AM may end, but digital prospers in the UK

[Mike Walker]

From the London Daily Telegraph

Wave farewell to AM radio, say experts

By David Sapsted
12/30/2006



Radio broadcasts on medium wave will end within a few years if a powerful coalition of commercial radio interests has its way.

Ofcom, commercial radio's regulatory body, will launch a debate in the coming months on the future of radio.

Many predict that it will result in the end of AM broadcasts as we have known them since the days of the Home Service and Light Programme.
[EDIT]

[EDIT-citation truncated because size exceeds fair use standards. Unauthorized citation of copyrighted content is in violation of our Terms of Service. To read the rest of the article, please click on the URL below.]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/30/nradio30.xml

 

[Mike Walker]

Of course am has a much larger audience share in the US. The highest rated stations in many markets are AMs.

Isn't Virgin Radio, the biggest privately owned broadcaster there, primarily an AM (mediumwave and longwave) network?

 

[700WLW]

Of course am has a much larger audience share in the US. The highest rated stations in many markets are AMs.

Isn't Virgin Radio, the biggest privately owned broadcaster there, primarily an AM (mediumwave and longwave) network?

This is old news - still, only one million, or so, digital receivers have been sold (not counting the number returned) in the UK. Still, digital radio is struggling in the UK, failing in Canada, and anemic in the US. If the UK can afford to shut off AM analog, that is their problem - no way, could this be done for many decades, if ever, in the US. Digital radio is not prospering in the UK, but being forced on the general public, just as the HD Radio Cartel is attempting to do so in the US !

Yawn...

 

[Mike Walker]

I don't know where you get your million figure. Pick up a UK publication! I read several UK magazines monthly (Hi Fi Choice, What Hi Fi, and others) and it's getting damn hard to find an analog only radio there. Perhaps the figure is for digital-only radios. There are few of them. They ALL receive MW, LW, FM, AND DAB.

The Pure brand alone has sold a million radios in the UK (perhaps THAT is where you got the figure. Here's a link to the site where this is announced http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=platforms&id=3944

In May of last year DAB sales passed the three million mark in the UK. Here'a s link to that story http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=platforms&id=3944

The percentage of people in the UK living in households with DAB radios grew from 11.1% at the end of 2005 to 13.6% in the first quarter of 2006. And that was a YEAR ago. Here's a link to that story http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?id=1668

Digital radio in the UK is expected to be in 50 percent of households by 2010 (just three years). Here's a link to that story http://www.digital-radio-news.com/

In February of 2005, Dixon's (kind of a UK version of Best Buy) reported that sales of digital radios had overtaken those of analog sets for the first time. A link to that story http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/nma/nma2006/blog/archives/2005/02/28/digital-appeal/


The BBC is planning their own add-on digital radio for mp3 players. Here's the story:

BBC plans DAB add-on for MP3 players
The details are slim, but they come straight from a BBC News article, so we're thinking there just might be some weight to them. Apparently the UK's BBC is planning their very own DAB device to act as "clip-on" addition to current MP3 players.

Just a few results I got when I googled "DAB Radio Sales Figures UK". I knew the situation wasn't as 700WLW describes it, because I've stayed in touch with British audio for nearly three decades (they have so damn much fun with audio there!) But I didn't know the exact "skinny" (I KNEW they weren't advertising analog radios much any more!) until I googled. So thanks for the inspiration, 700! The UK actually leads the world in adoption of digital radio. I'm sure they couldn't have done it without you!

 

[700WLW]

Read it somewhere on the Web, but it is probably over, anyway !

 

[Mike Walker]

Apologies for the tos violation. I should have linked to the story rather than copying and pasting so much. It was credited (at least).

 

[Chuck]

The good news about the UK version is they aren't trying to put a digital band-aid on AM. We should take a lesson from that.

 

[Tom Wells]

AMAX was a band-aid for AM radio, as was stereo. Too bad we didn't keep the band-aid on.
The sore got infected by business, and the infection spread. Instead of care by a local practitioner,
we opted for a complete digital gut rehab for AM, and we find there is not enough room to put all the guts back in.
The digtal guts OR the analog guts will fit, but neither will work properly unless we accept the indigestion, burning and gas
as our new standard of health.

 

[700WLW]

One or two million digital receivers is not much, out of a population of 45 million. The only reason people are buying digital radios, is because the UK has threatened to turn off analog, otherwise, it would probably be the same apathetic situation, as in the US.

 

[Mike Walker]

Uh 700...did you read that a year ago 15 percent of UK households had digital radio. It's certainly up now. In just three years they're predicting 50 percent, which would make adoption there faster than anywhere else in the world. Most important: digital radios now outsell analog by a substantial margin. That's the most important thing to take away from this. When that's the case, eventually everyone who buys a radio (everyone at one time or another) will have DAB.

It's like HDTV. When you go to Wal Mart, and all they sell is digital tvs (pretty much the case, except for the very cheapest 13" and smaller ones), guess what you're going home with? Analog tvs are almost gone from stores. Penetration in people's homes may only be 15 percent or so, but if you can no longer buy analog receivers, guess what you'll buy?

