BBC Far Eastern Relay Station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Between 1946 and 2023, the BBC Far Eastern Relay Station broadcast BBC World Service radio programmes to large parts of Asia on shortwave and longwave. Transmitting from a number of different sites, notably Tebrau in Malaysia (1953-1979) and then Kranji in Singapore (1979-2023), the station was one of a number of BBC "relay" stations around the world - so named because they "relayed" programmes primarily generated in London - which also included Cyprus, Hong Kong and Oman. The station played a key role in bringing the BBC's impartial news to millions of Asian listeners in the post-war period, when the Cold War was at its height.
Location | Lim Chu Kang, Singapore |
---|---|
Coordinates | 1.4201524°N 103.7278319°E / 1.4201524; 103.7278319 |
Built | 1977 |
Each site was built on a vast scale, comprising studios, a transmitter hall and giant feeder cables leading out to a large "aerial field" where masts carried a complex array of antennas for transmitting multiple radio programmes simultaneously to different destinations on different bands and wavelengths. At least in the case of the Tebrau site, there was also extensive on-site housing for around a hundred multi-ethnic staff and their families, as well as sporting and social facilities.
The BBC Far Eastern Relay Station closed in July 2023, after 75 years of broadcasting, as the site was reportedly needed for development by the Singapore Government.