Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - Printable Version
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RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - i.h - 14-05-2024
If you aren't in the UK and want to listen to UK radio then you'll have no other choice anyway, but there is a lot to be said for convenience.
My car has DAB. It doesn't have carplay, but it does have bluetooth. I can't be bothered to set up my phone every time I get in the car. DAB is automatic and goes to the station I last listened to.
On that basis alone it wins. Since my car doesn't have a pointlessly overspecced sound system it's not like 128k stereo MP2 is that much of an impediment anyway.
Of course radio wins in emergencies anyway. Even DAB will hold up better than attempting to stream over what's left of the mobile network, and there's arguably a case for not pushing people to consume valuable network resources to listen to something that can be much more efficiently broadcast.
RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - Keith - 14-05-2024
(14-05-2024, 08:59 AM)i.h Wrote: Of course radio wins in emergencies anyway. Even DAB will hold up better than attempting to stream over what's left of the mobile network, and there's arguably a case for not pushing people to consume valuable network resources to listen to something that can be much more efficiently broadcast.On a related note the FM & AM switch-off in the UK has been delayed until at least 2030, following a government review back in 2021 by the DMCS. Originally these licences had been due to start expiring around now. I believe the review was carried out after DAB usage hit the 50% threshold.
In 2022 (another?) review looked into how to push the migration from DAB to DAB+. It seems a lot of the public who use DAB aren't aware of the difference, and quite a few devices don't support DAB+. It was however noted that recently several commercial radio stations had begun migrating over to broadcasting on DAB+.
It was also noted that...
"The European Electronic Communications Code (EECC),[footnote 102] which came into force in December 2018, included a requirement for all car radios to be DAB+ enabled."
...and...
"Although digital radio is now mandatory in new passenger cars where radio is installed, there is no equivalent obligation to fit DAB/DAB+ in commercial vehicles."
Reference: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-radio-and-audio-review/digital-radio-and-audio-review#chapter-4----the-future-of-radio-listening-to-devices-used-in-cars-and-commercial-vehicles
I think until DAB+ becomes standard in the majority of cars and commercial vehicles then the FM switch-off is unlikely to happen. However, it's fair to say that the AM/MW switch-off is already taking place, and I suspect soon only 5 Live will be one of the few stations using MW/AM.
With regards to DAB+ vs streaming I think in vehicles DAB is preferable. Maybe in the long-term when 5G is widespread streaming will become more practical in vehicles, provided users don't have data limits to worry about. DAB+ though seems to be a more viable option, particularly in emergencies where mobile signals may be limited.
RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - VMPhil - 14-05-2024
Virtually all non-aftermarket DAB car radios are DAB+ enabled aren't they? Due to DAB+ being widely used across Europe. We started DAB quite early which is why we stuck with the original version for so long
I have tried streaming radio through CarPlay - it is a very frustrating experience! The stream often drops and it doesn't automatically restart. Attempting to restart the stream is actually quite a fiddly and dangerous thing to do while driving as well.
RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - James2001 - 14-05-2024
There's still a fair few DAB radios on sale which can't do DAB+... which is pretty ridiculous really. I know most of the ones B&M sell don't!
RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - VMPhil - 14-05-2024
(14-05-2024, 10:42 AM)James2001 Wrote: There's still a fair few DAB radios on sale which can't do DAB+... which is pretty ridiculous really. I know most of the ones B&M sell don't!
That's a different problem. When looking for a home set you should always buy one with the Digital Radio Tick Mark...
https://getdigitalradio.com/digital-radio-tick-mark/what-is-digital-radio-tick-mark/
RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - James2001 - 14-05-2024
Though of course a lot of people won't be aware of the tick mark and to look for it, or even know what DAB+ is. And so many of those sets still on sale is going to stifle moving over to DAB+.
It's not like DAB+ is new, even to the UK, so there still being so many radios out there that don't do it is quite ridiculous at this point, they should have been off the market several years ago.
RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - Keith - 14-05-2024
(14-05-2024, 10:49 AM)James2001 Wrote: Though of course a lot of people won't be aware of the tick mark and to look for it, or even know what DAB+ is. And so many of those sets still on sale is going to stifle moving over to DAB+.I'd personally never heard of it until today. At the start of this year I bought myself a DAB+ radio, though had to carefully check it supported DAB+, as the retailer also sold radios which didn't support it.
Looking at https://getdigitalradio.com/digital-radio-tick-mark/ the updated 2022 logo is an improvement over the original one for users, as it now states "DAB+ DAB FM" in the logo. It does however rely on retailers including this logo in their online listings of products, and even then if it's just in a gallery of product photos it may not be seen.
I suspect it'll probably require OFCOM and/or the government to legislate against new digital radios being sold that don't support DAB+.
RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - i.h - 14-05-2024
There's also the matter of radios that can (could) be upgraded but the process is non-trivial.
I bought a Pure alarm clock off eBay. That was a newer version which came with DAB+ and happened to come in box with the digital radio tick. I then later bought the exact same clock at a car boot sale. Same model, but evidently an older production run that was DAB only, and the upgrade process required a firmware upgrade (which meant a Windows PC and finding a *mini* USB cable). Then you could input the upgrade code and DAB+ is enabled.
But I suppose it's good the option was there. Of course I upgraded mine but it was a lot of faff and potential e-waste just so that the manufacturer could save a few pennies.
At least it's easier to communicate the difference now that we have DAB+ stations. It's easier to check if a device can pick up Jazz FM than to scour the box for the right jargon.
RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - VMPhil - 14-05-2024
(14-05-2024, 11:48 AM)i.h Wrote: There's also the matter of radios that can (could) be upgraded but the process is non-trivial.
I bought a Pure alarm clock off eBay. That was a newer version which came with DAB+ and happened to come in box with the digital radio tick. I then later bought the exact same clock at a car boot sale. Same model, but evidently an older production run that was DAB only, and the upgrade process required a firmware upgrade (which meant a Windows PC and finding a *mini* USB cable). Then you could input the upgrade code and DAB+ is enabled.
But I suppose it's good the option was there. Of course I upgraded mine but it was a lot of faff and potential e-waste just so that the manufacturer could save a few pennies.
At least it's easier to communicate the difference now that we have DAB+ stations. It's easier to check if a device can pick up Jazz FM than to scour the box for the right jargon.
Pure originally charged for the DAB+ upgrade (£10 I think?) which probably explains the faff needed with upgrade codes and such - don't know if/when they stopped charging for it
RE: Future of 'Radio' Stations in Streaming Era - i.h - 14-05-2024
I would have done it in 2017 or 2018 or so. I wasn't aware they once charged, though I seem to remember reading how people would use VPNs to appear to be in Australia so that they could get a free upgrade that way. (this was before the UK had any DAB+ services so Pure wasn't offering an upgrade here at all)