Free Radio Campaigner David Prewett RIP

Free Radio Protest 8 Nov 1967 at opening of BBC Radio Leicester

David Prewett leading an FRA free radio protest on 8th November 1967 at the opening of BBC Radio Leicester

It is with deep sadness we report the death of leading UK free radio campaigner, David Prewett, who died on 27th August 2023 aged 87. David worked tirelessly in the 1960s and early 1970s for ending monopoly radio on the UK mainland.

Starting in 1965, David was the leader of a listeners organisation based in Oxford campaigning for the introduction of UK commercial and non-commercial radio in addition to the BBC. By early 1967, with the UK government poised to ban the very popular offshore “pirate” stations, David became a founder member and hon. Secretary & Public Relations officer for the Free Radio Association (FRA) and a year later, together with other FRA colleagues, David formed and was leader of the National Commercial Radio Movement (NCRM), later to become the Campaign for Independent Broadcasting (CIB).

David possessed both the technical radio knowledge and the skills for getting publicity combined with the mild-mannered knack of working well with colleagues and being tireless at parliamentary lobbying. In short he was an indefatigable campaigner.

It was David’s technical knowledge which enabled a practical plan setting out how radio stations in addition to the BBC could be established in Britain despite limited available medium wave frequencies as set out in CIB’s 1969 “Sound Broadcasting Study“.

This provided an invaluable argument for David, together with CIB’s Press & Public Relations colleague, Martin Rosen and others for gaining media publicity as well as for intensive lobbying of MP’s in the House of Commons after the government changed in 1970.

A few examples:

November 1967 : See photo above with David Prewett, centre, leading an FRA free radio protest on 8th November 1967 at the opening of Radio Leicester, the BBC’s very first local station. This protest was not only against BBC monopoly radio but also because the BBC had stated that their local stations would be financed out of the national license fee – clearly unfair because all listeners would pay even when located outside the range of any local station. Note: David’s wife, Jill, also in this photo.

August 1968 : Article in “The Times” newspaper re. Free Radio “Coffin Demonstration” at 10, Downing Street, London marking 1st anniversary of outlawing of offshore radio stations with amusing annotation by David P.

1968 : David Prewett’s “Sound Broadcasting Study” published by NCRM-CIB.

December 1968 : Article in “Record Retailer” magazine about proposals for commercial radio including the “Sound Broadcasting Study“.

May 1970 : Letter from David Prewett to Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, castigating his government for manipulating UK sound broadcasting policy with examples of their misleading statements.

14th June 1970 : David Prewett speaking at the Free Radio rally in London’s Hyde Park a few days before the 1970 General Election. Radio Caroline’s Ronan O’Rahilly and CIB’s Martin Rosen are also included in this recording.

July 1970 : Meeting with Chris Chataway – Minister Of Posts & Telecommunications

2013 : David Prewett remembers…

More examples

 

Listening to BBC Radio Without Tears

A few days ago CIB’s David Prewett sent me a link to Jack Schofield’s article in “The Guardian” of 5th March 2015 with the headline: “Do I need to buy a new internet radio to listen to BBC Radio?”. In it he suggests ways to resolve the negative consequences of the BBC’s recent decision to drop support for some internet streaming formats such as WMA and AAC which has led to many UK internet radio listeners being left out in the cold.

When suggesting how listeners can resolve the issue, Jack Schofield correctly points out that BBC radio streams can be accessed using almost any PC, smartphone or tablet. However, he fails to mention a useful little tool which has been around for a few years that can easily resolve many radio listening problems both at home and in the car.

So what solution am I referring to?

Well, this little device is usually hardly larger than a pack of cigarettes and can be used almost anywhere since it is powered either by a couple of AA batteries or your car’s cigarette lighter socket, or any USB connection. Of course, if you prefer, you can always use a wall socket.

Just plug this device into your PC, smartphone or tablet at home or on the move and it will play any radio station you have tuned to, through any FM radio receiver within a radius of up to 50 yards. That will certainly be a big enough range for any car and in almost all homes unless you own a vast mansion!

These useful little devices are called FM transmitters and need not cost more than about $100.00, sometimes less. You can select to transmit in Stereo or Mono on any FM frequency from 88 to 108 MHz.. You should, of course, follow any local regulations but it won’t usually cause a problem since the transmitting range is limited.

Finding a suitable FM transmitter isn’t too difficult. A Google or Amazon search will bring up a range of devices to choose from. As for me, I’ve installed two of these FM transmitters from WholeHouseTransmitter.com in my home. They include all the connector leads you need and the transmitters have been giving me excellent service with no problems for more than two years.

2 more Quick Tips to help overcome the recent BBC radio stream changes…

1. Avoid the “Listen Now” buttons on BBC and other UK radio websites. Instead use a comprehensive and regularly updated free portal like http://www.radiofeeds.co.uk as mentioned in the Guardian article.

2. Use VLC as your default media player. VLC is an open source, cross-platform multimedia player that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. There are versions for PC, Mac, Android, all free at: http://www.videolan.org/.

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