"EU czar stomps into digital radio"

Stone the Kroes

By Andrew Orlowski • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 3rd March 2011 16:30 GMT

Free whitepaper – The Register Guide to Enterprise Virtualization

Europe's digital radio sector is a not a happy place, as consumers
vote with their wallets. It isn't just a DAB thing, which is a
uniquely British disaster: the appetite for digital radio is similarly
depressed all over the continent. And this is not good enough for
Neelie Kroes, Europe's unelected digital czar.

"Some people even question the fact that we really need digital radio
or claim that radio is 'a special case' which could exist forever on a
combination of analogue and online services," she has told the
Association for European Radio's annual conference. Kroes reminds us
that "it is not for us in Brussels to dictate the pace or the way
change should happen in this diverse sector".

Which is true. But that's not going to stop her chipping in. Why?

"My job is to help content providers scale up their offer [sic] at
least to the Single Market size – and that cannot be done with FM
analogue radio alone," she says.

There is hope then, for Alan Partridge – whose Mid Morning Matters may
soon be heard in Latvia and Greece.

Kroes does, to her credit, admit there's a problem, saying, "we need
to understand why the EU-wide consensus in 1986 that led to the
technically impressive DAB standard has drifted to today’s inertia. Is
it because digital radio is the new 'betamax'?"

She then goes on to cite the UK as an example of the potential of DAB.
If only.

"How can radio best participate in convergence?" she wants to know.
"What incentives would encourage user and manufacturers to shift to
the digital format?

Kroes's intervention doesn't go much beyond exhorting her industry
audience to do some creative thinking. Which really highlights the
perils of top-down intervention: there's only so much you can do.
Digital technology has fragmented the market for devices: digital
radio is a variety of incompatible standards, while FM analog still
works anywhere. But as she notes, the WorldDMB group is working on
this. As she doesn't note, "harmonising" Europe's digital radio masts
is too costly for Europe's radio industry to afford. And debt-
encumbered governments don't see it as a priority.

Kroes compares the digital radio migration path to dial-up to
broadband, and the introduction of GSM. But in each case consumers
didn't need to be prodded into action. GSM took off because the
economies of scale made mobile telephony affordable to the masses.
Broadband took off because it was faster.

The problem with digital radio is that it doesn't really doesn't
anything like as new or compelling. There are advantages, some are
interesting, fun and useful. But there are costs, too. And the cost of
paying for carriage over two infrastructures is crippling an industry
that would be struggling to pay for one. Kroes's job is to promote
anything with digital on the label. She forgets that many digital
technologies end up in the fail bucket: digital audio tape, for
example. And while our radio listening in the future most probably
will be mostly digital one day, it may well be over IP, not purpose-
built digital multiplexes.

Expect an enquiry. Or something. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03..._do_something/

Yup, you can throw Struble's hunk-of-junk into that too - LMFAO!!!
Virtually no one gives a **** outside of the HD broadcasters, and they
don't really care either, as most HD stations are not time-aligned and
are just jukeboxes - LMFAO!!!

On Mar 4, 6:57*pm, iBiquity Fraudsters
wrote:
"EU czar stomps into digital radio"

Stone the Kroes

By Andrew Orlowski • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 3rd March 2011 16:30 GMT

Free whitepaper – The Register Guide to Enterprise Virtualization

Europe's digital radio sector is a not a happy place, as consumers
vote with their wallets. It isn't just a DAB thing, which is a
uniquely British disaster: the appetite for digital radio is similarly
depressed all over the continent. And this is not good enough for
Neelie Kroes, Europe's unelected digital czar.

"Some people even question the fact that we really need digital radio
or claim that radio is 'a special case' which could exist forever on a
combination of analogue and online services," she has told the
Association for European Radio's annual conference. Kroes reminds us
that "it is not for us in Brussels to dictate the pace or the way
change should happen in this diverse sector".

Which is true. But that's not going to stop her chipping in. Why?

"My job is to help content providers scale up their offer [sic] at
least to the Single Market size – and that cannot be done with FM
analogue radio alone," she says.

There is hope then, for Alan Partridge – whose Mid Morning Matters may
soon be heard in Latvia and Greece.

Kroes does, to her credit, admit there's a problem, saying, "we need
to understand why the EU-wide consensus in 1986 that led to the
technically impressive DAB standard has drifted to today’s inertia. Is
it because digital radio is the new 'betamax'?"

She then goes on to cite the UK as an example of the potential of DAB.
If only.

"How can radio best participate in convergence?" she wants to know.
"What incentives would encourage user and manufacturers to shift to
the digital format?

