UK group wants FM turned off in favor of DAB by 2012

We've seen some pretty hot DAB radios make the scene, but consumers just haven't greeted the tech with any kind of enthusiasm -- which is why the UK's Digital Radio Working Group recently suggested that FM services be shut off starting in 2012, with complete shut-off to occur by 2020. According to the group's report, only 17.8 percent of radio listening is digital, and the chances of finding a DAB radio in a car (where 20 percent of all UK radio listening is done) is less than 1 in 200. The DRWG says that the switchover to DAB will take three steps: first, a commitment to the tech by the government and industry, with radios being made multiplatform and able to receive all the flavors of DAB; second, a massive promotional campaign; and third, switchoff of FM, which is optimistically scheduled to begin in 2012. That's certainly one way to get people to buy new radios -- but unlike the switch to digital TV, we don't see anyone being too put out by having to listen to their MP3 players in the car instead of FM radio.

[andi @ Jun 25th 2008 1:22AM]

I see the relevance to the post

[Haikibutsu @ Jun 25th 2008 1:23AM]

Aww crap. Double post.

Now its only half as cool.

[MatthewJ @ Jun 25th 2008 1:40AM]

To stem the tide of pure melt that has already flown in this comment thread, may I provide an actual opinion...

DAB has absolutely no chance of ever catching on in the UK whilst it remains in the state it is right now:

- Lower quality audio than analogue radio
- Lower quality audio than digital radio received via satellite TV or Freeview TV
- Bulky equipment
- Expensive equipment
- Unlike DTV, no noticeable reasons for the switchover (to the public)

But above all else, it has no chance because barely anyone has heard about it. And even those who do, rarely care.

[paul_b @ Jun 25th 2008 2:15AM]

DAB in the UK is old technology (MPEG2), terrible quality and only fit for tiny radios that sound bad anyway. They have opted for many stations at low bit rates, rather then a fewer good quality ones. I sold my DAB tuner last year as it sounded a lot worse than my 20 year old FM tuner. Plus they cost several times the price of a FM or AM radio for that poorer quality.

People have bought DAB radios for more stations, but quite a few stations has since closed down,including some very popular ones.

But the killer for me is that almost no cars are fitted with DAB, so they plan to switch off FM and disable most car radios by 2012 - way to go!

[Beddoes @ Jun 25th 2008 7:40AM]

I totally agree, all experiences i have had with DAB are totally appalling. Very low quality, very poor reception. I have only ever encountered small base units, i can only imagine how well DAB performs in a car. FM Forever!

[paul-engadget @ Jun 25th 2008 8:36AM]

In theory DAB is a great idea, but it's been hijacked to squeeze as many stations in as possible. I remember the early adverts promising "CD quality", then "digital quality" and now that phrase has become a joke, they simply promote choice.

Most people who buy a radio do so because they're replacing an existing radio, and since FM radios generally work for ever, inevitably it's a slow process.

We have a kitchen radio for DAB, and to be honest, that's where it belongs, or in the car is fine too due to car noise.

If we want hifi sound, we use satellite broadcasts as these have sufficient bandwidth for decent sound!

There have been some nice portable DAB units, but they're not cheap - we also have some nice Pure PocketDAB2000's (dual band, record off DAB, play mp2 and mp3 files) which are pretty good; bought off ebay as remaindered items, the full price was outrageous! I note that portable media players with DAB radio are still an unusual/rare item.

We listen mainly to ClassicFM which is broadcast in sufficient quality to be useable, or Radio4 which is speach and thus doesn't matter. Other music stations sound awful and we don't bother.

[Joe @ Jun 25th 2008 4:47PM]

May I add to the comments here - I am in agreement with all of the above. What the DAB group don't seem to realise (despite everyone moaning for years) is that DAB in the UK is terrible, and that is why nobody buys into it. My main gripes:

1. It's too expensive
2. The quality is worse than both satellite and FM broadcasts
3 - and this is a long one but a real show-stopper for me: Digital codecs mean that different equipment decodes at different speeds. The whole point of radio for me is to wander round the house, sometimes with two or three radios on playing the same station. With DAB they just clash! And if I have another radio which is not digital (and let's face it, who can afford several digital radios) then they clash TERRIBLY.