Digital is outselling analog in the UK. Analog radios are disappearing from shelves. Game over!

 

[700WLW]

Uh 700...did you read that a year ago 15 percent of UK households had digital radio. It's certainly up now. In just three years they're predicting 50 percent, which would make adoption there faster than anywhere else in the world. Most important: digital radios now outsell analog by a substantial margin. That's the most important thing to take away from this. When that's the case, eventually everyone who buys a radio (everyone at one time or another) will have DAB.

It's like HDTV. When you go to Wal Mart, and all they sell is digital tvs (pretty much the case, except for the very cheapest 13" and smaller ones), guess what you're going home with? Analog tvs are almost gone from stores. Penetration in people's homes may only be 15 percent or so, but if you can no longer buy analog receivers, guess what you'll buy?

Digital is outselling analog in the UK. Analog radios are disappearing from shelves. Game over!

If true, that is certainly not happening in Canada, or in the US - the only reason that is happening in the UK, is that they have threatened to turn off analog, and mostly older customers are buying digital radios. Wait, until the baby-boomers start dying off - game over for terrestrial radio. Game over - I don't think so !

 

[Mike Walker]

Dude, the UK is not "threatening to turn off analog". They're threatening to turn off AM (MW and LW...they have two AM bands there). Nobody's threatening to turn off FM analog. There's no need. Not only that, the threat of turning off analog AM is because the audience has gone away, not the other way around.

Most of Europe is abandoning AM, at a pretty astonishing (and sad) rate. Since government-owned stations were the rule over there until fairly recently, private-owned broadcasting has never taken off the way it did in the US (and Canada). The result being that there are sufficient FM allocations for local programming. Now the one big advantage to AM in Europe is that, since there are far fewer stations, some run ENORMOUS power, and cover huge geographical areas. 500,000 watts, and even a million watts are not unheard of in Europe, Asia, and Africa (on MW...the standard AM Broadcast band).

Canada has also been moving services from AM to FM pretty rapidly, and many AMs have either gone dark, or changed hands as a result. Canada will always suffer (in terms of broadcasting and other standards...hell the Canadian and American phone systems are THE SAME!) from being in America's shadow. When we adopted a different digital radio standard, my immediate thought was "it's just a matter of time till Canada switches". People along the border (in Canada and the US) consume each other's media. It's unthinkable that your neighbor "just over the hill" would have a radio standard you couldn't listen to!

 

[700WLW]

"UK May Dump Analog Broadcasting"

"Regulators in the United Kingdom are considering the end of AM and FM radio on the grounds that they have both outlived their usefulness, and digital services could make better use of the spectrum occupied by both bands... Radio advertising, the lifeblood of “free” radio, has stalled in both the U.S. and U.K. Commercial radio revenues in the U.K. fell 7.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2006 to $85 million, while Internet advertising has grown quickly over the last five years."

http://wireless-watch.com/2006/11/27/uk-may-dump-analog-broadcasting/

Looks like terrestrial radio isn't doing too well ! These are the only reasons, why digital receivers are being sold in the UK, and it is only to older-aged folks (the younger generation has abandoned terrrestrial radio). Looks like the move is toward the Internet !

"Digital radio in Canada"

"The Commission is very concerned about the stalled DRB transition. Roughly 15 of the 76 authorized stations (including the digital-only operation in Toronto) are not on the air. Some stations that once operated have since ceased operations. Few recievers have been sold, and there is no interest in expanding DRB service beyond the six cities where it exists."

http://americanbandscan.blogspot.com/2006/12/digital-radio-in-canada.html

Terrestrial radio is on the way out - looks like some will lose a hobby, while others lose jobs ! Anyway, who cares about the UK, when the only countries that matter, are Canada and the US.

 

[Mike Walker]

Ever read a British audio mag? Brits LOVE their radio. I wish there were as many reviews (in American audio mags) of radio related devices (tuners. radios, etc.) Hell, half the time when a receiver is reviewed here, they only talk about it's video-switching and surround sound processing! The people bought a RECEIVER...which means it has radio reception capability! If they didn't care about radio, they would have bought an INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER!

Oh well. Radio seems "old hat" to the young'uns we're about to turn the world over to. But they'll discover that RADIO is critically important to the public at large.

I wish America had the quality of radio programming available in the UK! The BBC actually researches and develops new audio products. There have been quite a few commercial products developed over the years (like the famous LS35A speakers). It once was true in America, until CBS Labs was broken up on the 90s. Can you imagine an American radio network developing a commercial audio product? Wait...HD radio was largely backed by networks CBS/Infinity, Clear Channel, NPR. In fact the idea of multicasting came from NPR. Nevermind!

 

[700WLW]

Ever read a British audio mag? Brits LOVE their radio. I wish there were as many reviews (in American audio mags) of radio related devices (tuners. radios, etc.) Hell, half the time when a receiver is reviewed here, they only talk about it's video-switching and surround sound processing! The people bought a RECEIVER...which means it has radio reception capability! If they didn't care about radio, they would have bought an INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER!

