British Findings: DAB Cannot Replace FM for Community Radio

SSDAB solution not a comprehensive substitute for analogue provision.

There are 332 community radio stations in the UK mostly broadcasting on analogue FM.  The are licenses for local digital services on DAB mostly for simulcasting FM-DAB but some also DAB-only. The think tank Decentered Media has published a new briefing paper examining the outcomes of the Small-Scale DAB (SSDAB) program and its implications for local and independent radio services across the UK. This paper provides an evidence-led assessment of the outcomes of the SSDAB program, drawing on an independently compiled and verified dataset of analogue and digital radio services.

  The paper reviews regulatory data, market conditions, and operational evidence from community and small independent broadcasters. It finds that while Small-Scale DAB has increased digital capacity in some areas, a significant number of services are unable to participate on sustainable terms due to transmission costs, multiplex governance arrangements, coverage requirements, and ongoing liabilities.  Read more here:

Norwegian Shame: Swiss DAB Fiasco Ignored By Media And Politicians

The unique initiative to shut down the FM network in Norway not the success story expected .

In 2017, Norway's nationwide FM network was shut down and replaced with digital terrestrial radio DAB+. This after a decade of debate that was characterized by a compact resistance both in public opinion and in the editorial and readers’ pages of the daily press. Today, Norway is still the only country in the world to have shut down its national FM network. Switzerland was supposed to be the second country to do the same, but its government recently changed its plans to shut down FM at the end of this year. The public broadcaster SRF, which shut down its FM network a year ago and thereby lost many listeners, has now announced plans to restart FM in 2026.

The fiasco in Switzerland has received a lot of attention in other countries that have DAB radio on their agenda. Considering how Norway up until 2017 was beating the drum for its DAB initiative both at home and abroad, it is remarkable with the total silence today. Why? Read more about this here: