May 22: The latest digital radio sales figures are in - and they show that after 10 years there are now seven million DAB sets sold in the UK. After a very slow start, the DAB digital radio sets are now being bought at a rate of two million per year, thanks to a growth over the Christmas period of 28 per cent.

The ongoing success of DAB has continued to drive a resurgence in the UK Portable Radio market. Since the launch of DAB, approximately 9.4 million Portable Radios, of all types, have been sold. This has resulted in the yearly market value growing from a consistent annual turnover of around £30m (2000-2002) to just under £78m in 2007.   

In the first quarter of 2008, sales of DAB compatible models accounted for 81% of the value of the Portable Radio market. With the average price of a DAB radio now dropping below £50 (March 2008), it is the continued unit growth of DAB Portable radios that has resulted in the sectors' current value performance.

Australia's commercial broadcasters plan to embrace a DAB+ standard for digital radio from the beginning of rollout, thus avoiding legacy compatibility issues with older DAB layer 2 coding technology, a problem now facing commercial programmers in the UK, where interest in commercial DAB is said to be flagging.

Altogether, the Australian radio industry reportedly plans to invest 0 million over several years phasing in the new national DAB service, scheduled to debut in 11 key cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra. Government sponsored public radio services will also be carried on the multiplexes. »

« (...) Even as the future of Digital One, owned by GCap and the infrastructure provider Arqiva, is under scrutiny, plans are being drawn up for a second national “multiplex” for the commercial sector, headed by Channel 4 Radio. (...) All the uncertainty and a vortex of conflicting interests have simply amplified a debate on the future of digital radio – a technology that is being taken up much later in the day by consumers than digital television – and whether it is now at the brink of a “Freeview” moment of immense growth, or a “Betamax” moment of consumer abnegation. Some industry experts such as Richard Wheatley, chief executive of The Local Radio Company, see Digitial Audio Broadcasting (DAB) as radio’s equivalent of Betamax, a failed technology in the face of a mass of better alternatives»

Não, diz a BBC: «Following yesterday's news from GCap Media, the BBC and 4 Digital Group have joined forces to confirm their commitment to develop digital radio in the UK. Both parties will look at ways to encourage more rapid consumer take-up of the technology ahead of 4 Digital's launch in the next 12 months»

«Millions of people who have invested in new digital radios were yesterday wondering whether they would be left with little more than expensive ornaments after Britain's biggest commercial radio group all but abandoned the medium. The owner of Capital Radio, Classic FM and Xfm was an enthusiastic champion of digital audio broadcasting (DAB) under its previous management, spending an estimated £80m on new transmitters and stations.»

«Ms Hazlitt, the former Virgin Radio chief, said GCap had spent around £8m a year on digital radio, but had failed to recoup the investment. It is a marked change in strategy for GCap, which under its former chief executive Ralph Bernard, championed DAB. Ms Haz-litt said: "We believe the future for the new GCap is on FM and broadband. FM remains the backbone of the radio industry and on quality compares favourably to any other platform." The latest Rajar figures show that DAB accounts for 9 per cent of all listening, digital radio alone for 4 per cent and online – in which GCap is now placing its faith – for just 1.9 per cent, even though many more households have broadband than have DAB radio sets.»

«Digital audio broadcasting (DAB) may end up to radio what Betamax was to video, warns a report published today. The report, by media and telecoms specialist Enders Analysis, said the launch of the second national commercial digital radio multiplex, headed by Channel 4, might exacerbate the problems rather than solve them, and warned that media regulator Ofcom would face a public outcry if DAB failed. Enders Analysis added that the high cost of DAB transmission and slow growth in revenue had combined to undermine confidence in the new medium and led to the closure of a string of national digital stations. Today's report urged the radio sector to "stop continually beating its chest in public about the wonders of DAB and instead partake in an honest industry debate about the future of the platform". "The exodus of stations from the DAB platform is starting to look like a stampede," said the Enders report, written by Grant Goddard.»

«Digital sets are at risk of becoming obsolete unless sales pick up, industry analysts warned yesterday. That would mean they follow a host of other gadgets - such as Betamax video cassettes and mini-disc audio players, which were bought by millions but are now mere curiosities. Although 6.5million digital radios have been bought since 1999, it is not enough for broadcasters to recoup their costs.  And unlike in TV, there is no Government approved timeline for an analogue switch-off.  The problem seems to be that despite the huge investment in Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) by commercial stations, many of us are sticking to our old-fashioned analogue sets. Companies are now scrapping digital stations because the number of listeners is too small to justify their running costs. In recent months, longstanding outlets Groove, Oneword and Core have all been been taken off the digital service. »