Maybe they should think long and hard at why they're not doing very well before they rush headlong into switching off analogue.

[m @ Jun 25th 2008 1:43AM]

i propose that we start phasing out industry working groups in 2009, with an end to forced upgrades to technologies nobody wants to be fully implemented by 2010. enough already; where's this "free market" i keep hearing about? would we let coca-cola do this to milk?

[Mr Lizard @ Jun 25th 2008 3:17AM]

Well said.

DAB is completely overrated. The BBC have even admitted that they claw back the bit rate of many broadcasts, to a level which makes them clearly poorer quality than their FM equivilants.

The public have been tricked into thinking DAB=higher quality, which is rubbish.

In addition, unless the signal is a strong one, the sound becomes so garbled and distorted that listening to a broadcast becomes impossible. At least with FM, you could get by with a minor 'hiss' in the background.

[mattclarkie @ Jun 25th 2008 7:09AM]

They call it mud puddling, because it sounds like a fart rising in a pile of mud.

Most DAB is sub 64kbps, and even at MP3 64kbps is sub-par, and with MPEG2 it is just awful.

[Dobs @ Jun 25th 2008 1:51AM]

let me guess... the UK Group owns DAB+
Is anyone interested in Digitial radio apart from those who will profit from it??
2012 is just stupid - Do you expect everyone to upgrade their car by then or at least their car stereo???? Shares in UK radio-stations must be plummetting on this news.

[tmt345 @ Jun 25th 2008 1:57AM]

But the fact that you admitted its half as cool makes it twice as cool.

[ryan @ Jun 25th 2008 2:01AM]

Nope, twice as Sh!t

[Kakairo @ Jun 25th 2008 2:05AM]

The big difference between this and the digital TV switchover for consumers is equipment cost. For digital TV, all you need to do is get a little box (for as little as $10 after the government rebate), plug it in between your TV and antenna, and forget about it. Radio listeners will need all new equipment; not so bad in the home, but an absolute killer in the car. Most newer cars have their audio systems so integrated that you need to replace a huge chunk of dashboard before even thinking about putting in a new radio. The plug-in kind (through an aux port) would work, but you'd have to fiddle with a wire and a new device for changing radio stations, taking your eyes off the road for longer. Maybe if these radios were required in new cars they could start to phase FM out, but even then I couldn't see it happening before 2025.

[John @ Jun 25th 2008 2:54AM]

I'm a news junkie. I don't want to listen to "olds" on an mp3 - I want the latest info...

[TC @ Jun 25th 2008 3:05AM]

I live in a large city in the uk and love tech, so got a DAB radio to see if its any good. Where as I get great FM and freeview reception, could not get a DAB reception at all st home. Many friends that have tried dab said the same. Finally found an area in my house that can get a signal, nowhere near where I want it and find that the audio is worse than FM!

What's the point in moving from FM that works to a system that doesn't really. Wouldn't it be better to stick with fm and wait until we have wimax and wifi everywhere and recieve radio over the net?

[Fusion Fuzo @ Jun 25th 2008 3:08AM]

why suffer and listen to people talking over your favourite songs

when most people in uk just download the music (free or not), less and less people are using FM and DAB radio in the uk, by 2012 thew people will use radio

i know cause im from uk

[Taylor @ Jun 25th 2008 3:14AM]

Given that they still haven't turned 50-freaking-year-old AM off, I don't see them getting rid of FM any time soon

[Phour ZwanZig @ Jun 25th 2008 10:26PM]

AM freqs hold up pretty well for what they are worth.. I can listen to stations on the other side of the state.. FM doesnt carry that well.. I would favor an FM shutoff here in the States, in favor to digital stations..

