Department for Culture Media and Sport
digital radio
Digital Radio Working Group
The Digital Radio Working Group (DRWG) published on 19 December 2008, its final report. This sets out recommendations for a drive to digital radio.
The Group has issued a Press Release in which the Secretary of State says” This is a crucial time for the radio industry. I am pleased that the Working Group has been able to achieve such consensus and has recognised that there needs to be a strong consumer proposition for digital radio. Government and industry now need to respond quickly to secure the digital future for radio. We will now study the recommendations made by the group very carefully as part of the wider work being undertaken for the ‘Digital Britain’ report. I would like to thank all members of the group for their work in looking at this issue over the past year.”
This final report follows on from the Group’s interim report, published 23 June, which set out a vision for the future of digital radio in the UK.
The DRWG, chaired by Barry Cox and made up of key stakeholders, had been tasked with considering:
- What conditions would need to be achieved before digital platforms could become the predominant means of delivering radio?
- What are the current barriers to the growth of digital radio?
- What are the possible remedies to those barriers?
The following were also representatives on the DRWG; DCMS, Ofcom, BERR, DigitalOne, 4 Digital Group, RadioCentre, BBC, Intellect, Arqiva, SMMT, Community Media Association and the Consumer Expert Group.
The DRWG was informed by a number of sub groups, one of which examined the consumer impact of the DRWG’s interim recommendations. The report from the Consumer Sub Group* was submitted to the DRWG in November 2008 and published by DCMS in January 2009.
Details about digital radio stations and coverage are available from the Digital Radio Development Bureau and Ofcom.
*The Consumer Impact Group report does not include annexes B & C.
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