« (...)His comments come as France appears poised to adopt T-DMB technology for digital radio services, even though it was designed for mobile TV. It is an audacious move backed by the Groupement pour la Radio Numérique (Association for Digital Radio), a group of broadcasters whose members have more than 95 per cent of France's domestic audience.  GRN members have already started trial services in Paris, with a nationwide commercial launch planned for Christmas 2008. The French authorities will provide frequencies in the VHF (Band III) and Band L range.  The GRN is plumping for T-DMB, rather than DAB+, because its members believe that multimedia services will play an important part in the future of radio. Unless radio becomes interactive and adds pictures, they say, it will die a slow, but inevitable death. "Digital radio cannot only be digital sound - it needs to have the right functionalities to compete with other digital offerings," says Anichini. These include a screen, rich data, synchronization between data and sound and high audio quality. I am one of those who believe that radio’s unique advantage is that you can listen to it whilst doing other things. The challenge facing mobile TV, in contrast, is to convince consumers that it is not a “sit-back” medium. Nevertheless, the GRN perceives mobile TV as a real threat to the future of radio. For this reason, they argue that radio needs to be in DMB-equipped mobile phones. Samsung will provide the phones. However, Nokia, which prefers the rival DVB-H technology, is unlikely to follow suit. Instead, the Finnish giant is offering a free Internet Radio download for all Nokia phones running the Series 60 operating system. The service, which allows users to browse for radio programmes by genre, language, country, or name, will be installed on new phones. The fact that GRN broadcasters are demanding more bits for DMB services will further restrict competition. However, Nokia's Internet Radio could have a significant Long Tail effect by allowing small stations squeezed out by the GRN a real opportunity to reach new audiences. This leads us to the other question mark against the French strategy: is multimedia really the future of radio? Despite massive investment, commercial broadcasters in the UK have so far failed to launch any truly successful services. Multimedia is undoubtedly a sexy addition to radio, but can it really compete with the sophisticated services already available on the Internet? Many outside France, including foreign regulators and receiver manufacturers, have condemned the GRN’s controversial decision to adopt T-DMB for radio services. But perhaps the French are the ones who are seeing furthest into the future. If you build a network capable of transmitting DMB audio, it is easy to convert it to deliver DMB video. However, if you build a DAB+ network, there is no migration path to the brave new world of multimedia services. I suspect this is a question of culture, rather than technology. Different choices - T-DMB or DAB+ - may be appropriate in different countries.»

 fonte: «Re-thinking radio's digital future», Mike Mullane, 4/12/07

Mais: «Sachant que les expériences de RNT lancées en Espagne, en Italie et en Allemagne n'ont pas rencontré un franc succès public - la Grande-Bretagne a depuis longtemps adopté une autre norme que celle retenue par la France -, Christine Albanel n'a pas manqué de souligner, mercredi 5 décembre : "La France est l'un des premiers pays européens à se lancer, et je ne doute pas que nous ferons rapidement école." Ce qui pourrait participer à la "massification" de la radio numérique.»; Le numérique offrira des possibilités nouvelles à l'auditeur.
RETOUR EN ARRIÈRE :
permet d'écouter, depuis le début, une émission alors même qu'elle est en cours de diffusion.
PAUSE :
possibilité d'arrêter puis de reprendre l'écoute là où on l'avait laissée.
TÉLÉCHARGEMENT (OU PODCAST) :
permet d'enregistrer un programme et de l'écouter à n'importe quel moment.
SERVICES SUPPLÉMENTAIRES :compléments d'information (titres et interprètes, bibliographies, photos et vidéos, etc.), météo, horoscope, applications interactives...

MAIS:

«"Il est dommage que les pouvoirs publics, français et européens, n'accordent pas plus de place à la radio numérique terrestre (RNT) dans leurs discours", a regretté Jean-Paul Cluzel, président de Radio France, en ouverture du 10^e Forum international du son multi-canal qui s'est tenu, à Paris, les 25 et 26 octobre. "Dans quelques mois, la France assurera la présidence de l'Union européenne. C'est donc le bon moment pour dialoguer entre pays européens pour une Europe de la radio numérique", a-t-il ajouté. (...) Encore faut-il que les autorités françaises acceptent la norme actuellement utilisée en Angleterre (DAB +) en plus de celle que prônent les grands diffuseurs français (T-DMB). Les deux sont compatibles. La Commission européenne attend une réponse avant le 16 novembre. Viendra ensuite la bataille pour récupérer des fréquences dans un contexte de pénurie. Pas sûr en effet que les quelques 1 000 radios françaises trouvent leur place dans le nouveau paysage numérique. »

Mais: «According to Wikipedia: "DMB was developed in South Korea under the national IT project and the world's first official DMB broadcast started in South Korea in 2005, although trials were available much earlier." Trials are also being run in Germany, Italy, Norway, Indonesia and other places.
DMB and DAB+ are almost identical. However, the need to allow for images means DMB is about 35% less efficient than DAB+, reckons DRT. The French will therefore get fewer stations or a lower audio quality than they would have got with DAB+.
Steve Green, who runs Digital Radio Tech, reckons the only solution to the radio problem is to provide "over the air" (OTA) software updates so that radios can be upgraded to cope with whatever new systems are introduced. This type of approach works with Wi-Fi radios.»

Finally, the UK's DAB system is old and technically obsolete, and I think it will eventually have to be replaced with the new world standard, DAB+. That was the point of my original attack. At the time, I thought that switching to the much more efficient DAB+, which will allow more stations and higher quality at lower cost, was DAB's best hope. Now I wonder if even that will be enough.»

