Forum for former BBC staff

Forum for former BBC staff
http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl >> News and Comment >> DAB Dead? http://www.ex-bbc.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1342251708 Message started by Administrator on Jul 14^th, 2012, 7:42am

Title: DAB Dead?
Post by Administrator on Jul 14^th, 2012, 7:42am

"BBC radio chief: we won’t force listeners to go digital.

Tim Davie, the BBC’s radio chief, has said that digital radio switchover cannot be forced by the radio industry and called for all radio manufacturers to continue to produce sets with both FM and DAB receivers in them."

The whole "Daily Telegraph" article is here.

Title: Re: DAB Dead?
Post by Mikej on Jul 14^th, 2012, 11:17am

Daily Mail version here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2173491/Dont-throw-away-old-radio-just-BBC-chief-says-doesnt-forcing-people-digital-switchover.html

Mike

Title: Re: DAB Dead?
Post by FoxyFace on Jul 14^th, 2012, 4:43pm

Yes-it is dead and will not be given the go-ahead for Digital Switchover-mainly because reception is still unreliable and pretty poor outside core metropolitan areas and in cars.
Trouble is though--the FM waveband is needed for mobile phones-is it not?...and there might be money to be made in selling it off and making a fast one at the expense of folk losing their excellent VHF reception

Title: Re: DAB Dead?
Post by JohnW on Jul 18^th, 2012, 4:33pm

Regards Article entitled "BBC's Tim Davie: Listeners Should Not Be Forced to Switch to Digital"

Tim Davie, the BBC director of audio and music, is quoted in The Telegraph as saying "I do support - and I know this isn't everyone's view - pressure now to say that if we are selling consumers new radios they should have both digital and FM receivers in them. My view is that's the right thing to do. We should be selling radios with DAB and FM so they are future proof."

Further, Davie said "If there is a clear chance of digital switchover in the future... then it makes sense for people buying new radios to create sets that contain FM but also benefit from DAB. I don't think switchover is about forcing people to do what they do not want to do. It has to be earned... However, the case for digital switchover has become clearer over the last year."

The UK government has said a decision about the switching over to DAB can't come until at least 50 percent of radio listening there is to digital sources. Currently that level of listenership is at 29.2 percent - up 11 percent year over year.

Personally, I'm not so sure that the case for digital switchover has become any clearer over the last year, and I'd be interested if anyone else has a justification of this statement. Otherwise, such statements tend to be regarded as universal truths, but have no evidence to back them up.
However, I do agree that there ought to be many more radio sets that incorporate both technologies, or at least one which could ultimately allow the UK to proceed to the much improved DAB+ option - rather than the now-ancient DAB spec (which is akin to the Baird TV system when compared to the EMI version - or FreeView as against FreeView+HD).