Oh well. Radio seems "old hat" to the young'uns we're about to turn the world over to. But they'll discover that RADIO is critically important to the public at large.

I wish America had the quality of radio programming available in the UK! The BBC actually researches and develops new audio products. There have been quite a few commercial products developed over the years (like the famous LS35A speakers). It once was true in America, until CBS Labs was broken up on the 90s. Can you imagine an American radio network developing a commercial audio product? Wait...HD radio was largely backed by networks CBS/Infinity, Clear Channel, NPR. In fact the idea of multicasting came from NPR. Nevermind!

Even Jerry Del Colliano, Professor of Music Industry at USC, former TV and Radio Broadcaster, and founder of Inside Radio, who has extensive and continuing exposure to Gen Y, knows HD Radio is dead-technology-walking, and that terrestrial radio has lost the younger generation:

"Dead Technology Walking"

"It's remarkable to me that any sane radio executive can believe that HD radio will give the industry the rebirth it needs to satisfy its prime audience..."

http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2006/11/dead-technology-walking.html

"Why 2007 Will Be Another Bad Year For Radio"

"But skipping the next generation -- Gen Y -- that's risky business. That's why radio has no future."

http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2006/12/why-2007-will-be-another-bad-year-for.html

 

[Mike Walker]

Yeah, the internet was "dead technology walking" too, according to a lot of "experts". How many people said nobody would ever make money on the internet. A "web store"? Ridiculous. Tell Amazon.com!

TV was "just a fad", as was the cd. In the 40s it was argued that there was absolutely no reason to have frequency response extend beyond 8khz..."it will sound worse, not better!" was the cry.

"Digital photography is just a novelty for geeks. It will never threaten film" I remember reading in a photo mag about 1998. Aren't you aware 700 that EVERY new technology is declared dead-on-arrival by someone?

A local AM station that didn't bother putting their stereo exciter back in after a recent transmitter, tower, and processor upgrade is now asking their engineer about the feasibility of doing it, since the Accurian HD Radio, now available at the local Radio Shack, receives AM Stereo. They consider it a "nice bridge" until they decide what to do about HD. I got a testy e-mail from their Chief Engineer, a longtime friend of mine this morning saying "see what you've started!" The truth is that all it takes for technology to succeed is for early adopters to convince their friends that it fulfills a need better, more easily, more conveniently, or more affordably than what they're already using. Any one of those will do.

Post your links. Neither I, nor I suspect anyone else here, can ever be reasoned out of a conclusion based upon personal experience, and arrived at through an informed analytical process. In other words, if my personal experience differs from yours, and it makes sense to me, my mind won't be changed by anything you say! Now if I hadn't had a positive experience, I might be swayed by argument. It's like unringing a bell. Once the worth of HD has been proven, you can't "take it back".

 

[Chuck]

Digital is outselling analog in the UK. Analog radios are disappearing from shelves. Game over!

Please note that the UK version is DRM, not IBOC. With few exceptions, those of us who are cautious about IBOC have no real problem with the concept of Digital Radio.

 

[SUPERCASTER]

Chuck said:
"Please note that the UK version is DRM, not IBOC. With few exceptions, those of us who are cautious about IBOC have no real problem with the concept of Digital Radio."

Ditto!

At least broadcasters should adopt a system that has good coverage, does not create new interference, is fully compatible with analog, is comparatively very inexpensive for broadcasters, can be cheaply added to existing radio designs, sounds every bit as good, is not proprietary, already has full FCC approval, does not trespass on it's neighbors, is truly In Band On Channel, and is fully compatible with existing station assignments.
FMeXtra www.dreinc.com
I'd rather wait a year for the FMeXtra radios to become available, because the entire front end of the radio does not need redesign (same bandwidth and specs as analog), is simple, does not require new radio designs. FMeXtra can be simply added to new production of existing radios for only a few dollars per radio.
FMeXtra is the HD radio system that makes engineering, and economic sense, is fully compatible with analog, and does no harm.
I'd rather wait a little longer for radios then to be stuck with the defective, problematic iBiquity HD radio system.

 

[Mike Walker]

You might be surprised to learn that I agree (from what I've read) that FMExtra may well have been a better system. But HD DOES work. Do I wish it worked better? You bet!

 

[SUPERCASTER]

You might be surprised to learn that I agree (from what I've read) that FMExtra may well have been a better system. But HD DOES work. Do I wish it worked better? You bet!

At least we can partially agree on FMeXtra HD Radio!
Why do you say "have been" how about is?
In spite of all your predictions, it may be around much longer then iBiquity/HD Radio. After all, unlike iBiquity, FMeXtra already has full FCC approval.


Whether IBiquity/HD Radio does what it claims to do, I think the answer is clearly no, it does not. That is how consumers judge products. Would you willingly accept any new product that barely works, and does not live up to expectations based on manufacturers claims?

Would you buy a car that claimed 100 miles per gallon, but only got 5, and the top speed was 3 miles per hour?

It may barely work, but that car is not of much use. You could probably walk or ride a bike faster. Little benefit = no sale.