The relaunch of Big L International on 1395 kHz via the Dutch mediumwave transmitter at Trintelhaven is now expected to take place next weekend (14/15 November). A message on the website of KBC Radio, which will be providing the overnight programming, reads:
“We are almost ready for the relaunch of Big L International. We know you can’t wait for it to happen and apologise for the delay but we have been told it will take a little longer than expected to get everything done correctly and on time. However, if everything goes according to plan we hope to be up and running by next weekend. Once again we apologise, but it will be worth the wait.”
KBC Radio boss Eric van Willegen subsequently clarified that ‘next weekend’ means 14/15 November.
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 01:16
How BigL is this “new” BigL anyway.
BigL’s founder (2003) Ray Anderson is completely out, as he stated to me. And many others from the last couple of years are not involved.
As I understand the day time is still for hire/sale.
on Nov 8th, 2009 at 00:32
This article asks so many more questions than it answers, which I would dearly like to know the answers to. It sounds like a waste of a lot of money if it’s true.
The promos on the KBC site talk of broadcasting all over Europe. That isn’t possible from a 20 kW TX near to Rotterdam. The signal covers central Netherlands and a little of the surrounding area, including Germany and the east coast of England. Of course, they already broadcast worldwide via the internet and, according to Shoutcast, appear to get about 30 listeners.
They are unlikely to get many listeners broadcasting in English to the Dutch; in fact they would surely get more on the cheaper satellite medium, which would cover a greater area.
So : Why ? What is the point ? Who is funding this nonsense ? Perhaps it’s just a ploy to stop Agentschap Telecom from taking the frequency away. But then, I think the applications for the new franchises have to be submitted next year, so even if this really does happen, might it not be short-lived. ?
I notice that the Brett Orchard/Mike Read Onegold website is still online announcing “easily the most exciting prospect for the radio industry in the past twenty years” on 1395 too : http://onegold.co.uk/, so what’s that about ?
Sorry for all the questions, Andy, but if you will publish articles that warrant them ……
on Nov 8th, 2009 at 11:58
The funding is being provided by Eric van Willegen, a successful Dutch businessman who runs KBC Import/Export - http://www.k-po.com/. He wants to use the frequency at night to serve his niche market of Dutch truckers. He has run KBC Radio as a hobby for decades, mostly as a pirate station, latterly on shortwave via Lithuania. The promos you refer to on the KBC website were the ones used on shortwave, which was indeed heard all over Europe. The main programme from truckers at 0500-0600 UTC will be in Dutch, not English.
Eric had an agreement with Big L last year, but their mediumwave transmitter was switched off due to financial problems before he could make the switch. So a few months ago he decided that the only way to get the transmitter back on the air was to fund the whole 21 hours of airtime himself. I don’t know the details of the arrangements between KBC Radio and Big L. And even if I did, I don’t discuss other people’s private business in this blog.
All the existing analogue licences, AM and FM, have been extended by several years as the Dutch government wants all stations to go digital by 2015. Whether that happens, and how quickly, remains to be seen.
The OneGold project is irrelevant, and has no connection with either KBC Radio or Big L. I don’t know if it’s a serious project or not. But I think it’s a little harsh to describe a project in another country, which you admit to not knowing much about, as ‘nonsense’. The Dutch part is certainly not nonsense. The Dutch truckers’ market is a niche market, which is also served by our own station (RNW) for two hours a day, of course without commercials. Mr van Willegen will no doubt use the airtime on 1395 to promote his business and sell communications products.
on Nov 8th, 2009 at 16:28
There is more worthwhile info there than I can find anywhere else on the web ( Digital Spy etc. ), and it solves several mysteries.
Apologies for calling it nonsense, then. Until you related the true story, it was coming across that this was more money down the drain like it was last time. If a Dutchman is running a station with its transmitter in the Netherlands, that should, in theory give it a better chance of success. I think the station would be better renamed and with programmes entirely in Dutch, but perhaps the Birmingham owners of Big L still have some hold.
Thanks for the info, Andy. I’m sure anyone who reads it will feel they understand a bit more now.
on Nov 11th, 2009 at 14:57
The signal is very great here in scandinavia during dayligth hours in the winter season. Great in my car radio in dark hours in summertime.
Don’t be neagive to all kinds of trials of am-radio. The format is the base of success.
on Dec 1st, 2009 at 02:11
http://www.kbcradio.eu/ is now saying, “We are ready for the relaunch of Big L International.” instead of the previous message saying that they were still waiting for parts, which was originally posted on November 13th.
on Dec 1st, 2009 at 13:09
And before that, it said ( quote ) “We are almost ready for the relaunch of Big L International.”
and before that it said that they were waiting for Broadcast Partners to give the go ahead
and before that it said they were going to be broadcasting one week later than first planned
and before that it said they would be starting on the 1 November
I’m not sure where the one about “waiting for parts” fits into these.
on Dec 1st, 2009 at 16:16
And before that it said that shortwave transmissions will resume if no mediumwave service starts until 1 Dec, since “we can not wait for ever”. So what will the schedule be…?
The German Anorak scene claims that the UK side has lost interest in using this 25 kW transmitter for the requested price tag. Just mentioned for what it’s worth, since this topic keeps popping up here again and again.
on Dec 1st, 2009 at 16:34
I think they are referring to OneGold, the station planned by Mike Read which has no backers. They have finally seen sense and announced that they will not, after all, be using this transmitter. If, indeed, that station ever sees the light of day, which seems extemely unlikely. It is, by all accounts, a separate project from Big L. But Big L doesn’t have any money either
Of course it’s nonsensical for a UK station to broadcast on a medium-powered AM transmitter designed to serve another country - with the exception of BBC World Service, of course
But Big L seems to have re-invented itself as a low-budget operation that might be able to provide daytime programming if someone else pays the transmission costs.
I believe Eric van Willegen has already invested a considerable amount of money in getting the station back on the air for his Dutch service, and I don’t think at this stage he will just abandon it and return to shortwave. But when there is something factual to report, as opposed to the endless speculation, most of it ill-informed, that’s currently going on, you’ll read it here.
on Dec 2nd, 2009 at 16:08
What I referred to where basically reviews of all these endless discussions and speculations, done by people who still bother to read them (but still find it just too much trouble to sort out who is what on the other side, OneGold vs. Big L etc.).
But at the same time here in Germany the whole thing meanwhile starts to fall into oblivion even amongst Anoraks. The only question still being asked is what Eric van Willegen will do next.
on Dec 2nd, 2009 at 16:17
It will be dutch service during daytime hours in the regional coverage area.
English in the skywave hours all over Europe.
on Dec 2nd, 2009 at 16:21
Well, I expect it will liven up when the station starts broadcasting, which I believe will be quite soon. What amuses me is that some of these people haven’t a clue who’s who. I remember a few years ago, I think it was Ruud Poeze (who originally held the licence for 1395) posting a message on one of the UK forums and being told by someone that his information was incorrect! I nearly fell off the chair laughing
on Jan 29th, 2010 at 09:39
I can hear Big L here in Worcester, UK at night and it’s a pleasant alternative to the other oldies stations. Reminds me a lot of the good old pirates in the ’60s, so it’s getting that right. Long live medium wave!
on Jan 29th, 2010 at 11:09
AM is great, still high bids on licences. The EU law of competition says that all broadcasting bands below 30 MHz will be aviable for commerciall radio in AM/DRM.
Band l and ll to FM/DRM+. Band lll mux 5 - 13 to DAB+/DMB.
Banmd IV/V to DVB T2 Radio. In facto, you have the rigth to use all broadcasting bands.The rigth to compete with other stations in all bands.