«Half the UK population will have access to to DAB digital radio in two and a half years time. That's the news from the Digital Radio Development Bureau, with a 58% penetration expected by 2011.
The DRDB’s new five-year forecast puts household penetration at 21% by the end of 2007, and 30% by the end of 2008, rising to 40% in 2009, 50% in 2010, and 58.5% by the end of 2011.
DAB digital radio set sales are expected to realise 17% growth in 2007, with more than two million units sold at a value of £170 million. Growth rises to 26% in 2008 with 2.6 million units sold at a value of £200 million. This delivers a cumulative forecast of approximately 9.2 million products sold by the end of 2008, with DAB products commanding 28% of the overall market by volume and 35% by value in 2008.
There are indications from many sources – Rajar, Ofcom, BBC, RadioCentre – that the traditional face of radio listening is changing. This is impacting significantly on the overall radio set sales market (analogue and DAB) with certain form factors, such as boomboxes, audio systems and personals, in decline, while others, such as MP3 players and docking stations (with radio included) are on the rise.
Says DRDB chief executive, Ian Dickens: “Already we are starting to see DAB digital radio appear in some of these new form factors, and while it is important to continue to see successful growth in traditional radio products, DAB’s longer-term future lies in the penetration of these new products, along with in-car and mobile phones. Over the coming months, the DRDB will be changing its shape and focus to ensure that radio moves swiftly down this road.”»

fonte: «DAB to reach 50% by 2010», Radiotoday.com, 24/9/07

«O iAudio D2 da Cowon é o primeiro mini rádio DAB do mundo. Apesar de ter o tamanho de uma caixa de fósforos, o iAudio D2 tem um tuner DAB full band III, além de rádio FM. Ele também toca músicas em formatos e toca vídeos MP4 e XviD com a sua tela touchscreen de 2.5?. O iAudio D2 vem com 4 GB ou 8 GB de capacidade, e se isto for pouco para você, ele também tem um slot para cartões SD HC. Segundo a Cowon, a bateria dura até 52 horas tocando arquivos MP3, 10 horas de vídeos e 12 horas escutando rádio DAB. A versão com 4 GB está à venda na Advanced MP3 Players da Inglaterra por £169.99 ou £189.99 com um cartão SD de 4 GB. E se você preferir, a Cowon também tem uma versão do D2 sem a funcionalidade de rádio DAB. (fonte: «O Rádio DAB de Bolso», IPJornal, 04/09/07) 

«Countries with a significant investment in DAB and an installed base of consumer equipment will proceed with DAB. However, the emergence of new standards may create confusion and disrupt digital radio implementation in some countries as regulators and planners re-evaluate the potential of each technology. Enabling regulation is not yet in place in many countries. The rate of technology migrations will increase and users will become accustomed to shrinking product life cycles, multi-standard devices, and hybrid functionality. Without significant economic or technical obstacles, radio broadcasters have flexibility within the DAB family of standards to offer a combination of services. The key issue will be management of the installed base of receiving equipment. Multiple platforms will coexist. DAB and DRM technologies can be implemented in a complementary way.

Consensus of all key industry players is necessary to drive radio digitalisation: Government regulators, public service and commercial broadcasters, network operators, and automobile manufactures. Marketing and coordination at national and international levels has not been sufficient in many cases.»

fonte: Public Radio in Europe, Conclusions and Outlook, EBU/UER, Junho 2007, pág 1

«DAB transmission was widely considered as expensive and uneconomic especially for commercial and community stations, when the costs were compared to analogue transmission or to alternative digital broadcasting systems. - DAB also had problems with coverage. In the UK and Denmark, it had become obvious that community radio and small commercial stations were not suited to the existing coverage patterns of DAB multiplexes. All the Irish respondents agreed that DAB coverage would not be compatible with the needs of local radio stations»

fonte: Public Radio in Europe, Conclusions and Outlook, EBU/UER, Junho 2007, pág 3

DAB’s slow, and often strangled, birth is closely related to the lack of a business model across most European markets – except the UK. (...). The real audience break through for DAB in the UK was in 2004 and ironically came through TV – and today up to 17 million people listen to radio via digital television – many discovering the new DAB stations there.

The DAB story might be a cautionary one for anyone doing future studies. No-one in 1996 predicted that TV would play a positive part in securing the future of digital radio and many European broadcasters lost millions on DAB pilots and projects.» (Shaw, 2005: 5)

«Radio listening figures are on the up, according to Rajar, the radio industry analysts. Almost 600,000 more people tuned in between April and June this year than for the same period last year. But that's not the most interesting statistic: for the first time, listening habits were broken down to reveal how many people still tuned in to The Archers on their wireless, and how many were sampling the delights of both mainstream and little-known radio stations via digital radio (DAB) or through their mobile phones.

Listening figures for both have increased exponentially in the last year, with 6.09 million people in the UK listening to shows available solely on digital radio compared to 905,000 four years ago. Meanwhile, 4.4 million people over the age of 15 claiming they have listened to radio on their phone, a 27 per cent rise in the last year, with the largest group of mobile-phone radio listeners aged between 15 and 24. This latter statistic is something of a surprise, as the reception quality of analogue radio on mobile handsets is notoriously patchy, but it seems likely that youngsters are listening to radio on their phones for relatively short periods of time, perhaps while waiting for a bus, or to check on sports results at weekends. (...) "Old" media is alive and well, it seems; it's just finding new ways of reaching its audience.»

fonte: «How digital radio came of age», Telegraph, Claudine Beaumont, 25/08/07

Apesar de...

«Ofcom therefore got ICM to conduct a poll in January to find out what users thought. They interviewed 677 DAB listeners, and "81% of all respondents rated sound quality as either excellent or good, with a further 14% rating it as average. Only 3% rated it as poor or very poor, with 2% who said they didn't know." What Ofcom calls "DAB hi-fi owners" (listeners who defined themselves as such) had the same response "with 83% rating quality as excellent and a further 12% as average"»

a verdade é que há quem pense na GB que:

«This is, of course, nonsense. The current quality of DAB in the UK - which is broadcast at low bit rates using an inefficient MP2 codec - is provably worse than FM. But I don't think that DAB radio owners have cloth ears. DAB does have advantages in eliminating background hiss and avoiding the signal interference that can afflict FM unless you use a decent aerial. However, the most popular DAB radios are mono models with small speakers, and most listening is done in the kitchen on table-top radios that can't offer proper stereo imaging. You can't honestly evaluate audio quality on that basis.»

