A government checklist telling British households to keep a battery-powered or wind-up radio is sending shoppers to retailers, and the ensuing rush on physical receivers offers US broadcasters and lawmakers a live example of how to encourage in-home AM/FM access.
As reported by RadioToday, radio sales in the UK have risen by as much as 160% after the government encouraged households to keep a battery-powered or wind-up FM radio for emergencies.
The advice is part of the Be Ready campaign, which the Cabinet Office launched on October 22 as the first stage of a three-year program. It urges households to prepare for power cuts, severe weather, cyberattacks, and other disruptions when mobile or internet connections may be down. The checklist lists a battery-powered or wind-up FM radio separately from a charged power bank and suggests writing down the frequencies of the local and national stations used for news.
The guidance also emphasized the importance of terrestrial radio signals.
Listening is increasingly digital, with broadcasters relying on DAB, smart speakers, and online streaming, yet the checklist specifically recommends FM, even though many stations now broadcast only on digital platforms. The guidance does not identify a single national emergency frequency. In June, Rhodri Talfan Davies told a House of Lords committee that the BBC would concentrate emergency information on two major radio frequencies during a national power outage while keeping localized FM and DAB broadcasts.
