DAB uncertain future for local stations

The Future of local radio stations is in doubt as plans to switch to DAB come to fruition.

Guardian media reports this morning that the Lib Dem MP,Alistair Carmichael,said there was

widespread concern" from small independent stations that the digital economy bill would leave them facing an uneven playing field.Over 100 local stations still do not have a clear digital migration path and are likely to be consigned to an uncertain future on the analogue spectrum once digital switchover has occurred. It is important the government addresses this matter before committing to analogue switch-off."

The all encompassing I-player for digital radio

Acording to Ian Burrell in the Indy this morning

A single website which offers users the choice of the entire output of the British radio industry with potentially up to 500 different networks could be available to internet users within months.

The prototype will be ready by Christmas having been worked on by both the BBC and commercial organisations.

It is anticipated that a site which will build on the popularity of the BBC's Radio Player service, which offers users the 10 BBC UK-wide networks, plus the World Service and 46 regional stations.

says the paper

Interim Digital Britain report is out

The interim digital report is out.You can read the full version here at the department of culture's website.

The report produces a 22 action plan with its main areas of interest being being the creation of a total braod band solution covering the whole of the country by 2012 using a mixture of fixed,mobile and wireless technology with a service up to 2mg.

Allied to that a crackdown on ISP's supporting illegal down loads and file sharing and a relook at the issue of copy right.

Foe digital radio there is a pledge to committ at a future time to analogue switch off but it is unclear what that time frame will be.

For Channel 4 the government comes out in support for the service and recommends an alliance with BBC Worldwide as opposed to any merger with Channel 5.

For public service broadcasting in general,there is a belief that the market will deliver some of the content but excepting that there will be areas where intervention will be necessary to deliver.

On the subject of local and regional news the door has been firmly opened for the newspaper industry to be involved in the debate with over broadcast regional news.

Good and bad news for digital take up

Two bits of news out today which show the contrasting fortunes of the digital industry.

Sales of digital radios were down dramatically in December.500,000 were sold last month that was just half the amount sold in December 2007.

Meanwhile over 900,000 personal video recorders that are compatable with freeview were sold last year with nearly two a minute being sold in December.

The future for radio in a last Fm climate

Martin Bryant writes a good piece pomdering on thh future of radio with teh advent of free music streaming sites such as Last Fm.

Could it be that in the future some radio listeners will ditch their old receivers and use services like Spotify to listen to whatever they want whenever they want, all without ever having to listen to any inane DJ banter ever again?

However according to Martin

It won’t replace all radio listenership - many people like to have a presenter talking between records and there’s always speech radio like phone-ins, dramas and documentaries that can be replaced as easily by software. One thing’s for sure though - as much as radio is changing right now, there’s more upset to come for the execs.

I tend to agree.Personally I don't very often listen to the radio for music,last Fm and my IPod satisfy that service but speech based radio is an important part of the airwaves

"It is no coincidence most DAB radios have a retro look."

Apparently Channel 4 have still not managed to disentangle themselves from their digital radio commitments.

On that note Martin Kelner writes a good piece on DAB in Today's Guardian.

Who will be buying DAB radios this Christmas? Let me take a guess: young people, as a present for Nan so she can listen to old episodes of Hancock's Half Hour. I feel fairly safe in predicting - albeit on the basis of largely anecdotal evidence - that this festive season, a DAB radio will not be the hot must-have item for the cool daddio on the street (forgive me, I lost touch with youth speak around the time Elvis started putting on weight). In that respect, there is little change from last Christmas - or the Christmas before that.

But really DAB has branded itself on the older generation be it for old Beeb repeats on Radio 7 or additional sports commentary on Five Live extra.As Martin says

It is no coincidence most DAB radios have a retro look.

Channel 4 blames economics for Digital Radio u turn

It was not the greatest of shocks that Channel 4 has effectively pulled the plug on its commitment to Digital Radio.

Its announcement earlier today that it's pulling out of a consortium in which it is the majority shareholder was due to the current state of the media market and in particular the fall in advertising.

One of the stations was to be a competitor to Radio 4.Although the broadcaster will save £10m next year on the back of this announcment,it may have been its commitment to the digital radio medium rather than the economic cl mate that was to blame.

There had been signs over the past few months that the station was having doubts and the actions of other media groups with GCap springing to mind.

John Plunkett writing on Guardian media says

Commercial radio groups have been reluctant to invest further in the platform because, despite encouraging takeup of digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio sets, they have been unable to make it pay.
There is now only one national commercial digital station not already available on analogue, Planet Rock.

GCAP abandons Digital Radio

Despite the fact that the sale of digital radios hit 1m in the last quarter of 2007 and we now own 6.5m of them,GCap has announced today that it is to close its two digital only stations,the Jazz and Planet Rock.

