The Public Service Committee, with representatives from all eight parties in the parliament, has now submitted its final report to the Minister of Culture. On many issues there was disagreement between the government side and the opposition, however, not regarding the question of a DAB expansion for public broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR). All parties remained cold-hearted to break a 30-year stalemate regarding the DAB system as an alternative to terrestrial FM radio. Now, this might be the beginning of an end for DAB in Sweden. The public service channels have more than a 65 percent share of the radio audience.
In its report, the committee notes that the DAB broadcasts have a very limited audience. Experience from the countries in Europe that have come a long way in their expansion of DAB broadcasts suggests that it takes a long time to move listeners to DAB. In most cases, the movement of the listeners has also been preceded by a determined strategy that included both the public service and the commercial companies in the radio market. No corresponding strategy has been adopted in Sweden, despite the fact that the question of the future of DAB radio has been investigated several times over a period of around 30 years, according to the committee.
Risk of double costs for double terrestrial networks
The committee assumes that analogue FM radio is still the basis for terrestrial broadcasts and that DAB radio is a complement to FM. A proposal to expand SR's digital terrestrial network would thus entail costs for parallel broadcasts in the FM network and the DAB network during the permission period 2026-2033.
An expansion could risk the publishing mission for public service.
The broadcast provider Teracom has presented cost estimates for an expansion of the DAB network which are associated with a number of uncertainty factors. Funding an expansion within the framework of SR's allocation of tax funds would therefore risk going beyond the company's publishing activities even if SR were to be allocated extra funds for the expansion, the committee believes.
The assessment of whether there is a need to require an expansion of SR's DAB broadcasts needs to be seen in a broader perspective, where the need is analyzed on the basis that the radio market as a whole must be sustainable in the long term. Such an analysis needs to include both the conditions for the commercial radio market and for the rest of society. In addition, the rapid development of technology and other possible transmission technologies that can be used for terrestrial digital radio need to be taken into account. However, this is outside the committee's remit.
A full coverage DAB network in ten years would cost SR 150 million annually.
At the committee's request, Teracom has estimated what it would cost to expand SR's current transmitter network for DAB radio to five different levels of coverage. The estimate assumes that the DAB network must have the same high level of readiness as SR's current FM network and that existing services remain, including SR's analogue FM network. (The amounts are stated excluding value added tax and have been estimated based on the 2022 cost level). Teracom points out that costs will be affected by reduced use of the terrestrial network, for example for television. Furthermore, Teracom emphasizes that the cost of the DAB network will increase significantly if the FM network were to be phased out.
Teracom has assumed one delivery for at least ten years and spread the investment costs over a ten-year period. The annual costs include costs for operation. Since the costs for distribution via the terrestrial network depend on which other services use the network, it is also stated to what extent the costs for FM broadcasts are expected to decrease and what SR's net cost increase for DAB is estimated to be if FM radio and DAB radio continue to be broadcast in parallel.
In addition to the cost of an expansion of the transmitter networks, various costs may be added in connection with the development of the DAB network, for example costs for the development of new program formats, additional technical services and information efforts as well as new technology and coordination of different platforms and licenses.
If SR want to broadcast DAB within its budget, the market must be analysed.
In order to reach the listeners, it is necessary, according to conditions that apply to the corporation, that the offer is distributed on different platforms. In line with this, the committee assesses that SR should also continue to have the opportunity to broadcast DAB radio to the extent that occurs today and decide whether the broadcasts should be expanded. It is important that such a position is taken based on an analysis of the development of the radio market as a whole, the listeners' consumption patterns and with consideration of the Swedish media market. In a development where more people are using DAB receivers, the companies also have to take into account the requirement that the entire population should have the opportunity to take part in a diverse range of programs.
The terrestrial network is of great importance from a preparedness and safety point of view. The committee's assessment is therefore that the requirement that SR's broadcasts via the terrestrial network should continue to be received by at least 99.8 percent of the permanently resident population should not be designed in a more flexible way.
