Hydrography and Meteorology at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: ‘We completely understand and support the decision of the BBC which faces its own challenges. They are a key partner in bringing this vital information to mariners and are doing all they can to make sure the service continues. ‘We continue to support the maritime industry at this difficult time and have taken all the measures we can to protect crew and the lifelines they are providing to the UK. Mariners should be assured that Maritime Safety Information will continue to be broadcast, still meeting the requirements of the international standard known as SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea).’
For the latest information please visit: Weather broadcasts and Maritime safety information: leaflets

 

[RupertW]

Does it really matter. It’s been decades since I needed to listen to the forecasts and have used the internet for at least 20 years and a fax service before weekend sails in the early 90s.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Maybe not to you Rupert, but it might be to others. It is just information for those who may use the service.

 

[Mark-1]

Maybe not to you Rupert, but it might be to others. It is just information for those who may use the service.

But how many of those people are there? It must be a tiny number of people, I'm sure they could be served in a different way, or at different times. Maybe go to a single 2am transmission or somesuch.

 

[Minchsailor]

You don't get any internet in the middle of the North Sea half way between the Shetland Islands and NW Norway.

But you do get BBC LW.

 

[RupertW]

But how many of those people are there? It must be a tiny number of people, I'm sure they could be served in a different way, or at different times. Maybe go to a single 2am transmission or somesuch.

I think a better way might be to keep the forecasts at all the normal traditional times but just auto play them randomly from the last 50 years - that will satisfy and soothe the vast majority of the audience who like them.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

But how many of those people are there? It must be a tiny number of people, I'm sure they could be served in a different way, or at different times. Maybe go to a single 2am transmission or somesuch.

I don’t care, zero interest, your point is irrelevant to the posting. The purpose of the post was to raise awareness of the change in times for those that are interested.

You are at liberty, of course, to post what you want. However, if you want to discuss the relevance of BBC radio shipping forecasts, you could start another thread, or open one of the previous threads on the matter you are interested in.

 

[RupertW]

You don't get any internet in the middle of the North Sea half way between the Shetland Islands and NW Norway.

But you do get BBC LW.

True of course but I would far rather start off with a decent 3 or 5 day forecast with detailed and moving charts now than a Radio 4 forecast of the type I relied on 30 years ago.

 

[RupertW]

I don’t care, zero interest, your point is irrelevant to the posting. The purpose of the post was to raise awareness of the change in times for this that are interested.

You are at liberty, of course, to post what you want. However, if you want to discuss the relevance of BBC radio shipping forecasts, you could start another thread, or open one of the previous threads on the matter you are interested in.

I’m afraid you have started a thread on the relevance of the BBC radio shipping forecast.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I think a better way might be to keep the forecasts at all the normal traditional times but just auto play them randomly from the last 50 years - that will satisfy and soothe the vast majority of the audience who like them.

Your criticism of those who listen to BBC radio shipping forecasts is unwarranted to a simple notification of schedule changes.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I’m afraid you have started a thread on the relevance of the BBC radio shipping forecast.

You are mistaken, I started a thread about the changes to the BBC shipping forecasts schedule.

 

[dom]

I think a better way might be to keep the forecasts at all the normal traditional times but just auto play them randomly from the last 50 years - that will satisfy and soothe the vast majority of the audience who like them.

Lol, I guess the main use for the Shipping Forecasts is as background music to vaguely nautical TV series and whisky ads.

Probably a bit of an anachronism today, a bit like 'No Smoking' signs on airplanes.

Then again, so is the BBC!

 

[lustyd]

I just can't see how COVID could possibly affect this service. It's an audio file played out a few times a day. Surely they can find someone to read it into a microphone from home and send it in for broadcast.
I suspect that this is the beginning of the demise of the service. It's a nice excuse and they will use it to test the response of a reduced service and then use that data to further justify cuts. Personally I don't care either way as I don't use it, but whether you do or don't it's hard to argue against the fact that it's the easiest, cheapest and most convenient way to receive the data while off shore. For the tiny additional cost it's worth running.
That said, the conspiracy theorist in me is wondering whether powers that be want the LW frequencies freed up. How many people actually listen to the radio that way these days? Especially with the BBC fetish for inferior digital radio!

Thanks for posting BOB, it is useful information to be aware of!

 

[Stemar]

I'd be sorry to see them go - it's a bit of tradition, but I do wonder how relevant they are now. If I'm planning an offshore passage, I'm going to be looking at the charts and forecasts at least a week in advance, so I've got a pretty good idea what's going to happen while I'm out there. If conditions are so unstable that I don't trust a five day forecast, I should probably stay on the club pontoon and built up its petty cash in the bar.

Yes, it's nice to have them, but I rather think that, certainly for leisure sailors, by the time you're too far offshore to get internet, and too long gone for the forecast you got before you left to be any help, you're going to have to deal with what you get. Maybe for offshore fishing, when they might be gone for a week or two at a time, but satcoms and grib files are still there, and little dearer now than GPS was 20 years ago.

 

[dunedin]

You don't get any internet in the middle of the North Sea half way between the Shetland Islands and NW Norway.

But you do get BBC LW.

But you do get pretty decent 3-4 day weather forecasts these days. So we use that on Scotland / Norway passage.
Plus there are so many bored oil support vessels in VHF range a quick call would get a forecast update.

We don’t carry (indeed own) a LW radio these days.

 

[prv]

I believe anything commercial that’s going to be outside of VHF range is required to carry Navtex and either satcomms or MF/HF anyway. Those TV series about Peterhead prawn trawlers and Cornish drift-netters regularly showed the skipper in the wheelhouse in the middle of the North Sea phoning up his man back in port for a moan and a natter and the prices at market.

Pete

 

[neil_s]

Thank you, BlowingOldBoots! I still have my Roberts cassette radio with the timer.

 

[savageseadog]

It's useful redundancy. It's a back up when all other things fail. It's the same thinking behind reataining lighthouses and nav marks even though with GPS they are probably unused 90% of the time.

 

[JumbleDuck]

You don't get any internet in the middle of the North Sea half way between the Shetland Islands and NW Norway.

Iridium, Inmarsat, Thuraya and others might disagree.

 

[penberth3]

Your criticism of those who listen to BBC radio shipping forecasts is unwarranted to a simple notification of schedule changes.

The "Weather" doesn't stop at the High Water Mark - it's a useful forecast for the whole country. If the wind's in your direction you know what's coming!