All posts by Mark
Below are all of Mark's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Ofcom have today approved the Now Digital application for a DAB extension to North Devon.
As a result of this Global's local FM licence (Heart North Devon) has been extended for another 12 years.
Ofcom | Now Digital Ltd request to extend the coverage area of the local radio multiplex licence for Exeter & Torbay
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@ Steve P
Given the economic situation in Portugal this news isn't that surprising. The important point to note is that the Portuguese are not tearing down the DAB transmitters, they are keeping them in place for a possible launch of DAB+ in the future.
It's fair to say that they and other countries are monitoring the German situation closely, which could make or break DAB+ in several EU countries.
For the BBC their DAB transmitter rollout to 97% (and possibly further) by 2017 is a licence fee commitment inbcluded in the October 2010 settlement so they are not permitted to shut it down.
@ Trevor Harris
Ford have announced that all of their models will have DAB fitted as standard by the end of 2012 (I believe the Fiesta and the Focus are still the no 1 and no 2 selling cars). Other car manufacturers have pledged to follow by 2013, so that 14% figure is set to rise fairly rapidly over the next few years.
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@ Jonathan:
Ofcom said that if they carried out an FM frequency audit they could probably find space for another two national networks like Classic FM, but some local stations may have to be ditched.
These would probably go to commercial stations (highest bidders) so that would still leave 6 Music out in the cold.
By the way you missed out Jazz FM, which apparently has been responsible for a surge in DAB sales since March.
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@ Trevor Harris
Ford has definitely made a firm commitment- see link here:
UPDATE: Ford phases-out CD players and launches 'wireless hotspot' system | whathifi.com
All new Minis (except the basic entry level model) now have DAB fitted as standard.
Of course there are a lot of older cars on the road but by 2020 most cars should have DAB. There was a similar situation in 1990 when Radio 2 went FM-only and many older cars only had MW/LW radios so could no longer receive the station.
The situation in Spain isn't quite as clear as it may look at first sight. Spain is interested in going with DAB+ but they are monitoring the situation in Germany closely before committing to it.
DAB+ is launching in Germany on 1 August with a national multiplex and Audi & BMW have committed to fitting DAB+/DAB radios in their models to coincide with this. DAB+ radios will receive the UK DAB broadcasts.
Spain & Portugal of course are both economies that are in deep trouble so it's no surprise that they are allowing a cooling-off period in digital radio investment at this stage.
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@ Trevor Harris
Ed Vaizey, Culture Minister, 5th July 2011:
"two weeks ago, Ofcom published their consultation which set out how DAB can be built-out to current FM levels. This shows that is both a realistic and achievable ambition.
We are working closely with the multiplex operators and broadcasters to agree the funding mechanisms and timetable for the build-out of local DAB. We remain confident that agreement can be reached and that the necessary build-out of the local and national DAB platforms will be made to support a positive switchover decision.
So we have achieved a lot against our ambition for Radio but there is still much to do. We are still on course for a decision on switchover in 2013."
The future of digital entertainment
DAB is far from dead - it's in 38.2% of UK homes (March 2011 figures) and DAB sales figures for both May 2011 & June 2011 are up on last year.
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The cost of building out the BBC's national multiplex to FM-equivalent levels is part of the licence fee agreement and they have already allocated the funds to this.
The BBC has agreed with the Government that they will reach 93.8% by the end of 2011 and 97.2% within the next couple of years (these percentages are for robust indoor portable use). The cost of building another 174 transmitters isn't astronomical, it's fully costed and will be achieved.
For the local multiplexes there is a three-way agreement between the Government, commercial radio and the BBC whereby they will each pay a third towards the cost of the transmitter rollout (the total is thought to be around £30 million).
Ofcom has already identified a possible use for the FM band after switchover, using White Space Devices, so the Government will claw back some cash when they auction off this spectrum.
It isn't possible to increase the bit rates of DAB stations to 256 kb/s, as nearly all DAB radios will only decode bit rates up to 192 kb/s.
Which stations would you remove to increase the others to 192kb/s? There was an outcry last year when 6 Music & Asian Network were proposed for closure, and each of the BBC networks has its own loyal audience.
You cannot use in-car FM to listen to Radio 4 Extra, 5 Live Sports Extra, 6 Music or Jazz FM so it isn't "unbeatable" for fans of those stations. Absolute is only on FM in the London area, and 5 Live sounds awful on AM, particularly at night.
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"The DAB specification goes up to 256kb/s. I have heard that some radios only go up to 192 and so do not conform to the DAB standard."
Nearly all portable DAB radios sold in the UK will only decode bitrates up to 192kb/s.
A switch to 256 kb/s for any of the BBC networks would render most DAB portables useless as they won't be able to decode it.
In reality the BBC has no proposals to use 256kb/s anyway, as they don't have the capacity. Although there is a spare national mux (Block 11A) they don't have the funds to roll this out.
Ofcom's 99.1% figure includes households that need roof aerials for decent FM quality.
Ofcom say that robust indoor FM coverage of BBC Radio 2 is only 94.9%.
The BBC is promising robust indoor DAB coverage of 97.2%, so some households with poor FM indoors should get a good DAB signal.
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David
The proposal for the Tayside multiplex is here:
http://stakeholders.ofcom….pdf
However the rollout of the new transmitters is probably 2-3 years away.
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Now Digital are proposing to pay for three transmitters out of their own pockets which will give 70% coverage of North Devon.
BBC Radio Devon & Heart currently reach 83% of the North Devon DAB area on FM, and a further 4 transmitters will be required to match this coverage.
A further 14 transmitters (21 in total) will be required for 93% coverage (the proposed DSO level).
The costs for the further rollout (beyond the initial three transmitters) will be split three ways between commercial radio, the BBC & the Government. There is no question of FM being switched off in North Devon while there is only 70% coverage- anyone who suggests this is just scaremongering.
The legislation (Digital Economy Act 2010) allows multiplexes to extend coverage areas provided that the line-up of stations in the original area is not compromised. In the case of North Devon it isn't, which is why it was permitted.
If Ofcom had refused the request Now Digital would have had good grounds to take legal action against them under the terms of the Act. Any Ofcom consultation has to operate within the law.
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Friday 8 July 2011 6:17PM
@ Steve P
The answer is that the BBC cannot afford to run their networks on both FM & DAB indefinitely and sometime around 2020 they would have to replace most of the FM aerials if they were to continue the transmissions on FM.
It's much cheaper for them to concentrate on DAB only. Of course other digital platforms will also be available for listening.