Daí que o autor conclua que «The UK is still on course to have the worst radio in the world.»

excertos tirados de «Ofcom is still clueless when it comes to DAB radio», Jack Schofield, Thursday May 10, 2007, The Guardian

Se:

«(...) Rajar believes digital radio listening made up 12.5% by the end of last year, and may have stalled slightly given that it was 11% the year before and 6% in 2004 (...). Ken Garner, a radio expert from Glasgow Caledonian University, is more unequivocal. "The forecasts are totally delusional and probably driven by wishful thinking by the government about what it would like to do with the analogue frequencies. The numbers are based on hoped-for take up and not on evidence."»

O que está a correr menos bem (ou mal...): (excertos)

- digital radio sets have never become cheap enough.

- Car manufacturers have been slow to put digital radios in their products. With digital radio even slower to take off in Europe, many manufacturers have taken the view that it was not worth catering for the UK alone. FOR those with second-hand cars, meanwhile, upgrading to digital radio has meant getting sets specially fitted and in some cases has not been possible at all.

- Another issue has been quality. As Mark Mulligan, a vice-president of Jupiter Research, says: "The sound quality is significantly inferior to that of FM. For example, Radio 3 listeners have complained vociferously about it You are never going to attract the audio buffs."

- Not everyone agrees that quality is a problem, but it is harder to argue with complaints about weak signals. This does not just lead to the background noise of FM radio, but means that the station cuts out altogether. There are also those that point out that the UK's digital audio broadcast (DAB) standard of digital radio has been overlooked in many countries in favour of more recent formats, and that buyers risk being saddled with outdated technology.

- Then there is a debate about whether the stations have been enticing enough. While the likes of BBC6 Music and OneWord, which includes a show with newsreader Jon Snow, have attracted their followers, there has arguably been nothing to compare with Freeview's Film Four or E4 as essential extras. Ken Garner says: "There are very few totally new formats. Most of the stations offered around the country are just imports of successful brands already operating in FM."

- Beyond this there has clearly been a problem with marketing. The Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB), which markets on behalf of all digital broadcasters, only spends £2 million a year, which is a fraction of what a blue-chip company would spend on a major marketing campaign.

fonte: «Analogue radio could be history by 2020 … if Ofcom wins the day», Sunday Herald, 22/04/07 By Steven Vass,

O relatorio

«THE DAYS of analogue radio could finally be numbered, at least if you believe the report published by Ofcom last week. After years of tip-toeing around the subject, the regulator gave the strongest sign yet that it would switch off the FM and medium wave signals and make old radios obsolete. With plans to review medium wave and FM in 2009 and 2012 respectively, medium wave could go in the latter year and FM is unlikely to be around beyond the end of that decade. This will be possible because by that time, Ofcom believes, digital radio will finally have come of age. It expects about half of all radio listening to be digital by 2012 and about 90% by 2017. These numbers had many radio observers swallowing hard. While Freeview took off like a rocket on the back of cheap set-top boxes promising attractive new television channels, digital radio is still a minority interest. According to Ofcom's numbers it now makes up 20% of radio listening through a combination of digital radio, television and the internet, compared to 16% late last summer. And while this compares woefully with the over four-fifths of households that have digital television, figures by radio measurement body Rajar suggest the real number might be even lower. Rajar believes digital radio listening made up 12.5% by the end of last year, and may have stalled slightly given that it was 11% the year before and 6% in 2004. Whatever the truth, it clearly still has a steep mountain to climb to become an essential accessory in the majority of homes. Patrick Hannon, a manager at Spectrum Strategy Consultants, says: "The numbers do seem high. You would probably need to have switched off medium wave and announced that FM is going to be switched off to get to 90% digital radio listening by 2017."

fonte: «Analogue radio could be history by 2020 … if Ofcom wins the day», Sunday Herald, 22/04/07 By Steven Vass,

O relatorio

«The digital revolution and the expansion of new ways of accessing information through the internet has given a huge boost to one of the older and more traditional forms of electronic media - the radio. According to figures released yesterday, the digital age has created a new golden age of radio, with the number of listeners in Britain at a record high of more than 45 millionevery week. The figure for the last three months of 2006 is the highest since Radio Joint Audience Research (Rajar) began compiling records in 1992, and is attributed to growing numbers of people tuning in on the internet, digital television and mobile phones. Rajar said almost 8 per cent of people aged 15 and above listen to the radio on their mobile phones, a 24 per cent increase over the same period of 2005. A quarter of 15- to 24-year-olds said they tuned in this way. Listening over the internet rose by 10 per cent and by 9 per cent on digital television. Podcasts are also more popular. More than two million people, the equivalent of 17 per cent of all owners of MP3 players, listen to the audio downloads - a rise of 15 per cent on the previous three months. The figures are likely to rise as more content is made available as a podcast. Jenny Abramsky, the BBC's director of audio and music, said: "It proves radio still plays an incredibly important part in people's lives and, despite the range of new media available, listeners continue to value the close relationship they have with radio." (...) Radio 2 remains the nation's favourite station with an audience of 13.27 million - up 530,000 in three months. (...) Radio 1's audience of 10.26 million was down 320,000 on the previous quarter, which the station attributed to a seasonal dip. (...) Jane Thynne, a broadcasting critic and writer, said BBC radio was benefiting more from the digital era than television. "The figures show that early adopters are prepared to embrace what has traditionally been seen as the more fustier of mediums. "Radio, as something which is intensely personal, is also a much more suitable medium for podcasting than television... It's essentially what radio has been doing for a long while anyway."»

