[cma-l] Community Radio and Digital Switchover

[Clive Glover]

I noted that OFCOM have not actually defined "ultra-local" services  
and I assumed they really meant pirate broadcasters who they would  
just let rip in the "digital future" on the old-fashioned analogue  
systems!

More seriously, we need to ensure that all radio sets in future  
continue to have both FM and "digital" facilities (including DAB+ and  
maybe DRM and DRM+ and whatever else turns up in future). It is those  
of us consumers (9 million of us!) with mere DAB as our "digital"  
facility that will lose out as DAB+ is clearly going to be the  
mainstream system across Europe and sooner or later the UK  
broadcasters will have to adopt it.  OFCOM previously argued for a  
"universal" radio that would find any local radio services and put  
them into an electronic programme guide so that local FM based  
Community stations would not lose out - we should push for that too.

But the market reality is that the major "digital" format is streaming  
over the Internet and most Community Radio stations are already doing  
this so are on the same "level playing field" as the big commercial  
stations and the BBC. Companies in the US and Canada are already  
developing in car Internet radio systems and this is bound to happen  
within a few years. Internet access in cars will also provide satnav  
replacement services, traffic and weather services and so on and so  
will be a huge market for which companies will be fighting.

Don't panic!

Clive Glover