[cma-l] [comradio-l] Digital Radio Action Plan Reaction

[Alan Coote]

I 100% agree that the CMA have missed a trick by not pushing for a plan for
Community Stations to move to digital. 

Regardless of Radio Centre and the commercial sector's keenness to move to
digital. It's extremely naïve to think they will vacate FM while it is still
viable. If they can justify spending £1Ms on DAB for just 10% of their
audience they will surely be extremely keen to keep FM going while there is
anyone listening.

The BBC also have an obligation to be able to broadcast to a mass audience
in times of national crisis. That means they won't be able to switch off FM.


Therefore, as there won't be any significant freeing up of FM spectrum for
new community stations any time soon, the best option for a stronger
community radio sector is for the CMA to propose how community stations
should move to a digital platform. 
   
Alan

Alan Coote
Managing Director 
The Bay Radio
Office 01202 580200
Studio 01202 571028
Mobile 07801 518858

Email alan.coote at thebayradio.com
Web www.thebayradio.com      


 


   

-----Original Message-----
From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk
[mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk] On Behalf Of Two Lochs Radio
Sent: 09 July 2010 11:12 AM
To: jaqui.devereux at commedia.org.uk; 'CMA-L'
Subject: Re: [cma-l] FM is NOT being switched off - Government confirms

But no-one ever said FM as such was going to be switched off, did they?

The big worry was (/is) that if the majority of listening to BBC and big
commercial stations becomes digital, there will be an inevitable
'second-class service' aura gradually attaching to FM, no matter how
unwarranted.

Despite the proposal to include FM in the station guide, an the Minister's
assurances, I believe there will still be be a tendency for non-digital
stations to become somewhat 'ghettoized'. People will have a natural
tendency if they have shelled out for a shiny new digital set to want to use
it on digital stations.

The move to include FM stations in the digital radio EPG is a very good move
to mitigate this effect, but not really a big step - I think FM should be
fully integrated, including supporting text and 'on now' messages, which is
technically trivial to implement through RDS. And on radios tat offer
live-pause/rewind, they should offer this for FM as well - again technically
easy and has been done by some pocket MP3 players for years.

I'm sorry to say I think CMA sold the family silver for sixpence when it
agreed to allow its invaluable endorsement of  the reprehensible Digital
Economy Bill (and by extension DAB) to be used  by in return for the
commitment to an expanded EPG. It should have held out at the very least for
radiotext and rewind/pause parity as well to have any hope of escaping the
FM ghetto risk.

There are some other big holes in Ed Vaizey's 'issues still to be addressed'
- notably "C" - capacity(or its corollary, quality). DAB simply does not
have the capacity to provide expanded choice economically in less heavily
populated areas where there is only one multplex (if any!). Indeed in most
of Scotland it provides considerably reduced choice from FM.

Alex

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jaqui Devereux" <jaqui.devereux at commedia.org.uk>
To: "'CMA-L'" <cma-l at commedia.org.uk>
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2010 10:18 AM
Subject: [cma-l] FM is NOT being switched off - Government confirms


> Dear all
>
> Below extracts from Ed Vaizey's speech yesterday, confirming what we
> have been telling you for a while!
>
> Best wishes
>
> Jaqui
>
>
> "And we will not switch off FM, FM will remain a platform for small
> local and community radio for as long as these services want it."
>
> 
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