Alan Pennington goes far South and takes a look at the history, target audience and practicalities of the BBC World Service’s annual Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast, which will, once again, be transmitted later this month.
Alan Pennington alan.pennington1@ntlworld.com
Midwinter’s Day in Antarctica (Tuesday 21st June 2022) sees the biggest celebration of the year at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research bases in the British Antarctic Territory (Fig. 1). It is bigger than even Christmas Day. For the staff left overwintering there, it is a day to look forward to and prepare for in the middle of their cold winter isolation.
At the main BAS base at Rothera on Adelaide Island south of the Antarctic Circle (Fig. 2), the Sun will not appear above the mountains for many weeks; it will not rise at all between 14th and 28th June. Cherished Midwinter’s Day traditions include the exchange of homemade gifts, the base commanders preparing breakfast, and later a multi-course feast. Some of the traditional entertainment includes watching John Carpenter’s 1982 horror film, The Thing, set on Antarctic bases.
And a ritual that continues, alongside modern-day communications, is listening to the BBC World Service’s annual Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast on short wave, produced especially for the BAS. The broadcast is just half an hour in length but packed with recorded messages from families of overwintering BAS staff members at those bases still manned at this time. A record chosen by each base is played, plus there are messages from celebrities (including Sir David Attenborough in 2021).
Since 2016, the programme has been hosted by Welsh singer and DJ Cerys Matthews (Fig. 3) and produced by Martin Redfern for Boffin Media.
Select Audience and Global Reach
The Midwinter Broadcast’s primary audience totalled just 35 in 2021. These were the staff at BAS research bases at Rothera (Adelaide Island, Fig. 2) and King Edward Point and Bird Island (South Georgia).
Until 2017, the audience also included around 16 ‘over-winterers’ at the most southerly base, Halley Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf. However, this is now unmanned in winter because of a crack in the ice shelf the base is sat upon.
The short wave audience is boosted manyfold by SWLs and DXers around the world who eagerly await this short and unique broadcast each year, which is likened to eavesdropping on a private party!
The BAS has confirmed to me that there will be a Midwinter Broadcast again this year. However, the short wave frequencies are only confirmed a few days before the 21st of June each year.
Four shortwave frequencie
