-
Sections
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Executive Summary
- Being Digital
- A Competitive Digital Communications Infrastructure
- Radio: Going Digital
- Creative Industries in the Digital World
- Public Service Content in Digital Britain
- Research, Education and Skills for Digital Britain
- Digital Security and Safety
- The Journey to Digital Government
- Delivering Digital Britain
-
About this site
Radio: Going Digital
The importance of radio
“One must verify or expel his doubts, and convert them into the certainty of Yes or No.”
Thomas Carlyle
AMBITION: TO SECURE AND DELIVER A DIGITAL RADIO PLATFORM FOR THE BENEFIT OF BROADCASTERS AND LISTENERS.
1. Radio’s diverse and flexible nature has placed it at the heart of platform and device convergence. One of the advantages of digital [...]
The digital radio upgrade decision
10. The Digital Radio Upgrade will be implemented on a single date, which will be announced at least two years in advance. On the determined date all services carried on the national and local DAB multiplexes will cease broadcasting on analogue. At the same time, a new tier of ultra-local radio, consisting of small local [...]
→ Read moreA dedicated digital platform for radio
16. In response to the Interim Report we received submissions raising questions about the best technology for a dedicated radio platform. Should it be DAB, DAB+, DMB-A or DRM? Some others argued that all digital listening would become online.
17. We recognise that there is some force in these arguments. However, it is our view that [...]
The right infrastructures
21. Achieving the Digital Radio Upgrade timetable will require building a DAB infrastructure which meets the needs of broadcasters, multiplex operators and listeners. This will require a significant contribution from the commercial operators and the Government welcomes the early commitments that they have given. We recognise too that Government and regulator will need to redraw [...]
→ Read moreContent and services on the dedicated digital platform
28. The main challenge to a successful Digital Radio Upgrade is not converting the avid radio listener, who has in many cases already embraced DAB, but the occasional radio listener. Recent research showed that 52% of listeners had not changed their main household radio to DAB because they were “quite happy with my existing radio.” [...]
→ Read moreRegulation
35. Following the publication of the Interim Report we commissioned the former CEO of GMG Radio, John Myers, to conduct a review of the current localness regulations. The report, entitled ‘An Independent Review of the Rules Governing Local Content of Commercial Radio’ (‘Localness Review’) was published in April.
Key recommendations in the Localness Review
A move [...]
→ Read moreConclusion
46. It is because we recognise that importance of radio to listeners that we believe the challenges of building a UK radio sector fit for a Digital Britain must be overcome. We believe the proposals set out above will have a significant impact on setting and achieving radio’s future, particularly leading up to the Digital [...]
→ Read moreCase study - GP
Dr Louise Irvine, a veteran inner-London family doctor, began using digital technology in the early 1990s. The surgery where she is now partner was one of the country’s first adopters of EMIS, a software system developed by GPs to store and record patient details electronically.
“It has evolved over the years, and we are now using [...]
