For Broadcast November 04, 2010

Any angst over the TV switchover from analogue to digital by 2012 has been pretty much put to rest. Freeview has done its job and Digital UK, the body put in place to look after the digitally unsavvy, has ensured concerns about the looming digital divide have, for TV, become moot. That is not the case for radio, where the switch to digital is far from a fait accompli.

The recent shotgun licence fee settlement between government and the BBC has raised a red flag to many in radio - especially among the commercial players - about how real the commitment to digital radio and digital audio broadcasting (DAB) really is.

Digital radio was mentioned in the last line of culture secretary Jeremy Hunt’s letter to BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons outlining the settlement, and the letter did not spell out any specific BBC commitmentsto digital radio. It merely “welcomed” the BBC’s “plans to enhance its national DAB signal” and to “match its national FM coverage as a switchover date draws near”.

The feeling among the commercial radio players and other observers is that the government missed the opportunity to commit the BBC to a clear plan with figures attached. “It’s very hard to see how the process will go from here,” one interested observer told me.

If DAB is to work, it must do so as a platform that everyone is signed up to, much like has happened with digital TV, and the BBC is a key player.

Commercial radio is already concerned about the wishy-washy way government is handling the switchoff of the analogue radio signals. Should it continue to invest in a technology that may (or may not) become the standard? So far, the government has set only a tentative date of 2015 for switchover, predicated on 50% of all listeners - including those who tune in via digital TV and online - having switched to digital.

The launch of streaming radio platform Radioplayer, expected in December, which counts commercial giants like Global Radio and Absolute Radio as backers as well as the BBC, should help boost digital listening. But figures released last week were not overly positive about the robustness of the digital radio growth curve.

The third quarter of this year saw digital radio listening barely move the growth dial - digital accounted for 24.8% of all radio listening in the third quarter, up only 0.2% from the previous quarter. And DAB, long touted as the forerunner to replace analogue FM and AM, was actually down: in the third quarter, DAB share dropped to 15.3% from 15.8% the previous quarter.

This all sounds like a radio rendition of the classic chicken story: give people good content, market the heck out of it, and then they may cross the proverbial analogue road to digital DAB-land.

Even Digital Radio UK chief executive Ford Ennals admits a “step change is needed” to make digital radio a must. He points to four crucial issues: the digital build-out coverage plan being worked on now by Ofcom; getting digital radio in cars; creating compelling digital content; and communicating all this properly so people know it’s safe to switch to digital.

Hunt missed a trick in not getting a more detailed DAB roadmap from the BBC, if indeed the government is committed to digital radio. It looks like a big if.