Is this DAB simular to our HD Radio Ive been seeing here in the States.. Im still pondering over buyin an HD radio, seeing a local station here adverts that they broadcast in 5.1 surround sound..

[Phour ZwanZig @ Jun 25th 2008 10:28PM]

AM freqs hold up pretty well for what they are worth.. I can listen to stations on the other side of the state.. FM doesnt carry that well.. I would favor an FM shutoff here in the States, in favor to digital stations..

Is this DAB simular to our HD Radio Ive been seeing here in the States.. Im still pondering over buyin an HD radio, seeing a local station here adverts that they broadcast in 5.1 surround sound..

[w00t @ Jun 25th 2008 4:09AM]

Screw DAB, it sounds crap and they never play anything I want to listen to, and my car stereo doesn't even have a tuner.

I do however listen to great music at a reasonable quality through the wonders of internet radio and a 3G modem (or just my own collection) on the carputer :)

[YetiJames @ Jun 25th 2008 4:24AM]

Well being a person who drives to work in the UK and only having a tape player in the car i just got fed up with all the rubbish chit chat on the radio so i went out and spent £11 on a cassette adapter and a cigarrette lighter to usb adapter so now i just plum in the mp3 player which has power so will never run out :D i say good bye to crappy radio and hello to nonstop music. Much more cheaper the a dab radio

[Andrew @ Jun 25th 2008 4:28AM]

Internet radio's going to kill everything once mobile broadband becomes pervasive. Or at least it should.

[richard knights @ Jun 25th 2008 4:33AM]

I only use DAB to listen to the football (soccer) as u can't get it on FM.
DAB coverage is very very bad in the uk. In the in-car experience would be not fun

[L.Rawlins @ Jun 25th 2008 4:44AM]

It seems I won't be getting get a clear DVB signal until 2012 at the earliest where I live... so I couldn't care less about DAB right now. Also, I was under the impression that we were dropping 'vanilla' DAB for some 'DAB+' variant at some point anyway? I remember reading something about it being a better specification already in use around Europe.

[Exile @ Jun 25th 2008 5:17AM]

Overlooking all of DABs problems, the real issue here is that there is bugger all to listen to!

When I'm in or around London I'm in tune to an fm pirate because they are the only ones who cater to my musical tastes. The commercial radio that makes up 95% of the dab band is utter shite to say the least!

[mattclarkie @ Jun 25th 2008 7:04AM]

What a stupid idea. I am all for DAB being improved, I can't get any reception in my house.
I listen to the radio in my car all the time, and they better not make that impossible.

[matt byrne @ Jun 25th 2008 7:25AM]

Vauxhall have been offering it in their cars since about 2005, but I doubt it's made any headway. If they want DAB to succeed, it needs to be marketed as an in-house thing, promoted by the BBC's big stations, which they do now, but not to a large extent.

When the signal coverage is so poor, how can it be seen as a viable source of mobile radio?

[Nick @ Jun 25th 2008 7:39AM]

Re: Mobile broadband and internet radio replacing everything. The economics of mobile broadband will come crashing down pretty quickly if everyone starts listening to the radio or streaming video over it. Those usage limits are there for a reason.

[Manos Lijeros @ Jun 25th 2008 9:16AM]

Guess, then, that dab radio is different from HDRadio (http://www.hdradio.com/what_is_hd_digital_radio.php)?

Not sure why we have to get rid of old tech unless there isn't enough space/capacity in the waves/available frequencies...

AM is playing, and many people listen to it (there are reasons why). Nobody in the USA is really using HDRadio either. The problem is everyone is happy with FM. Goes to show that if it isn't broken, why fix it...

[dg @ Jun 25th 2008 10:51AM]

FINALLY! Perfectly clear iTrip usage on EVERY station!

[Tony @ Jun 25th 2008 11:38AM]

People still listen to terrestrial radio? This is news to me.

[Ethan @ Jun 25th 2008 11:41AM]

Give me a DAB iTrip and I'll be happy.

[Ian @ Jun 26th 2008 5:57PM]

You know DRWG means "wolf," right?