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Media world: Digital radio issues that must be faced
Sunday, November 09, 2008 By Catherine O’Mahony
So it looks like RTE will be ploughing a lonely furrow when it kicks off its digital radio service for real next month.

It’s a deeply disappointing development for enthusiasts of digital radio. With just 44 per cent coverage in urban areas, it’s hardly a nationwide service. And the digital sports and news services – some of the more compelling formats that RTE had developed for trial – have been ditched for now.

But the hiccup is a wholly understandable development.

Why would a commercial broadcaster rush to spend lots of money on signing up to Dab radio? First, we have no idea how many people will listen because hardly any Dab radios have been sold yet in Ireland.

Car radios are still mostly FM-based, and mobile phones don’t have Dab radio. Apart from that, most of us are still listening to radio on whatever old model happens to be hanging around the kitchen.

There’s no real urgency about it all either. There’s no switch-off date envisaged for the FM signal as yet – although there’s a putative date of 2020, which is pretty distant still.

Meanwhile, there’s evidence that more and more younger people are listening to radio online. Where does Dab fit in with all that?

Then there’s the regulatory issue.

Why would I, as a commercial broadcaster, bother investing in a new technology that might possibly end up reducing my market share, if I’m not going to be compensated for it?

Digital radio is a cheap way to do radio and, if it catches on, increased competition is inevitable.

So there’s probably a logical element of protectionism in all of this. Then there’s the whole issue of technology standards.

The current trial of digital radio relies on a Dab standard, but that’s been superseded by new versions, notably Dab Plus.

If the radio industry ends up broadcasting in Dab Plus, plenty of people with Dab radios will be left out of the loop.

Can I even be sure that Dab Plus is where this will all end up?

To a fan of digital radio, it’s a real shame that this consumer-friendly technology is proving such a hard sell to the industry.

RTE’s public service remit means it has to keep pushing for adoption of the new technology, and that makes sense.

Unfortunately, so does the wariness being exhibited by its commercial competition.

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