"Report: Future Of U.K. Digital Radio May Be Bleak"

LONDON -- January 30, 2008: A report from Enders Analysis found that
digital audio broadcasting, or DAB, is in trouble due to the high cost
of transmission and slow revenue growth, U.K. newspaper the Guardian
reports.

The report, the Guardian says, urges radio to "stop continually
beating its chest in public about the wonders of DAB and instead
partake in an honest industry debate about the future of the
platform."

DAB digital radio in the U.K. is not the same as the in-band, on-
channel HD Radio platform used in the U.S. The BBC began testing DAB
in 1990, and it's now estimated that 90 percent of the U.K. population
has access to digital radio. While the DAB platform shares some
characteristics with HD Radio, including multicast capability, data
transmission, and decreased interference, low transmission bitrates
mean U.K. DAB music channels are heard at less than FM sound quality.

The Enders Analysis report continues, "With three of the largest radio
groups having reduced their commitment to the DAB platform in recent
months ... the future health of the DAB platform must be under
question." GCap, UBC, and Virgin Radio have all shuttered digital
stations, says the Guardian.

"The exodus of stations from the DAB platform is starting to look like
a stampede," says the Enders report. It concludes with a comment from
Local Radio Company chief Richard Wheatley: "DAB is the Betamax of
radio."

http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntr...&pt=todaysnews

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