Kroes's intervention doesn't go much beyond exhorting her industry
audience to do some creative thinking. Which really highlights the
perils of top-down intervention: there's only so much you can do.
Digital technology has fragmented the market for devices: digital
radio is a variety of incompatible standards, while FM analog still
works anywhere. But as she notes, the WorldDMB group is working on
this. As she doesn't note, "harmonising" Europe's digital radio masts
is too costly for Europe's radio industry to afford. And debt-
encumbered governments don't see it as a priority.

Kroes compares the digital radio migration path to dial-up to
broadband, and the introduction of GSM. But in each case consumers
didn't need to be prodded into action. GSM took off because the
economies of scale made mobile telephony affordable to the masses.
Broadband took off because it was faster.

The problem with digital radio is that it doesn't really doesn't
anything like as new or compelling. There are advantages, some are
interesting, fun and useful. But there are costs, too. And the cost of
paying for carriage over two infrastructures is crippling an industry
that would be struggling to pay for one. Kroes's job is to promote
anything with digital on the label. She forgets that many digital
technologies end up in the fail bucket: digital audio tape, for
example. And while our radio listening in the future most probably
will be mostly digital one day, it may well be over IP, not purpose-
built digital multiplexes.

Expect an enquiry. Or something. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03..._radio_do_some...

Yup, you can throw Struble's hunk-of-junk into that too - LMFAO!!!
Virtually no one gives a **** outside of the HD broadcasters, and they
don't really care either, as most HD stations are not time-aligned and
are just jukeboxes - LMFAO!!!

Your Many Multiple {Spamming} Screen IDs
All End-Up ~translating~to~ LAMFAO !

clearly time-and-time again
demonstrating you are a 'fao' ~ RHF

On Mar 4, 6:57*pm, iBiquity Fraudsters
wrote:
"EU czar stomps into digital radio"

Stone the Kroes

By Andrew Orlowski • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 3rd March 2011 16:30 GMT

Free whitepaper – The Register Guide to Enterprise Virtualization

Europe's digital radio sector is a not a happy place, as consumers
vote with their wallets. It isn't just a DAB thing, which is a
uniquely British disaster: the appetite for digital radio is similarly
depressed all over the continent. And this is not good enough for
Neelie Kroes, Europe's unelected digital czar.

"Some people even question the fact that we really need digital radio
or claim that radio is 'a special case' which could exist forever on a
combination of analogue and online services," she has told the
Association for European Radio's annual conference. Kroes reminds us
that "it is not for us in Brussels to dictate the pace or the way
change should happen in this diverse sector".

Which is true. But that's not going to stop her chipping in. Why?

"My job is to help content providers scale up their offer [sic] at
least to the Single Market size – and that cannot be done with FM
analogue radio alone," she says.

There is hope then, for Alan Partridge – whose Mid Morning Matters may
soon be heard in Latvia and Greece.

Kroes does, to her credit, admit there's a problem, saying, "we need
to understand why the EU-wide consensus in 1986 that led to the
technically impressive DAB standard has drifted to today’s inertia. Is
it because digital radio is the new 'betamax'?"

She then goes on to cite the UK as an example of the potential of DAB.
If only.

"How can radio best participate in convergence?" she wants to know.
"What incentives would encourage user and manufacturers to shift to
the digital format?

Kroes's intervention doesn't go much beyond exhorting her industry
audience to do some creative thinking. Which really highlights the
perils of top-down intervention: there's only so much you can do.
Digital technology has fragmented the market for devices: digital
radio is a variety of incompatible standards, while FM analog still
works anywhere. But as she notes, the WorldDMB group is working on
this. As she doesn't note, "harmonising" Europe's digital radio masts
is too costly for Europe's radio industry to afford. And debt-
encumbered governments don't see it as a priority.

Kroes compares the digital radio migration path to dial-up to
broadband, and the introduction of GSM. But in each case consumers
didn't need to be prodded into action. GSM took off because the
economies of scale made mobile telephony affordable to the masses.
Broadband took off because it was faster.

The problem with digital radio is that it doesn't really doesn't
anything like as new or compelling. There are advantages, some are
interesting, fun and useful. But there are costs, too. And the cost of
paying for carriage over two infrastructures is crippling an industry
that would be struggling to pay for one. Kroes's job is to promote
anything with digital on the label. She forgets that many digital
technologies end up in the fail bucket: digital audio tape, for
example. And while our radio listening in the future most probably
will be mostly digital one day, it may well be over IP, not purpose-
built digital multiplexes.

Expect an enquiry. Or something. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03..._radio_do_some...

Yup, you can throw Struble's hunk-of-junk into that too - LMFAO!!!
Virtually no one gives a **** outside of the HD broadcasters, and they
don't really care either, as most HD stations are not time-aligned and

- are just jukeboxes - LMFAO!!!

What else is a Top 40 Radio Station
{Be It Analog -or- Digital IBOC/DAB}
To Be -or- Not To Be -but-a- JukeBox !