fonte: The Independent, «Radio enters a new golden age as digital use takes off», Terry Kirby, 02 February 2007

Etiquetas: segundochoque, digital, BBC

Os sinais são evidentes:

«UK media regulator Ofcom today kicked off the race for the UK's second national digital radio multiplex. The license will allow the winning bidder run up to 10 national digital radio stations for a period of 12 years. The spectrum being auctioned can also be used for a range of other services, such as mobile television, said Ofcom.» (AFX News Limited, Ofcom to auction second national digital radio license
12.01.06, 8:27 AM ET)

«The RadioScape RSC03 is a complete DAB/FM clock radio subsystem that only requires an external DC power supply, speaker, LCD display, button board, and enclosure to complete the product. The need for a motherboard is eliminated as the power supply and audio amplifiers are fully integrated into the subsystem. This reduces the manufacturing steps to just one assembly run. Its construction and compact form factor makes it suitable for many enclosure designs.»

Mas nem todos positivos:

«(...) Many British listeners - especially aficionados of classical music stations - claim that DAB sounds worse than FM radio. The problem for broadcasters is that quality costs money and they are under pressure to make savings. They must balance the importance of sound quality against the cost of providing new services. BBC engineers originally estimated that 256 kbit/s was about right for a high quality stereo broadcast signal. But in the end they only had enough bandwidth to provide five stereo services at 192 kbit/s and two mono services at 96 kbit/s. Some commercial stations are even managing to run services at 48 kbit/s, which is roughly AM quality. On the plus side, this means more choice, which apparently is what the vast majority of listeners want. Londoners, for example, can choose between more than 50 DAB services, many of which are not available in either AM or FM. Consequently, there are more DAB radios in Britain than anywhere else in the world. An obvious solution would be to upgrade to a more efficient codec, but the UK is paying the price for all its early success with digital radio. British DAB uses a relatively inefficient MPEG-1 Layer II codec, although the World DMB Forum (formerly the World DAB Forum) is promoting AAC+ .» (fonte: «The future of radio»)

En Noruega sin embargo, a pesar que los expertos consideran el DAB una tecnología obsoleta, se ha decidido mejorar la red de emisores de tal manera que, al menos el 80% de la población pueda recibir las señales.»

fonte: «Suecia cierra la radio DAB», 27/11/2006 18:06:45,Miguel Mielgo, DINAMARCA

«World DMB, an international organization for the development and deployment of Eureka 147-based digital mobile broadcasting technologies, has released details of its plans to create optional audio coding for DAB. The organization has submitted a draft of technical specification tiled "Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB); Transport of AAC Audio" to the international standard body ETSI. World DMB-compatible receivers and broadcast services supporting the new standard may be introduced as early as 2007. A marketing task force has been set up to develop a consumer-friendly name for the effort. Eureka 147 currently uses MPEG Layer II to encode streams. By adding ACC as an optional algorithm, more stations can be broadcast on a given multiplex signal for more spectrum efficiency. It's expected that the change will also lower transmission costs for digital stations. New receivers with ACC will be backward compatible with the existing codec standard. Current MPEG Layer II services and consumers will be unaffected by the change. »

fonte: «New DAB Specs add AAC Plus Coding», Radio Magazine, 22/11/06

«More than half of UK households will have digital radio sets by 2010, according to research published today. The projection represents a near-fourfold rise in penetration from current levels and reflects the increasing availability of cheap models. The Digital Radio Development Bureau, the industry body charged with driving the uptake of digital radio, estimates that penetration of DAB sets will be 13.9% by the end of the year. That is expected to rise to more than 40% by 2009, and to top 50% in 2010, according to the DRDB. Two million sets are expected to be sold over the course of 2006, some costing as little as £29. "Over the past four years, we have seen a dramatic rise in the number of DAB digital radio sets available to consumers, and there are now about 300 different models available from all the leading consumer electronic brands," said the DRDB's chief executive, Ian Dickens. "Having established a firm product base in the traditional radio market, our aim is to ensure DAB digital radio is also available across a broader range of devices as digital convergence continues," he continued. "To meet these needs, DAB digital radio must be included in new multi-purpose devices, and the good news is that the first such products are already hitting the streets." The first mobile phone able to receive DAB stations, the Virgin Mobile Lobster 700, will be launched this month, while MP3 players featuring DAB receivers are already on the market. The growth of digital radio is also being driven by more listening on the internet and by digital TV channels»

fonte: «Digital radios in most homes by 2010, say researchers», Chris Tryhorn, October 17, 2006, MediaGuardian.co.uk

«En 1997, el Gobierno dio carta de naturaleza a la digitalización de nuestros medios audiovisuales. En otoño de 2005, el sector privado ha solicitado ya más de una moratoria del proceso de implantación del DAB en el territorio español. Digámoslo sin ambages: el DAB en España resulta una buena tecnología cuya gestión de aplicación resulta nefasta. “El DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) no es sólo una tecnología, es también un estándar industrial, potencial motor de cambio y liderazgo para Europa. O eso parecía. (…) Ha habido ya concesiones de licencias, pero poco más: faltan aparatos receptores de precio asequible, faltan políticas incentivadoras, falta voluntad de potenciar un nuevo mercado. Además, a diferencia de la televisión digital, la radio no tiene fecha para el apagón analógico, con lo cual la radio digital deviene competidora directa de la analógica, lo que no contribuye a hacerla más atractiva” (Bonet, 2005: 65). (...) el DAB nació necesitando una nueva banda de frecuencias, nuevos receptores, una nueva audiencia, una supuesta nueva programación e incluso empresas nuevas. Quizá resultó todo demasiado novedoso para un mercado no acostumbrado a arriesgar en exceso»