Society's need for expansion of SR's DAB broadcasts should be seen in a larger context
According to the commercial radio industry, continued expansion of the DAB network is necessary. The committee shares the assessments previously made that the development of DAB radio should be market-driven. Although no expansion of the DAB network is proposed within the framework of this investigation, the committee also believes that the market as a whole needs clear conditions from the parliament and the government regarding the future of DAB radio. As the committee stated, the question of whether there is a need for an expansion of SR's DAB broadcasts needs to be seen in a larger context - which, in addition to public service, also includes the commercial radio companies' DAB broadcasts and the needs of society as a whole. In such an analysis, in addition to DAB radio broadcasts, other possible distribution forms for radio would also have to be taken into account.
Abolishing the auction procedure for the FM licenses better solution for commercial radio
Although SR's DAB broadcasts are important for commercial radio's investments in the DAB network, the conditions for commercial radio are mainly dependent on the possibilities for analogue FM broadcasts. The media authority has proposed that the analogue commercial licenses should be distributed according to a selection procedure that is based on the procedure that currently applies to commercial DAB radio and terrestrial television. By all accounts, this would mean improved financial conditions for the commercial radio companies. The committee assesses that the issue is likely to be of greater importance than any demands for expansion of SR's DAB broadcasts.
The two major commercial broadcasters Viaplay and Bauer Media have also stated that the media authority's proposal to abolish the auction procedure is a prerequisite for being able to continue with the analogue FM broadcasts and expand the DAB broadcasts in parallel. It is desirable to introduce a permit process for commercial radio which means that the current auction procedure for FM permits is abolished.
Important with car radio. Requirements for FM radio in new cars should be analyzed.
The committee concludes its deliberations on DAB and SR by stating that the degree of coverage for the DAB networks today is significantly lower than for the FM networks and radio listening still takes place to a large extent in the car. In Finland, since 2021, new vehicles with car radio receivers have been required to be able to receive and reproduce both digital and analogue terrestrial radio broadcasts. There is reason to analyze requirements for FM radio in new cars similar to the requirements in Finland.
The report is now on referral for three months. The Ministry of Culture will then prepare a bill which is expected to be presented by the government in the parliament at the beginning of next year.
Analysis and commentary:
Already in 2016 the parliament unanimously rejected the proposal to replace the national FM network with a DAB+ network. This time, if the committee gets its way, it will be the nail in the coffin for a rather outdated DAB system to become a future main platform for radio in Sweden, if even able to challenge FM radio and the Internet. On the question of a DAB expansion for SR, there was no disagreement between the eight party representatives on the committee that there is a better solution to support commercial radio in its fight for survival.
SR's DAB adventure, which started with local test broadcasts back in 1991, has over more than 30 years cost a total of approximately SEK 900 million (in today's monetary value), but listeners have remained few. In no country in the world - except Norway - has the DAB system been able to be established as the main platform for terrestrial radio so far. FM radio remains in all countries (including Norway) and the Internet continues to be the dominant digital complement for radio listening. The DAB system has so far only been able to be established in a few countries in the world. This despite decades of intensive propaganda from the lobby organization WorldDAB. Other systems for terrestrial digital radio most competing are DRM, HD Radio and recently launched 5G Broadcast.
Considering continued budget cuts and demands for efficiency, a national investment in DAB radio could be too politically broadcast challenging for SR. In the Swedish public service sphere, there is probably no appetite for DAB anymore and it seems logical that SR is now discontinuing its current provisional DAB broadcasts, which attract less than one (1) percent of the radio audience (according to SR's own data).
Download the full report (in Swedish)
Ansvar och oberoende – public service i oroliga tider (SOU 2024:34)
Also read
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In Ten Years, We Will Listen To Radio Mostly Online Instead Of Terrestrial
DAB Will Never Replace FM In Australia
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FM Remains the Economic Basis of Commercial Radio in Germany
Dead and Buried - Parliament Confirms Rejection of DAB Radio in Sweden (2016)
