Ofcom In No Rush To Set Analogue Switch-Off Date For Radio

Ofcom chief executive, Stephen Carter, claimed that a switch-off date that was too early could make the transition to digital less achievable for the majority of radio companies. He said: “Using the force majeure of a date to focus on can easily backfire.”

His comments come just days after the media regulator issued a detailed timetable for converting the nation’s television sets to digital by 2012. Carter emphasised that the radio industry is less prepared than television for analogue switch-off (see Ofcom Puts Steps In Place For Early Digital Swith-Over).

Ofcom will announce this week that 55% of British households currently have digital television, whereas less than 1% of radio sets in the UK have digital receivers. However, radio is gradually taking off and DAB sets are currently selling at the rate of 7,500 a week.

Carter identified a number of barriers currently hindering the switch to digital radio, including the lack of reliable coverage, the problem of converting small local stations to digital network and the relatively expensive price of DAB digital receivers.

He said: “There does not need to be a single killer application. What there does need to be is simply a sufficient combination of services, technology, simplicity and price to provide a value proposition for the consumer. We believe that digital radio is likely, in time, to meet those conditions and we will do what we can to help in the process.”

The final timetable for the analogue switch-off will be set by the Government, but its plans will be influenced by an Ofcom report into digital radio due be published in November. The report will present the findings of qualitative and quantitative research into the current state of the industry.

Carter claimed that listeners would be drawn to digital radio stations if the BBC’s extensive archive were made available to commercial broadcasters. Such a move would also fulfil the Corporation’s aim of building greater public value in its services.

He said: “Non-discriminatory, non exclusive access to the BBC’s archive would allow commercial services to enhance their offering to the listening public without damaging the Corporation’s ability and commitment to offer a strong digital radio service proposition.”

Carter acknowledged that his comments were reminiscent of those made by former BSkyB chief executive, Tony Ball, at the Edinburgh Television Festival last year. Ball controversially suggested that the BBC should be forced to offer at least six of its highest rated programmes to the commercial sector in a competitive auction.

Ofcom’s refusal to set a firm switch-off date for the radio industry will come as a disappointment to GWR chief executive, Ralph Bernard, who recently wrote to the Government to demand a target date that would enable the entire country to be converted to digital.

Bernard claims the industry is well on the way to creating a new mass market medium and insists the increasing popularity of digital radio justifies a commitment to analogue switch-off. He said: “The Government needs to provide a target for manufacturers to bring in new products, give broadcasters a timescale for building new digital brands and give us the prospect of stopping the waste and expense of broadcasting our signals on both analogue and digital.”