Corporation confirms it will pay to increase reach of digital audio broadcasting 'despite tough financial environment'.


The BBC has confirmed it will pay for the rollout of digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio to 97% of the population, but culture minister Ed Vaizey has warned a "huge amount of work" remains to be done to get to switchover.

Source:-

The Guardian:-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/18/bbc-rollout-dab-radio

To improve the signal strength in the more rural areas, so that it's equivalent to the current FM, they are surely going to have to build many more (small) transmitters, and up the power from the current ones. They don't seem to have considered the additional cost of this 'operating budget', or of the national ability to supply such additional 'current' as will be required. Maybe they'll have windfarms surrounding each transmitter site in future. [Let's just hope the wind keeps blowing!]

Besides, I haven't found anyone yet who thinks that DAB is anywhere near as good as FM (in sonic terms). All I hear is "Never mind the quality - feel the width!" and yet like TV, (to quote Bruce Springsteen) "There's 57 channels and nothing on!"
Are all the "judges" involved in this decision so used to listening to MP3 files that they are unaware of any audio content above 7KHz?

And what of the 3% of the population who won't be served by the final implementation? Aren't they likely to be the same one's that our broadband services won't be reaching either?!?!

Will the BBC be funding the Defence budget or the NHS next?  Thompson just seems to jump when anyone claps their hands and gives out the money. (That is anyone but BBC staff or quality programmes) I am just reading David Attenborough's "Life on Air"at the moment . At times I cry when I see the BBC that I was so proud to work for. If you haven't read it ..you must. Most of the BBC people I worked with or knew and they all had this enthuisasm to bring the BBC to the nation ... not to take it away as is happened since Birt crawled onto the scene.