When the BBC announced it was no longer beaming programming specifically toward North America, there was an outcry in the SWL community. Many people, myself included, did not realize how few BBC shortwave transmissions were still directed toward North America anyway. I had long known that a favorite frequency, 5975, was a relay from Antigua. What I didn't know was that the BBC considered this frequency aimed at Central America and the Caribbean. So, this frequency, which I have used for something like thirty years now, remains untouched.
Nonetheless, I must confess to being rattled by the BBC's rhetoric (at least I was not alone), which plainly said they no longer cared whether people in North America heard them on shortwave or not. The REAL audience the BBC courts in America is the Public Radio/Television crowd. But this has resulted in a denial of reality at Bush House, the reality being that outside the four or five largest US cities, BBC coverage on FM and teevee SAP channels is dangerously spotty or nonexistent, often limited when present to a few hours every now and then.
The reality, though, is that with a good receiver and antenna in a relatively low noise environment, the BBC is still VERY available here on the Third Coast. I suspect the same is true of the other two.
Follows a digest of the strongest frequencies available here during the waking hours. You may need to do a little listening in your own region to cover up any blank spots left by freqs that do well here but not where you live.
My first news broadcast in the morning is usually Australia on 9598, around 12-1400 UTC, depending. This is because Australia, being a LONG haul, is most easily heard when the sun is just below or just above the horizon, and I need my fix of Asian and Pacific news.
After that, I try to catch the BBC on 15190, which also comes from Antigua. This is a very loud and reliable frequency, good until 1700 UTC.
In addition to 5975 from Antigua, 17830 from Ascension is often loud in the Southern United States, even though we are off the back of the beam, as the BBC uses this frequency for South, West, and Central Africa. This frequency is good from about 1800 UTC.
Ascension is often audible later in the afternoon on 15400. This signal arrives via multipath, so signal strengths vary widely. Without a good antenna this may or may not be audible. In a pinch 12095 can usually fill on for 15400 if conditions are too poor to hear the latter well, but it suffers from RTTY interference and anyway, 25m is sometimes also marginal to Africa (another Ascension signal) this time of day. Even so, it is usually loud enough to be heard on my single-tube regenerative receiver.
By now it's 0000 UTC or so and 5975 is almost always audible, and usually loud. This signal signs off around 0400 UTC. I try to catch Australia again on 15515 before bedtime, so I rarely need a frequency later than this, but 7120, from Meyerton, South Africa, will serve in the event of insomnia or a deteriorating world situation. This frequency is supposed to go away in the next few years, however, as the Amateur 40m band is extended up to 7300 kHz world-wide.
Well, these are the freqs what works for me. There are many other BBC frequencies from relay stations around the world available. I occasionally catch them from Sri Lanka, for example, which is always fun, but usually not loud enough to be a regular news source. It may be much louder in the Northeast, both because the path is much shorter, and because the leg eliminated is over land.
So, get a copy of the World Radio and Television Handbook or Passport to Worldband Radio and do some listening. After you get to know which relay stations are heard well in your area you can try other frequencies and times from the same relay.
And, occasionally you may even hear Rampisham or Skelton...