The multiplex provider will also be selling its majority stake in Digital One.The company says that the move will save £9m following a strategic review

Is there further evidence that digital Radio is in decline? Both the BBC and Channel 4 have reaffirmed their support for the paltform since the decision was announced.

No,this seems to stem from the unique position that GCap is in,as an attempt to boost profits in its battle to fight off predators.Indeed at the same time the Company announces that it wants to chase the I-Pod generation by doing a deal with Apple to stream its radio coverage to the I-Phone.

The one good thing that will come out of this is that digital radio owner will now have two more channels to listen to the birdsong which is currently being broadcast on the spot where OneWord used to broadcast.

Reports suggests that it is getting more listeners than OneWord ever got

The future of digital radio

Paul Revoir writing in this morning's Mail asks the question Will digital radio follow the march into hi-tech oblivion?

Digital sets are at risk of becoming obsolete unless sales pick up, industry analysts warned yesterday.
That would mean they follow a host of other gadgets - such as Betamax video cassettes and mini-disc audio players, which were bought by millions but are now mere curiosities.

I sincerely hope that this is not the case but the runes of the last few months have not been good.

Guardian media reports that

With three of the largest radio groups having reduced their commitment to the DAB platform in recent months, their stations having been replaced by a mix of ethnic, religious and non-commercial broadcasters, the future health of the DAB platform must be under question."

Channel 4 are due to launch a series of services but their viability must now be questioned in the current climate.

Station of the stars

Some nostalgia from the Economist

EVERY evening in 1960s Britain millions of young people—many hiding under their bedsheets—would twiddle the dials on their transistor radios. They were tuning in on the medium wave to Radio Luxembourg’s nocturnal English transmissions. Or, rather, they were tuning into its stream of pop music, the likes of which could not be heard on the stuffy old BBC.

But it seems some brodacasters want us to return to those days.Radio Luxembourg itself is planning a comeback using a new technology called Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM).

Without going into the technological complexities,it is basically a way for stations to broadcast over long distances in the same way that the old medium wave signal travelled long distances at night bouncing off the ionosphere.

Quite why we need another medium for broadcasting is a little beyond me though.Surely the internet provides ample spectrum for radio stations to travel across continents.


With the deregulation of radio and the arrival of hordes of commercial rivals, Radio Luxembourg lost its audience. It went off air in 1992. Now it is planning a comeback using a new technology that can provide high-quality digital broadcasts over long distances.

Is the end nigh for Radio 4?

An interesting opinion piece in the Telegraph today which Gillian Reynolds seems to suggest that the end of Radio 4 is nigh.

Looking back at the weekend's 40th celebrations of Radio's 1-4 she says

Former Radio 4 controllers Monica Sims and Michael Green spoke of past battles to keep it as we know it today. Green said how, in the fight to stop the LW frequency being hived off to become a separate news service, listener power had defeated both BBC managers and governors.
Is it safe now? Current controller Mark Damazer thinks it is. I wouldn't be so sure. A decade hence, when digital switch-over is complete and the BBC's Charter expires, the licence fee will probably go, leaving Radio 4's future to subscription and market forces. Enjoy it while you can.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/10/02/bvgillian102.xml

In Praise of Radio

The Rajars are always going to be used in the battle for audiences between stations.The big news though from the release of the heavily embargoed figures this morning is the record amount of listners across the board.

45m people or 91% of the adult population listened to a radio station at some point between March and June this year.

This in itself (up 1.3% from prev qtr) should be hailed as a sign that even in these multimedia times, Radio has still got a hold on the population.

Yes,the stations can crow about the individual figures,commercial closing the gap on the Beeb,Talk Radio and Virgin doing well,but lets just consider how important radio now is.It is also important to note how the medium has embrased the new technologies.

Podcast are growing in poularity,nearly 2.7m were listened to,a increase of 40% since they were first monitored last year.

Update 17th Aug

Read Elizabeth Mahoney at Guardian Media

Do we need more Digital Radio.

The news that Channel 4 has won the race to the second national DAB multiplex.

4 Digital Group obviously believes that there is a market for more national stations but I am not so convinced.

The advent of digital broadcasting via radio has been overtaken to a certain extent by the internet and satellite.For customers with access to either there are already a multitude of stations catering for multiple tastes.Quite where ten additional national stations fit into this model is unclear.

Channel 4 radio will operate three new stations,one primarily to cater to 15-29 year olds,a national news network and a music station.In addition UTV will operate a talk station,there will be a Sky news station and a music station backed by Closer Magazine.

If the government was to decide to turn off the analogue radio signals,then it may work,but at this present time the chances of that are nil.