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Plans for digital radio switchover are against the interest of consumers
by Steven Green
Summary of his report
The public does not support FM stations being switched off. Ofcom’s research has
shown that 91% of people are “satisfied” with the amount of choice available on the
radio today, and only 3% of people are “dissatisfied”. DAB’s proponents claim that
its main benefit is the additional choice it offers; therefore Ofcom’s research shows
that there is very little demand for DAB. This has been borne out in practice by
DAB’s very low sales figures, which led to Tim Davie, the BBC’s Director of Radio,
saying that the current trend in sales “would not lead to radio switchover in our
lifetime”. The public outcry that resulted when the 2015 switchover date was first
announced was further evidence of the public’s opposition to the plans to switch off
FM stations. And the broadcasters have yet to provide a single piece of evidence to
even suggest that the public is in favour of this happening. As it is the public that will
have to spend approximately £7.7 billion on replacing existing audio equipment, the
BBC Trust should hold a public consultation on this matter prior to any legislation
being put in place.
DAB delivers lower sound quality than FM. Digital radio switchover should not lead
to listeners receiving their favourite stations at lower audio quality, therefore stations
must switch to using DAB+ prior to any FM station being switched off.
The commercial radio broadcasters would only save an estimated £16.2 million per
annum by switching off FM stations, not the £30 million that the radio industry has
claimed, and some of the other claims made by the radio industry about dual
transmission costs are contradictory in nature.
The DAB system has a long list of drawbacks associated with it due to the fact that
the system was designed 20 years ago and it uses technologies that are outdated and
inefficient. Numerous countries that had previously supported DAB rejected using it
because it is so outdated. DAB+ is an upgrade of the DAB system, which solves or
vastly improves upon each of DAB’s drawbacks. The main advantage of DAB+ is
that it is three times as efficient as DAB, which mean that DAB+ can carry far more
stations, and all stations can be delivered at far higher audio quality than on DAB.
Other benefits include transmission costs being far lower; less spectrum being
required; reception quality is far more robust; and DAB+ is a much greener
technology because the overall transmission power required is far lower.
Despite Internet radio offering consumers many advantages in comparison to
DAB/DAB+, the Digital Radio Working Group (DRWG) chose to exclude Internet
radio from the recommendations it made to Government about how to proceed
towards digital radio switchover.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/documents/upload/stevegreen.pdf
by Steven Green
Summary of his report
The public does not support FM stations being switched off. Ofcom’s research has
shown that 91% of people are “satisfied” with the amount of choice available on the
radio today, and only 3% of people are “dissatisfied”. DAB’s proponents claim that
its main benefit is the additional choice it offers; therefore Ofcom’s research shows
that there is very little demand for DAB. This has been borne out in practice by
DAB’s very low sales figures, which led to Tim Davie, the BBC’s Director of Radio,
saying that the current trend in sales “would not lead to radio switchover in our
lifetime”. The public outcry that resulted when the 2015 switchover date was first
announced was further evidence of the public’s opposition to the plans to switch off
FM stations. And the broadcasters have yet to provide a single piece of evidence to
even suggest that the public is in favour of this happening. As it is the public that will
have to spend approximately £7.7 billion on replacing existing audio equipment, the
BBC Trust should hold a public consultation on this matter prior to any legislation
being put in place.
DAB delivers lower sound quality than FM. Digital radio switchover should not lead
to listeners receiving their favourite stations at lower audio quality, therefore stations
must switch to using DAB+ prior to any FM station being switched off.
The commercial radio broadcasters would only save an estimated £16.2 million per
annum by switching off FM stations, not the £30 million that the radio industry has
claimed, and some of the other claims made by the radio industry about dual
transmission costs are contradictory in nature.
The DAB system has a long list of drawbacks associated with it due to the fact that
the system was designed 20 years ago and it uses technologies that are outdated and
inefficient. Numerous countries that had previously supported DAB rejected using it
because it is so outdated. DAB+ is an upgrade of the DAB system, which solves or
vastly improves upon each of DAB’s drawbacks. The main advantage of DAB+ is
that it is three times as efficient as DAB, which mean that DAB+ can carry far more
stations, and all stations can be delivered at far higher audio quality than on DAB.
Other benefits include transmission costs being far lower; less spectrum being
required; reception quality is far more robust; and DAB+ is a much greener
technology because the overall transmission power required is far lower.
Despite Internet radio offering consumers many advantages in comparison to
DAB/DAB+, the Digital Radio Working Group (DRWG) chose to exclude Internet
radio from the recommendations it made to Government about how to proceed
towards digital radio switchover.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/documents/upload/stevegreen.pdf