So 25% of all listeners already listen via digital radio
If it wasn’t for DAB digital radio there would be no national Christian radio in the UK.
If it wasn’t for community radio there would no other opportunities for Christians interested in serving their local communities from getting onto the airwaves.
Both these things happened because people, including members of the Christian Broadcasting Council (CBC), lobbied to have changes made to legislation to allow for faith communities to be able to operate radio and TV stations.
Now there are two national Christian stations – Premier & UCB UK – out of the 28 national DAB stations but, and please note this fact, none among the 8 national analogue (FM/LW/MW) stations. Plus there are four other Christian stations, including two gospel music stations, on regional DAB in various parts of England and Wales and there are a number of community radio stations such as Alive Radio in Dumfries, Branch FM in Dewsbury, Cross Rhythms 101.8 FM in Stoke-on-Trent, Hope FM in Bournemouth and Radio Plus in Coventry.
To allow for more opportunities for local communities to have their own radio station the five FM national stations need to move off FM and so release the whole of the FM Band for local radio and community radio use. This day cannot be too far away as according to the latest RAJAR figures (Q4/2010) 15% of all radio listeners don't ever listen through analogue means and 40% of all radio listeners tune in using digital radio sometime every week.
Currently 25% of all UK radio listening is using digital radio.
We also read that Absolute Radio’s national MW frequencies only account for 20% of its total listening, so maybe the national MW signals may be turned off soon. Countries like Norway and Ireland have already turned off their MW transmitters.
Those people who just want to stay in an analogue-only-world for radio are limiting listener choice. Most parts of the country, away from the metropolitan areas, only have 8 national stations, a BBC local or nations service and perhaps one or 2 local commercial stations on FM and MW.
Radio needs to have a multi-platform ecology, to use the Bishop of Manchester’s phrase, and that will enable free-to-air radio to be on DAB and FM as well as stations broadcasting via a combination of other platforms including Freesat, Freeview, the Internet, Sky Digital and mobile phone apps.
Hi-fi buffs can listen to their radios using satellite if they wish but I find my Pure Evoke DAB/FM radio played through my hi-fi amplifier and some 35 year old plus Wharfedale speakers is just fine.
Internet radio is OK but with the cost of providing the infrastructure for increased use may push many ISPs, as already happens with many mobile tariffs, to consider per-byte charging for all internet use and that is possibly going to happen in Canada. Charging would be especially damaging to internet radio listening.
What needs to happen sometime soon is for a quick roll-out of DAB to the remaining 9.9% of the UK population. Perhaps the recent move to re-brand Radio 7 as Radio 4 Extra will help Radio 3 and Radio 4 listeners realise that there are other stations out there including World Service, which is available 24/7 on DAB and not just overnight on Radio 4.
The use of DAB has already opened up the airwaves to Christian and specialist music formats. Lets us pray that the Government, Ofcom and the radio industry get their act together so that by increasing the coverage of DAB across the country that the remaining analogue-only listeners will choose to go DAB.
According to recent press reports the Broadcast Minister Ed Vaizey has confirmed to a group of MPs that the FM waveband will not be switched off and will remain as one of a number of multi platform transmission options for local radio.
So free-to-air radio will operate within a multi-platform ecology. National and regional stations operating on DAB and local radio, including community radio, operating on FM.