M Marti, Josep e Bonet, Montse, Viejas tendencias, nuevos parámetros de análisis, Tendencias 06 Medios de Comunicación

A Dixons, loja de produtos electrónicos on line, anunciou que deixará de vender rádios analógicos. Rádios só mesmo digitais (DAB). Sinais dos tempos...

«“The growth in demand for digital radios is further evidence that we’re living in the digital age,” said Nick Wilkinson, Group managing director for Dixons. “The snap, crackle and pop of the traditional wireless is rapidly being replaced with the crystal-clear sound of digital audio broadcasting.”

He added: “The traditional radio has been a huge part of home life in the UK, through good times and bad, over the last 100 years. Some of the most pivotal events in our history have been communicated to UK homes from analogue radio transmitters to wirelesses in homes around the UK. There is probably no other piece of technology that conjures such a powerful mental image as the old wireless perched on the mantelpiece with the family gathered around it.”»

A GB é um caso único, a nível mundial, na aposta no DAB.

A tecnologia não pegou nos EUA e na Europa Continental é olhada com grande desconfiança. O que é que faz a GB? Indiferente às dúvidas e alternativas, avança para impor esta tecnologia como dominante.

Nos próximos três anos, diz a Ofcom, haverá mais uma rede nacional e vários frequências locais.

«uptake of DAB grew around 100% in Q4 2005, but still only 11.1% of UK homes own a set. Is this an acceptable figure, considering that DAB was launched in 1995, or could this explain the government’s reluctance to set a switch-off date for analogue radio? (...) The UK media also remains unconvinced – recent reports proclaimed the potential market for digital radio on mobiles and hailed Channel 4’s bid for a nationwide digital radio multiplex. Simultaneous broadsheet reports attacked digital radio for sub-FM audio quality and insufficient UK coverage. This mixed media message is not aided by the multiple forms of radio (DAB, Digital Radio Mondiale, HD Radio) that are continuing to emerge and compete for mainstream support» (fonte: «Future Radio: Will Digital Kill The Record Biz Star?»)

«El eficaz diseño técnico de la norma europea del DAB (Eureka 147), choca con la escasez de bandas puestas a disposición de los agentes para su explotación y en la falta de políticas que incentiven la producción de aparatos receptores. Cunde el desánimo entre los radiodifusores europeos; existe una cierra paralización en las políticas de inversión y de esarrollo de nuevos formatos. En los foros de debate se empieza a concluir que si el DAB no actúa como soporte de sustitución de la actual FM, no habrá avances significativos en un plazo inmediato».

(Marti Marti, Martinéz-Costa, 2001: 188)

«(...)ambos autores ven en la digitalización "una necesidad y una ocasión ideal" para la reordenación del sector basada en el sistema DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), "una buena tecnología con una gestión nefasta". "Ha habido concesiones de licencias, pero poco más: faltan aparatos a precio asequible, faltan políticas incentivadoras, falta voluntad de potenciar un nuevo mercado. Además, a diferencia de la televisión, en la radio no hay fecha para el apagón analógico, por lo que la radio digital deviene en competidora de la analógica, lo que no contribuye a hacerla más atractiva", asegura Bonet.»

"Viejas tendencias, nuevos parámetros de análisis" de Josep M. Martí e Montse Bonet

com a devida vénia a Paula Cordeiro, transcrevo este texto:

