BBC Radio 4 - The Shipping Forecast (filmed version)

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• published: 11 Aug 2017
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BACKGROUND The Shipping Forecast is a live BBC Radio broadcast of spoken weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The forecasts sent over the Navtex system use a similar format and the same sea areas. The waters around the British Isles are divided into 31 sea areas, also known as weather areas (see map at close). There are four broadcasts per day at the following (UK local) times: 0048 – transmitted on FM and LW. Includes weather reports from an extended list of coastal stations at 0052 and an inshore waters forecast at 0055 and concludes with a brief UK weather outlook for the coming day. The broadcast finishes at approximately 0058. 0520 – transmitted on FM and LW. Includes weather reports from coastal stations at 0525, and an inshore waters forecast at 0527. 1201 – normally transmitted on LW only. 1754 – transmitted only on LW on weekdays, as an opt-out from the PM programme, but at weekends transmitted on both FM and LW. The unique and distinctive sound of these broadcasts has led to their attracting an audience much wider than that directly interested in maritime weather conditions. INTRODUCTORY MUSIC The last broadcast of the Shipping Forecast at 0048 each day is traditionally preceded by the playing of "Sailing By", a light orchestral piece by Ronald Binge. This is only very rarely omitted, generally when the schedule is running late. Though occasionally played in full, it is common for only a section of the piece to be broadcast; that section being the length required to fill the gap between the previous programme's ending and the start of the forecast at precisely 0048. More importantly, "Sailing By" serves as a vital identification tool – it is distinctive and as such assists anyone attempting to tune in. The forecast is then followed by the National anthem and the closedown of the station for the day, with the BBC World Service taking over the frequencies after the pips of the Greenwich Time Signal at 0100. THIS FILM On 18 December 1993, as part of the Arena Radio Night, BBC Radio 4 and BBC 2 collaborated on a simultaneous broadcast so the shipping forecast – read that night by Laurie Macmillan – could be seen as well as heard. To date, it is the only time that it has been broadcast on television. (Courtesy of Wikipedia). YouTuber RandomRadioJottings kindly agreed to my cross-posting the footage he posted on his lovely Channel. OPENING SLIDE This includes the Greenwich Time Signal (GTS), which I included for artistic effect (it does not immediately precede the Shipping Forecast). The GTS, popularly known as "the pips", is a series of six short tones broadcast at one-second intervals by many BBC Radio stations. They mark the precise start of each hour (at the start of the final 0.5 second tone). Their utility in time calibration is diminishing since digital broadcasting (eg DAB) entails time lags owing to network latency.