Post by Darren Forster on Mar 30, 2010 9:15:55 GMT
I've just seen this on Yahoo
new.uk.music.yahoo.com/blogs/touchingthevoid/28943/is-this-the-end-of-your-radio/
About the governments plan to switch off analogue radio in the UK by 2015.
What will this mean for the future of community radio stations like HCR, Preston FM, Chorley FM, and RSL stations like Waddecar FM, Jamboree FM and many more special event stations.
The digital TV switch over was quite easy to do as TV transmissions (apart from SSTV and FSTV on Ham radio) aren't really done by community groups and there is only so many of them, but radio is a whole different ball game.
There are so many different suppliers and so many different reasons for keeping the analogue signal going.
For one reception, I'm quite sure the adverts for DAB falsly advertise the fact that the sound is clearer, when I've been in the Lakes, Peaks, and Wales with my DAB I've usually given up listening and gone back to analogue.
Then secondly there is community. Most stations on DAB are all mass produced rubbish sent out from London, or other areas that are nothing to do with the local area. TV doesn't really matter as it never was really regional anyway except the news reports, but radio gives people the chance to hear what is going on in there local community, and hear local relevant traffic reports.
DAB is supposed to have increased the number of stations and made the sound quality better, instead with Capital, BBC and GMG controlling most of the content on it, it has just decreased choice, and the quality in some places is absolutely appalling. It's impossible to use in a car. The only station on DAB that seems to be a little bit different is Real Radio, the rest are just mass produced rubbish sent out constantly from London, like In Demand, Hit40UK.
I find Hit40UK so annoying when it's Sunday and they play a song you hate, and every single station you tune to has exactly the same song on, the same with In Demand, it's only In Demand because you have nothing else to listen to 'cos it goes out across the "Big City Network". Thankfully round here we do have HCR to listen to, but there are many places where your force fed this rubbish, and if they switch off analogue radio it's just going to be even worse, 'cos I don't think the big three radio companies will be happy at sharing their multiplexes with small community radio stations like HCR.
So can anyone confirm, is this digital radio switchover happening, and if so what will happen to community radio stations, will we all be force fed London based stations like Capital, Heart and Galaxy or will there be an exemption to allow them to continue on analogue or an easy way for them to convert to digital?
new.uk.music.yahoo.com/blogs/touchingthevoid/28943/is-this-the-end-of-your-radio/
About the governments plan to switch off analogue radio in the UK by 2015.
What will this mean for the future of community radio stations like HCR, Preston FM, Chorley FM, and RSL stations like Waddecar FM, Jamboree FM and many more special event stations.
The digital TV switch over was quite easy to do as TV transmissions (apart from SSTV and FSTV on Ham radio) aren't really done by community groups and there is only so many of them, but radio is a whole different ball game.
There are so many different suppliers and so many different reasons for keeping the analogue signal going.
For one reception, I'm quite sure the adverts for DAB falsly advertise the fact that the sound is clearer, when I've been in the Lakes, Peaks, and Wales with my DAB I've usually given up listening and gone back to analogue.
Then secondly there is community. Most stations on DAB are all mass produced rubbish sent out from London, or other areas that are nothing to do with the local area. TV doesn't really matter as it never was really regional anyway except the news reports, but radio gives people the chance to hear what is going on in there local community, and hear local relevant traffic reports.
DAB is supposed to have increased the number of stations and made the sound quality better, instead with Capital, BBC and GMG controlling most of the content on it, it has just decreased choice, and the quality in some places is absolutely appalling. It's impossible to use in a car. The only station on DAB that seems to be a little bit different is Real Radio, the rest are just mass produced rubbish sent out constantly from London, like In Demand, Hit40UK.
I find Hit40UK so annoying when it's Sunday and they play a song you hate, and every single station you tune to has exactly the same song on, the same with In Demand, it's only In Demand because you have nothing else to listen to 'cos it goes out across the "Big City Network". Thankfully round here we do have HCR to listen to, but there are many places where your force fed this rubbish, and if they switch off analogue radio it's just going to be even worse, 'cos I don't think the big three radio companies will be happy at sharing their multiplexes with small community radio stations like HCR.
So can anyone confirm, is this digital radio switchover happening, and if so what will happen to community radio stations, will we all be force fed London based stations like Capital, Heart and Galaxy or will there be an exemption to allow them to continue on analogue or an easy way for them to convert to digital?