However, a presentation about the recent UK Digital Radio and Audio Review poured some cooler water on the conversation according to a RadioWorld article. For instance, although DAB will be the primary platform for radio well into the next decade,” said Ian O’Neill, head radio/head of television for the U.K. government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, setting a firm date for shutting off FM could end up sabotaging digital radio.
Parliamentarian: "The DAB standard is actually history"
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| Nach dem UKW-Ende ist vor dem DAB-Aus: «Vielleicht müsste man dann irgendwann über die Abschaltung von DAB diskutieren», sagt Ruedi Noser. (Photo Screenshot Parlamentsdienste) |
The upper house of the Swiss parliament approves the MP Ruedi Noser (liberals) and media pioneer Roger Schawinski and supports the motion against a FM switch-off. The politician emphasizes that the promotion of DAB should not lead to unsound consumer investments.
In the council debate last week Ruedi Noser questioned the DAB introduction, which the federal government has built up in recent years with expensive campaigns and subsidies.
In June the Zurich FDP Council of States had submitted a motion demanding that the parliament only switch off FM “when DAB and/or Internet radio reception has reached a market share of around 90 percent”. A “neutral body” should monitor this.
Good news for local radio but not for the DAB lobby
Today the government led by the conservative Erna Solberg was replaced by a coalition of the Social Democrats and the Center Party (Sp). The new government declaration clarifies that the focus is on local radio being able to continue broadcasting on FM until 2031. MP Åslaug Sem-Jacobsen (Sp) has supported local radio in the desire for extension and is very pleased with today's statement: This is something I have worked a lot with, and therefore I am happy that we in SP have had an impact on the platform, she says. Even if this coalition government will not have a majority in the Stortinget, Sem-Jacobsen believes that the proposal will be adopted.
Market demand will now steer technology choice for future radio platform.
Saxony has one of the best DAB+ coverage in the country. According to previous plans would FM be phased out in 2025. Now the government of Saxony has decided that there will not be any shutdown date for FM.
The proportion of use of DAB + and radio via the Internet has increased in recent years - while the use of FM is declining. However, Saxon Media Minister Oliver Schenk believes that commercial radio stations must be taken into account. It’s a life or death matter; their advertising revenue. If you turn off a technology like FM, which is widely used today, and switch to a new standard that is not yet widely used by the population, there will automatically be less money in the coffers. "And this is a problem for an industry that already had major problems during the pandemic," the media minister said.
Stagnant Growth for DAB while FM radio remains strong
Alleged energy savings with DAB not enough for a comprehensive analysis.
Political majority against choking FM for local radio
Close to the election this month, the Norwegian Local Radio Association has asked politicians in the culture sector what is their approach to Norwegian local radio. Local radio is not allowed to expand on FM by setting up new transmitters on FM, even in order to increase coverage of its own license area. Several politicians in the Parliament believe that this is wrong and there is now a majority for other solutions. Only Høyre (Conservative party) is clearly opposed to approving new FM transmitters. As mentioned previously there is now a political majority rejecting also the proposal by the Ministry of Culture for a total advertising ban for FM radio in the metro areas. Such a ban would seriously damage community broadcasters especially minority radio which cannot afford switching over to DAB+.
Also read: Minority Broadcasters in Norway Hit By Government Proposal
Radio station agree to switch off at the end of 2024. But yet the case is not closed.
Last year private radio broadcasters and public broadcaster SRG agreed on an early and staggered shutdown of the FM stations: in August 2022 for the SRG and in January 2023 for the private broadcasters. In the past weeks and months, however, the shutdown has become more and more a political issue: the former media minister Doris Leuthard had already joined the discussion in June and advised the government to halt the process. Now FM will be retained for another couple of years.
The conservative party wants taxpayers to save commercial radio.
If a right-wing coalition takes replaces the red-green government next year it is likely that the Moderaterna (the Conservatives) will get through the reform proposals in their media policy program. One of the proposals for commercial radio which, among other things, means that the state should take over the cost of the infrastructure for all terrestrial radio across the country. In the background are the high costs that the two commercial radio companies have for their terrestrial distribution on both FM and DAB, while at the same time having a smaller and continuing declining share of radio listening in Sweden.
The proposal emphasizes that the commercial radio and television of the future need predictable and long-term rules of the game and technology-neutral legislation. Increased state responsibility and a lower bar for obtaining a broadcasting permit would mean that commercial radio would have more leeway to develop new forms and business models, without abandoning parts of the country.
