Farewell FAB 208 - Radio Luxembourg - Part 5

Documentary about the English service of Radio Luxembourg up to its final close down of its AM transmissions on 30th December 1991. BBC Copyright

[@spangles3654]

Luxy was special to me as an 8 year old with a transistor radio christmas gift i wanted to hear pop music.The only place at that time was 208 and there i was at bedtime with the earphone listening, but it kept fading. I thought it was my radio but it was the signal. Luxy was a legend, great to see the great Stuart Henry in this clip. R.I.P. Stuart.

[@timpopsma9032]

I (in Begium) was listening to radio Luxemburg, in my bed, my parents did not know it, aroud midnight, and they say on radio luxemburg, Elvis is dead, i was 10 or 11 years ols than.

[@trevordance9783]

Luxembourg was a great station broadcasting to millions throughout Europe. It's transmission area was massive. Remember listening in Majorca. Used to listen regularly from the 60's to when it closed. Shame it can't now get a slot on DAB, but I suppose it wouldn't be the same if it did. Worth a try though!

[@anthonyperkins7556]

Going off 208 m / 1440 kHz Medium Wave at the end of 1991, you knew that this was the beginning of the end for Radio Luxembourg English Service, after the closedown of 208 / 1440, they cancelled all the on air advertising and the programme sponsorship (this brought in the money) and they didn't renew anyone's employment contracts. They then thought they could last the course into the future broadcasting via the Astra 1A satellite on channel 13 11.391 GHz / H in stereo thru 7.38 / 7.56 MHz to Great Britain and Europe and on a 50kW Shortwave transmitter at Junglinster that's beamed to Canada 15350 kHz / 19.50 metres. But this was only to be lambasted by people from the CLT wanting to charge each department to use the transmitters and turning the spotlight on RTL's language departments / services to see how much money each one was making and doing financially. The result was that CLT decided the English Service was a waste of money, and so the English service was subsequently closed down by the CLT (Compagnie Luxembourgeois De Telediffusione), exactly a year later to the day, bringing back 208 metres / 1440 kHz Medium Wave at 1200kW for a last hurrah as well.... Problem is, when Radio Luxembourg went onto Astra 1A only and 15350 kHz SW and very few cable TV systems from Astra in stereo via FM, they lost a huge proportion of their audience, also nobody knew how many people were listening to Radio Luxembourg from Astra on their satellite dishes and that was the sticking point that made the CLT question the viability and the commercial reality of a satellite delivered Luxy, "how many were actually listening at home via their Astra dishes and on those cable systems relaying Luxy in stereo from Astra?". Today's radio is crap, automated, pre recorded links, automatically fired commercial breaks etc all done by computers, that's not radio that's a bloody robot!!!!!! As for Digital Radio Mondiale, that was a white elephant, a phoney Classic Rock Radio Luxembourg using 2 pathetic performance puny transmitters transmitting 40kW of power on 7295 and 7145 kHz Shortwave on a directional West North West beam to the UK was never gonna be a success as it suffered frequent problems with reception and technical issues dogging reception in the UK, also the radios were scarce and were poor with only the rubbish Morphy Richards model actually offered for sale while Roberts Radio had a much better DRM portable radio which would have worked better but they chose not to release it to the market.

[@ludovica8221]

No dont edit Savile out. We don't edit Hitler out of things. Its part of history, if we cant stomach things that have already gone by how can we learn to make the future better?

[@sarahbrummitt4320]

I remember listening to Radio Luxembourgh as a teenager, with the transistor radio under the bedclothes with me. I thought that Fab 208 was the name of a magazine in the 1970s. I never knew it was the code sign of Radio Luxembourg.

[@alexnelson9512]

*_That is exactly how I listened to Radio Luxembourg in the 1970s - losing a lot of sleep in the process!_*

[@adriatic123]

Good bye Great Radio Luxembourg ;)

[@Seal00754]

After the switch goes to off, you feel a chill come over you as the valves are now cold and so are you. Steam Radio. Great times listening to the great sound of 208. Empora Rosko did a show I seem to think. The sound up and down gave it a sort of at sea feeling. Pop music owes it alot.

[@JUGAopet1]

LUXY, TX from YUGOSLAVIA, we grow-up together & went down same year. Those were DAYS!

[@adriancalin8688]

What Émotion

[@anthonyperkins7556]

The DJ's were parading a high quality future on the Astra Satellite that would go on forever and forever......however, this wasn't to last, and exactly a year later, it all came crashing down on the Astra Satellite and 15350 kHz Shortwave exactly 12 months to the day a year later!!!!

[@dippey]

Yes agreed, I really feel I should edit him out, what do others think ? or do we accept we can't erase history.

[@dippey]

Yes your'e right about the magazine it was quite popular in the 60's and 70's.

[@night1961]

I agree that i fast forward it every time he appears & its a shame ruins a good video. But overall it brought a tear to my eye for the end of a great music station . remember the immortal words ...Power play

[@CrankCase08]

Damn right, do not revise history.

[@adriancalin8688]

Ya uitatefreedo

[@adriancalin8688]

Respect total l not for ron

[@antonyhobbs1144]

I grew up with Fab 208 in the 60's & 70's. It a shame it had to close. But all good things must come to an end

[@ewanodoherty2545]

As a presenter on a small station (103.2 Dublin City FM) I salute the Great 208 and their influence on my style, tastes in, and choice of music. By the early '90s their audience had plummeted to less than half a million, ad revenue dried up and that was it. With the licensing of independent radio in the UK from 1973 and from 1989 in Ireland (meanwhile, there were dozens of pirate stations around the country until outlawed at the end of 1988), 208 could no longer compete for listeners. End of an era 😊

[@anthonyperkins7556]

​​@@ewanodoherty2545that's not completely correct, because going on the Astra 1A satellite in stereo via a partially scrambled TV channel RTL-4 11.391 GHz H polarisation Stereo 2 7.38 / 7.56 Mhz and a low power 50 kW directional Shortwave transmitter to Canada @ 15350 kHz didn't help their situation either along with the loss of advertising and programme sponsorship (RTL cancelled all on air advertising and programme sponsorship after the 208 metres Medium Wave closed end of 1991 and didn't renew presenters employment contracts either). Later on in 1992, CLT management started moving in with no interest in broadcasting all from a money background, replacing RTL management who kept Radio Luxembourg going for old times sake, and turned the spotlight on CLT's radio services throughout Europe to see how much money and profit each one made, and they questioned how many were actually listening on their Astra satellite dishes across the UK and Europe, and via CATV systems carrying Luxy from Astra and partner stations from Astra, and with no actual figures to back it up, plus a miniscule audience @ 15350 kHz Shortwave in Canada, decided to close the satellite and shortwave offering from the Radio Luxembourg English Service at the end of 1992.

[@Isszarya]

erase