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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Dear Everyone<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Do some people seriously believe that we
can migrate to DAB ?? I’m not a tecky man, and reading a lot of this is
very entertaining and educating … but the understanding I had was that it
was mega expensive ! have I got the wrong end of the stick somewhere here ??<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I think the only thing we could migrate to
under the restriction is two yoghurt cartons and a piece of string or a
megaphone on top of the Town Hall </span></font><font size=2 color=navy
face=Wingdings><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;color:navy'>J</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Nick<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN-US
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
cma-l-bounces@mailman.commedia.org.uk
[mailto:cma-l-bounces@mailman.commedia.org.uk] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>James Cridland<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> 17 November 2014 10:19<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> tlr@gairloch.co.uk; The
Community Media Association Discussion List<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [cma-l] Community
& Local Radio - the Digital Issue</span></font><span lang=EN-US><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Thanks for this, Alex.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>My "DRM+" comment was because the initial document in this
thread recommended it as a solution. It's a great technical solution, but it
isn't a good fit when you consider the market.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I'm deliberately not meaning "industry-led". I'm meaning
"market-led", where the market includes consumers, receiver
manufacturers, car manufacturers, retailers and an awareness of the media
marketplace, as well as technologists and as well as the industry. This is
something that the writer of the original paper has ignored, and that's
disappointing. He's clearly passionate, but naļve to assume that there is an
appetite for another broadcast radio platform. He's downright damaging to the
industry to claim that community radio should move to DRM+ at this point in its
development.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>DAB was initially designed for audio clarity (especially on the move);
but most consumers didn't care about that, so after a while, we now have DAB
being used as a method of broadcasting more choice - including, uniquely in the
UK, more content providers. I agree that DAB+ is preferable: it's the standard
everywhere else, after all - and argued strongly for the BBC to take the plunge
and begin adopting it during my time there. My idea was to move simulcast
stations over to DAB+ as soon as possible, which would have had the effect of
not reducing any listener choice. However, this damages the "50% total
hours via digital radio" target for switchover, and therefore - in spite
of it being the right way to move to DAB+ - didn't answer the main requirement
for the broadcasters, and that's to remove dual transmission costs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I agree with you about hybrid radio, and the benefits. That's why I
spent a lot of personal time and money getting RadioDNS off the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'>>>I'm not aware of any radios
that even offer the obvious option of switching between FM and DAB (and
network/DTV as well I guess) according to which is giving the best reception of
a chosen programme service.<<</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>It is obvious, but also rather difficult to achieve. My last car's DAB
radio did this (I bought it in 2004), and flicked between DAB and FM in a
relatively non-satisfactory way. The BBC turned that facility off (because
listening on FM doesn't help the 50% target, and because each platform has different
delays).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Selected new Samsung Galaxy phones contain a RadioDNS-compliant FM
tuner that allows a listener to automatically flick to Internet Radio if the FM
signal disappears - and back again. It also adds images and more
information. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Hope all that helps. Cut down on the personal accusations, and focus on
the discussion, and it's a much more interesting conversation, I think.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://james.cridland.net">james.cridland.net</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On Mon Nov 17 2014 at 9:47:44 AM <a href="mailto:tlr@gairloch.co.uk"
target="_blank">tlr@gairloch.co.uk</a> <<a href="mailto:tlr@gairloch.co.uk"
target="_blank">tlr@gairloch.co.uk</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Thank you James - I too appreciate appropriate use of the ancient art
of rhetoric in discussion (though I suspect you weren't intending it as a
complement). <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>For the record, I wasn't in any way promoting the use of DRM+ for <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> community
radio, so I'm not clear why you referred to it in replying to my posting. I
note you also implied in another reply that Phil Dawson had said Radio 6 Music
was available only on DAB, which he hadn't. Perhaps you prefer misdirection to
rhetoric in discussion! <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Thank you also for clarifying your personal use of the term
"market-led" - I had misunderstood you to mean
"consumer-led"/"listener-led", but I guess you were meaning
more what I would have called "industry-led". FM radio, vinyl
records, cassette tapes and CDs were all technological shifts in consumer media
that had similar technology market issues as DAB has, but all four of those
were devised by technologists as market responses deficiencies in the existing
technologies perceived by the users as well as the industry ("build a
better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door"). DAB on the
other hand came about in response to perceived economic advantages to the
industry, and not in response to any direct consumer desire or call for
improvements to existing services. Whilst its advantages are incremental (more
channels in dense markets), it's adoption by consumers requires a step change
(new radios). <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>But back to the point at issue - I was distinguishing DAB and DAB+.
