Funferal

DAB, analogue radio, and regulation

News from the UK that the BBC has asked for a stay on a decision to end analogue radio broadcasts. Unlike the US system (where stations will use an ‘In Band On Channel’ or IBOC system) Digital Radio in Europe (DAB) uses the Eureka-147 standard, which is based on a multiplex system, and the move to digital radio will involve a move to a different block of spectrum.
The Radio World news piece notes that while 50% of households receive a digital TV signal, only 4% have a digital radio. Part of the reason for the disparity is that extended cable services generally come via digital, and can be received by attaching a ‘set-top box’ to the chain, between the cable socket and the television. In radio, in contrast, there is no equivalent of the set-top box.
There’s also the fact that radio is used in quite a different fashion to television. While most households have (historically) had a small number of televisions, placed generally in static positions, they tend to have quite a large number of radios – in stereo systems, stand-alone (in clock radios, or in kitchens), portable sets (including walkmans), and in cars.
Looking to phase out analogue radio before a large portion of these are replaced could be dangerous for radio as a medium/industry. Why get a portable radio, when you can just get an iPod, and download static content from the internet? From an audience point of view, it is importand to consider also the cost of replacing existing radios. You can get a radio for under $15 – but a digital radio receiver costs several multiples of that at least. And that’s just to replace one radio set.
There’s one other issue to which I want to draw attention. Earlier this year the Department of Communications in Ireland ran a consultation process on DAB. Unfortunately I didn’t hear about it until after it was concluded. However, one question dealt with how community radio should be dealt with in DAB. I came to the consultation document after reading the response of the Commission on Telecommunications Regulations [ostensibly one of those ‘neutral’ regulatory bodies]. They said they saw no need to take account of community radio in designing DAB (since it runs on multiplexes very important questions of scale and access arise) since they think community radio should be left on the analogue band.
Think about that. While everyone’s throwing out their analogue radios, and replacing them with digital sets – in order to listen to national and commercial stations, which are all migrating – community radio gets left in an increasingly obsolete ghetto. That’s neutral regulation for you, right there.