"Depois de várias experiências, alguns países europeus não encontraram no DAB uma possível solução para o futuro das emissões digitais de rádio. Finlândia e Suécia são casos assumidos, pelo avultado investimento que o Digital Audio Broadcasting requer e pela aparente ausência de reais vantagens do sistema em relação ao FM. Contudo, no mundo, estima-se que um milhão de pessoas tenha disponíveis serviços de rádio digital, a par com o DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) para a televisão móvel.
Mas se em alguns países do norte da Europa o DAB não é, e à partida, não será uma realidade, no Reino Unido o cenário apresenta-se radicalmente diferente, dado que só aqui, a audiência DAB atinge os três milhões de aparelhos. Em todos os países do Reino Unido registam-se valores de cobertura digital acima dos 50%. No seu total, a audição de rádio via digital, particularmente através do DAB, está em crescimento. As estatísticas indicam que, pela primeira vez, a escuta de rádio via DAB suplantou o total de horas de audição através da televisão digital e Internet. Também as vendas de receptores estão a crescer (especialmente auto-rádios), prevendo-se uma taxa de penetração destes aparelhos nos lares do Reino Unido de cerca de 40% para 2009, sendo que a percentagem total de indivíduos que possuem actualmente um sistema DAB ronda os 10,5%.
Contudo, há também dados estatísticos relativos ao Reino Unido que indicam que o consumo de rádio via Internet tem também crescido ao longo dos últimos três anos, sendo que esse consumo se faz em substituição do aparelho tradicional para escuta de estações de rádio disponíveis em FM, aspecto que relança a discussão em torno da plataforma digital que fará o futuro da rádio.
Em relação ao DAB, na Alemanha o serviço de transmissão digital continua a crescer. Foram lançadas 10 novas estações em 2005, para um total de 90 estações com emissão digital. Para 2006, as previsões indicam um crescimento do número de receptores entre a população. A Alemanha vai também liderar duas experiências DMB em 2006. Um desses projectos, My Friends, irá desenvolver-se ao longo dos próximos dois anos, e recebeu o estatuto de projecto Europeu, com um orçamento de cerca de 18 milhões de euros.
Países como a Bélgica, Espanha e Suíça tinham, em meados de 2004, uma cobertura DAB que atingia mais de metade da população, chegando perto dos 100%, no caso da Bélgica. Espanha espera este ano atingir uma cobertura de 80% e tem 18 serviços digitais (público e privado).
Na Suíça, o DAB tem sido um grande sucesso. Já há receptores DAB disponíveis para comercialização a preços razoáveis, prevendo-se que a cobertura alcance os 73% no início deste ano. Neste país existem 30 estações de DAB (francês e alemão) e a corporação de radiodifusão suíça pretende não aumentar os investimentos na expansão da rede FM, mobilizando os seus esforços para o desenvolvimento da rede DAB. A este aspecto junta-se o interesse dos media suíços na criação de uma estrutura adicional para a rede e de uma comissão para promover os produtos e serviços da rede DAB junto do público suíço.
Na Holanda, a cobertura DAB chega a cerca de 70% da população. O objectivo para 2006 é atingir a meta dos 90%. Serviços inovadores via DAB já estão a ser emitidos e, tal como na Suíça, foi também criada uma comissão para definir a estratégia de marketing deste novo sistema de radiodifusão junto dos consumidores, estando previsto para 2019 o fim das emissões analógicas.
Na Dinamarca, o DAB tem conhecido um crescimento exponencial, com vendas que crescem anualmente (de 40,000 aparelhos em 2004 para 135,000 antes do Natal de 2005). A cobertura ronda igualmente os 70%, há um forte investimento estatal neste sistema e um empenhamento da rádio pública para implantar o DAB, a par com campanhas de promoção desenvolvidas pelo comité de marketing criado para o efeito.
A Noruega prevê alcançar uma cobertura de 80% e a rádio pública prevê terminar as emissões analógicas em 2014.
Na Itália, foram criadas novas regras envolvendo o DAB e as licenças para emissão devem ser entregues durante o ano de 2006.
Em Portugal, o processo remonta a 1998, altura em que foi lançado o concurso público para atribuição de uma licença ai nível nacional para o estabelecimento e fornecimento de uma rede de radiodifusão digital terrestre, ganho pela RDP. O processo de instalação de emissores e alargamento da cobertura tem vindo a desenvolver-se e prevê-se que todo o país e ilhas estejam cobertos em 2007.
A este panorama de desenvolvimento digital europeu, juntam-se iniciativas por todo o mundo. Na Austrália foi criada uma nova legislação para a rádio digital. Singapura tem uma cobertura de 100%, chegando a toda a população, a par com grande interesse governamental e entusiasmo dos operadores. Existem, neste país, sete estações de DAB, das quais seis emitem exclusivamente neste sistema. O governo de Taiwan prevê lançar os serviços DAB em 2006. Na China, as experiências começaram em 1996 e, em 2005 , passaram a ser transmitidos dois serviços de programas em DAB, estando previstos mais seis, para um público de 12 milhões de pessoas. Na Índia, as emissões experimentais remontam a 1997, sendo que em 2003 começaram os serviços regulares de DAB em Nova Deli. Na Coreia foram lançados serviços DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) que incluem televisão, dados e rádio. As estimativas apontam para a venda de 22 milhões de aparelhos portáteis, dos quais, 2 milhões durante o ano de 2006. Neste país começaram já a ser comercializados telemóveis com recepção DMB e, no futuro, mais de 30 canais de vídeo e rádio oferecerão entretenimento e notícias, mapas e outras informações. Os receptores, fabricados pela Samsung, a LG Electronics e outras empresas coreanas, estão já disponíveis, a par com os serviços de DMB disponibilizados pela maior operadora móvel do país.
Como no mercado asiático, o panorama canadiano apresenta-se como dos mais dinâmicos no que ao DAB diz respeito. Num total de 11 milhões de potenciais ouvintes, em 2004, trinta e cinco por cento da população já podia receber serviços de DAB e existiam 73 licenças para estações DAB.
Na Europa, a transição para o digital está prevista para 2012, apesar de alguns países conseguirem completar o processo em 2008. Em ligação com a Estratégia de Lisboa, a migração procura, ao nível da rádio, melhorar a qualidade e ampliar a escolha disponibilizando novos e mais serviços de programas."

"Estima-se que os ouvintes de rádio digital através do sistema DAB totalizem cerca de quatro milhões de indivíduos no final do ano, esperando-se um aumento deste valor para 2006." (via Obercom)

Este artigo chama a atenção para algumas novidades que aí vêm: "And with mobile television and multimedia delivered via DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) and DAB-IP – both part of the DAB family of standards - launching commercially in 2006, this number is set to escalate rapidly."

