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Media
BBC still committed to DAB roll out
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 19 October 2011
The BBC has confirmed it will plough ahead with plans to roll out the digital radio network to 97% of the UK despite the Corporation’s tight finances. DAB currently reaches 90% of the country. Under the Beeb’s plans every town with a population of over 5000 will be covered by the digital network.
BBC radio chief Tim Davie confirmed the commitment at an event called the Drive To Digital in London yesterday, though he was careful not to discuss an exact date for turning off a chunk of FM transmissions to force everyone onto the digital system. As much previously reported, 2015 had been mooted as a date for that, though it seems unlikely enough people will have bought DAB devices by then to allow switchover to begin.
The government’s media minister Ed Vaizey was also there talking up DAB, though – according to The Guardian – he did recognise that some players in the radio industry, especially smaller companies, are critical of the digital platform.
Said Vaizey: “You will no doubt have heard the negatives of digital radio, there has certainly been no shortage of column inches devoted to the subject. They often suggest that DAB is an out of date technology, that coverage and sound quality are inferior to analogue and listeners are already happy with what they’ve got, so why change? There are of course elements of truth in all these statements, however, it is all too often presented as a one-sided argument. There are also many positives”.
Though not enough for me to bother you with them just now. Hurrah for one-sided arguments I say.
