[Stooky Bill]

There's 3 real reasons 198 LW still exists - switching electricity meters, the shipping forecast and British people abroad who want to listen to Radio 4. 

Is the final point a genuine reason, or just an inadvertent bonus for expats? The BBC doesn’t have any obligation to provide its domestic services to people outside the country. Plus wouldn’t the vast majority of British people abroad have been listening online for many years now anyway?

Less of a reason now, though I don't know how much they geoblock Radio 4. I imagine the majority of its listeners these days are either cricket fans or abroad.... or both. 

However back in the early 90s there was a big campaign by British immigrants abroad when it was threatened. 

During the Gulf War they split Radio 4 and put rolling news 'Scud FM' on FM. This gave them the taste for rolling news the BBC wanted to start a new rolling news radio station. The original plan was for it to go onto 198 LW. However there was such an uproar about it that it replaced Radio 5 instead. Radio 4 LW had been a sacred cow since