Países onde o DAB avança: UK, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Korea and China

(em construção)

A RDP foi escolhida em 1997 para  montar e gerir as redes de DAB em Portugal (e até promete as primeiras emissões experimentais para a Expo 98)

A PT tambem se candidatou a gestora da rede mas a opção foi rejeitada. A proposta da RDP disponibiliza a abertura a outros operadores nacionais a preços mais favoráveis

O governo da Suécia anunciou que não vai promover a digitalização da rádio hertziana através do sistema DAB. O argumento é curioso: é caro! (na Suécia??)
Segundo uma notícia do Poynter Online, a Suécia segue o caminho da Finlândia. (via Ponto Media)

O sistema norte-americano de HD parece ser mais barato e mais prático, embora sem tantos recursos. E no entanto, o DAB está a ser um sucesso na GB! 

(via Obercom) "A Migração da Radiodifusão Analógica para a Digital

O Parlamento Europeu (PE) aprovou, no passado dia 16 de Novembro de 2005, uma resolução sobre o tema "Acelerar a Transição da Radiodifusão Analógica para a Digital", sendo que a data limite para o switch-off em todos os Estados-Membros está prevista para o início de 2012.

O processo de transição, que proporcionará o incremento da inovação e da concorrência nos mercados, a oferta de novas e melhores formas de radiodifusão e a libertação do espectro de radiofrequências, deverá ser conduzido pelo mercado, mas afigura-se necessário um trabalho coordenado entre os operadores e os poderes públicos relevantes.

Os Estados-Membros que ainda não publicaram os respectivos planos de transição deverão fazê-lo até ao final deste ano, sobretudo para que a União Europeia (UE) não se atrase em relação aos seus principais concorrentes, designadamente, os Estados Unidos, a Coreia do Sul e o Japão. Os Estados-Membros são ainda chamados a reduzir ao mínimo o período do “simulcasting” e a assegurar que as suas iniciativas políticas sejam transparentes, não discriminatórias e proporcionadas.

Quer a Comissão Europeia (CE), quer os diferentes Estados-Membros, deverão garantir um nível adequado de harmonização das abordagens da regulação do dividendo espectral, com vista a satisfazer futuramente a procura de serviços no espaço pan-europeu.

É ainda sugerida a criação de um Grupo de Trabalho Digital Europeu que ficará incumbido de coordenar a regulamentação a nível comunitário, os objectivos, as estratégias e os calendários dos Estados-Membros. A fiscalização dos progressos efectuados no processo de transição para o digital, assim como o auxílio à harmonização das abordagens respeitantes ao dividendo espectral, são outras das missões deste Grupo de Trabalho.

Por outro lado, compete à Comissão divulgar práticas de excelência no que concerne aos aspectos ligados ao financiamento e estabelecer orientações claras em matéria de auxílios do Estado e em questões ligadas à lei da concorrência, nomeadamente, impedir a constituição de constrangimentos verticais e de monopólios horizontais. 

Cumulativamente, a Comissão deverá salvaguardar a distinção entre a regulamentação de redes e serviços de comunicações electrónicas e o quadro legal aplicável aos conteúdos (incluindo os audiovisuais), respeitando determinados princípios de interesse geral, em particular a salvaguarda do pluralismo e da diversidade.

Outras questões afloradas respeitam ao desenvolvimento de serviços interactivos destinados a aumentar a competitividade da sociedade europeia e o nível de conhecimentos digitais; o fomento de medidas técnicas para a filtragem de conteúdos "

(N.V) 30-11-2005

ACT a 19/12/05: "Realizou-se, entre 1 e 5 de Dezembro de 2005, uma reunião do Conselho dos Transportes, Telecomunicações e Energia da União Europeia (UE), que resultou num conjunto de conclusões no âmbito da transição da radiodifusão analógica para a digital." O Conselho Europeu recomendou que todos os Estados-Membros publiquem, em 2006, propostas de transição para a radiodifusão digital e tentem completar o switchover em 2012. Contudo, alguns países terão concretizado a migração para o digital, à escala regional ou nacional, antes de 2008. A diferença de calendários deve-se às divergências referentes ao desenvolvimento do mercado da televisão, à disponibilidade das frequências apropriadas e à importância atribuída às diversas plataformas de distribuição em cada Estado-Membro. (Obercom; Conclusões do Conselho Europeu sobre a transição da radiodifusão analógica para a digital; NV 16-12-2005) 

“The development of digital audio broadcasting (DAB), a process in which the signal is digitally encoded at the station and then decoded by the radio set so that transmission noise is eliminated, promises a vast improvement in the quality of reception, to the point where radio music will sound as good as the music of a domestic CD player" (pág. 40)

Pelo menos é o que diz uma noticia publicada no El Mundo "Las radios consideran 'caótico' el proceso de digitalización",(16/11/2005 18:38) de que retiro estas ideias:

-"la fase de desarrollo es "caótica" porque, además de limitar la cobertura al 50% del territorio, donde tiene presencia, apenas tiene fuerza para que se reciba radio digital en el interior de los edificios y en muchas zonas de las grandes urbes. Todos los operadores confiaron en la tecnología DAB para el desarrollo digital, en el que ya emiten todas las emisoras, aunque las condiciones actuales "no sean muy esperanzadoras"."

- "Para recibir este tipo de señal, es necesario disponer de un receptor especial, cuyo precio en las tiendas supera todavía los 60 euros. Isaac Moreno, por su parte, pidió que las cadenas sean "pacientes" porque, a su juicio, el proceso irá avanzando a medida que los usuarios perciban más calidad y servicios en la radio digital y vean la necesidad de gastarse más dinero en un receptor, "como ocurrió con la llegada de la FM, que tardó casi 20 años en establecerse", dijo."

(dica Clube de Jornalistas)