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FM Radio Faces UK Government Switch-Off As Digital Listening Passes 50 Percent Milestone (inews.co.uk)
The Amazon Echo and other smart speakers have helped push the audience for digital radio past that of FM and AM in the UK for the first time. According to Radio Joint Audience Research (RAJAR), digital listening has reached a new record share of 50.9%, up from 47.2% a year ago. This milestone will trigger a government review into whether the analog FM radio signal should be switched off altogether. iNews reports: The BBC said it would be "premature" to switch off the FM signal. It could cut off drivers with analogue car radios and disenfranchise older wireless listeners. Margot James, Digital minister, welcomed "an important milestone for radio." She confirmed that the Government will "work closely with all partners -- the BBC, commercial radio, (transmitter business) Arqiva, car manufacturers and listeners" before committing to a timetable for analogue switch-off.
James Purnell, BBC Director of Radio and Education, said: "We're fully committed to digital, and growing its audiences, but, along with other broadcasters, we've already said that it would be premature to switch off FM." Mr Purnell said that BBC podcast listening was up a third across all audiences since the same time last year, accounting now for 40,000 hours a week. But younger audiences have not inherited the habit of listening to "live" radio, even on digital.
James Purnell, BBC Director of Radio and Education, said: "We're fully committed to digital, and growing its audiences, but, along with other broadcasters, we've already said that it would be premature to switch off FM." Mr Purnell said that BBC podcast listening was up a third across all audiences since the same time last year, accounting now for 40,000 hours a week. But younger audiences have not inherited the habit of listening to "live" radio, even on digital.
Two reasons:
1. FM coverage in the UK >99% - DAB coverage is nowhere near that level.
2. Cars - even today, more than 50% of new cars do not have a DAB receiver as standard, but all have FM. Then there's all the millions of cars already on the road that don't have DAB.
When UK TV was switched from analogue to digital, the government first made sure that simple, cheap STBs were available so that citizens could keep watching with their existing equipment. No such device exists to upgrade all the FM radios out there - in homes, cars and phones - to DAB.
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Indeed, it won't be turned off until all those valuable drive time listeners and OAPs get digital radios. For cars it's particularly difficult to retrofit, because the original controls on the dash and steering wheel work with the cheap kits and the expensive ones are expensive and tricky to fit.
Plus digital reception on the move is shit. My car has it but it keeps dropping out, several times just on the way to work. The conversion kits make things worse, with low quality antenna splitters or internal stubs, and besides the standard FM ones on older cars are no good for DAB anyway.
Plus I make industrial products that rely on FM radio so they damn we better give me 5 years notice :-)
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
What is so important about a radio?
I don't know about Britain, but here in the United States, all radio stations carry announcements from the Emergency Alert System, such as severe weather warnings from the National Weather Service.