O contexto para a liderança do DAB na GB

«The business case for digital, particularly in a consolidated market, has been made in the UK and whether its DAB – or DVB in the future – the UK will remain a digital radio leader because of the vested interests of all sectors of the radio market. It is now no longer about doing DAB ‘because you have to’ but because it makes economic and market sense.[1]

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)

---

[1] Paul Robinson in MediaGuardian, 31/10/05, attributes national digital radio to the all time high of 10.5% for commercial, national radio. By May 2006 DAB only stations were showing audiences up to 100,000 like EMAP’s 3C and ‘Fun Radio’.