Since the term "DAB" may refer to either, for the sake of clarity,
I'll refer to the original MP2-based system as <strong><b><font
face="Times New Roman">DAB-</font></b></strong> and the newer aac-based system
as <strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">DAB+</font></b></strong>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>My point was, and remains, that I believe the DCMS/BBC/Ofcom (and many
industry pundits/DAB- proponents - you know who you are) seriously mis-served
the UK listening public by doggedly pursuing a purely DAB <strong><b><font
face="Times New Roman">-</font></b></strong> strategy over the last 6 year or
so since the advantages of DAB+ and the certainty of multi-standard receivers
became overwhelmingly apparent. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>There was an argument at the time that a 'mixed message' created by any
talk of a newer system could damage a fledgling industry, but that seemed at
the time, and still does, to be a false worry, because (a) there was a strong
drive already to the production of DAB-/DAM+ multistandard receivers, and (b)
there was an opportunity to introduce DAB+ first in 'virgin territory', where
there was, naturally, no significant existing installed base of older DAB--only
receivers that would be made obsolete, and also where there was a clear need
for BBC/community multiplexes with greater channel capacity as there were unlikely
to be additional commercial multiplexes interested in serving many of these
areas - as has proved to be the case so far. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>As an aside, we have 13 in-use FM receivers in the household (not at
all unusual when you tot them all up), and only one is capable of receiving
DAB. The radios range in ages from 2-30 years, and all can receive more
stations on FM than on DAB, so DAB offers us little enticement at the moment.
With DAB+ and a more comprehensive set of services it might have been more
attractive. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I agree about the value of the 'hybrid radio' concept. Throughout the
recent DAB era there has been no technological barrier to making radios that
offer just the same features on FM as they can on DAB (tuning by station name,
live record/pause/replay, 'now playing' display etc) - all of this has been
well within the capability of standard FM+RDS since the inception of DAB, and
cheap chipsets have been there to support it for at least a decade (as evidence
I have a 12-year-old cheapo "MP3 player" that has FM radio with
record and replay built in). It is a shame that, with a very few notable
exceptions, the industry has failed to produce services and receivers that
provide a uniform set of features for listeners, regardless of whether the
source is FM or DAB. I'm not aware of any radios that even offer the obvious
option of switching between FM and DAB (and network/DTV as well I guess)
according to which is giving the best reception of a chosen programme service. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Alex <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.0pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 8.0pt;
margin-left:0cm;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt' type=cite>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On 16 November 2014 at 16:38 James Cridland <<a
href="mailto:james@cridland.net" target="_blank">james@cridland.net</a>>
wrote: <br>
<br>
Not sure you've understood what I was saying, but thanks for lots of anti-DAB
technology rhetoric. <br>
<br>
By "market-led", I'm talking about the international market,
including receiver availability and market conditions as well as technology -
things that this paper ignores. I love DRM+ as a technology - though there's
not much wrong with FM, either. The bald facts are that there are no DRM+
receivers available anywhere in the world at any volume; and as for DVB-T Lite,
that's fanciful nonsense, requiring an entirely new transmitter network.
Meanwhile, DAB+ has wide take up across Europe and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region>,
and is now in (so they say) 70% of all new cars as standard bought in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It is
nonsense to expect community radio to willingly accept DRM+ as a future
standard if there are no receivers out there. <br>
<br>
I remain against any government-mandated switchover, and point to the future of
radio as being multiplatform. Community radio would do well to pressure
receiver manufacturers to be platform agnostic and embrace the benefits of
hybrid radio, which would then enable a level playing-field for all
broadcasters, irrespective of chosen platform. <br>
<br>
<a
href="http://www.mediauk.com/article/34394/radioplayer-on-a-radio-a-user-experience-triumph"
target="_blank">http://www.mediauk.com/article/34394/radioplayer-on-a-radio-a-user-experience-triumph</a>
shows just one example of a platform-agnostic radio. Now, why can't we have
more of them? <br>
<br>
<a href="http://james.cridland.net" target="_blank">james.cridland.net</a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</blockquote>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
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