Radio Romania Actualități on 855 kHz: Romania's news network from Tâncăbești

What you hear

Radio România Actualități is the flagship of Romanian public radio: news every hour and headlines on the half hour, long morning and evening current-affairs programmes, sport, traffic, interviews, and music in between, with the network's interval signal before the news. It is in Romanian, a Romance language with a sound of its own, and the time checks and the name of the network, said often, make identification easy. On 855 kHz the audio is full medium-wave AM from a strong carrier.

Who transmits and why

The transmitter is at Tâncăbești, north of Bucharest, on a site that has carried the national programme for generations; the catalogue lists it at 200 kW. Romania has kept more of its medium-wave and long-wave network than almost any other country in the European Union, because much of the country is rural and hilly and a few big transmitters cover it better than hundreds of FM relays. The same network is relayed from regional transmitters on 1152 kHz at Cluj, which has its own entry, on 1179 kHz at Bacău, 558 kHz at Târgu Jiu and 756 kHz at Lugoj.

The network has, however, been trimmed. The catalogue records that since August 2025 all Romanian medium- and long-wave transmitters run only from 06:00 to 22:00 local time and at half their former power, a saving measure that cut the night hours when the signals travelled furthest. For 855 kHz that gives 03:00 to 19:00 UTC during summer time and 04:00 to 20:00 UTC in winter.

When and where to listen

By day the ground wave covers Romania, Moldova and the neighbouring parts of Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Ukraine, and receivers in that region hear the station at any hour it is on. Medium wave carries far only after dark, and the shortened schedule means the long-distance window is now the evening rather than the night: in winter the sun sets over Bucharest before 15:00 UTC, so from then until the 20:00 UTC sign-off the signal reaches Poland, Austria, Germany, Italy and, on good nights, Scandinavia and Britain. In summer it signs off about an hour after sunset and little is heard beyond the Balkans.

855 kHz has other users in Europe, among them a strong station in Spain, and from the west that one may be on top. Receivers in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia are the sure choice; central Europe works on a winter evening. The program tunes AM; a narrower filter helps when the Spanish signal competes. The sign-off at 22:00 local time, with the anthem, is a good moment to confirm the station.

In ShackDeck

Station catalogue → Medium and long wave → Radio Romania Actualități 855 kHz. ShackDeck picks a public receiver that hears 855 kHz, tunes it and sets AM. No receiver, antenna or account of your own is needed; choose a receiver in Romania or its neighbours by day and one further away on a winter evening.