Digital Radio for Ireland: Competing Options, Public Expectations - BCI

There
is
much
less
certainty
regarding
the
future
of
DAB
in
2020,
with:
• only
36%
agreeing
but
40%
neutral
on
the
question
of
whether
DAB
will
be
the
dominant
platform
in
2020
• 40%
agreeing
with
the
statement
DAB,
will
succeed
mainly
because
of
the
strong
support
by
the
public
service
broadcaster
1.4.1 Analogue
Switch‐off
While
 noting
 that
 the
 introduction
 of
 DAB
 is
 not
 linked
 to
 an
 analogue
 switch
 off
 (ASO),
 we
 asked
participants
how
critical
they
felt
ASO
might
be
for
a
successful
launch
and
development
of
DAB?
Only
12%
of
respondents
thought
it
was
essential,
41%
saying
it
was
‘quite
important’
but
as
many
as
45%
saying
it
was
either
not
important
or
irrelevant.
Fig
1.7:
Analogue
Switch‐Off
For
 those
 who
 signaled
 a
 switch‐off
 date
 as
 an
 important
 element
 of
 digital
 strategy,
 the
 following
indicative
timescales
were
mentioned:
Milestones
should
be
set
rather
than
timescales,
e.g.
percentage
of
take
up
etc.
An
overall
ambition
should
be
to
review
the
future
of
FM
in
roughly
2015.
[RTÉ]
The
roll‐out
of
Digital
Radio,
though
preferably
not
DAB,
should
be
in
parallel
to
the
roll‐out
of
the
ASO
/
DSO
process
across
the
country.
This
would
allow
for
maximum
efficiency
with
regards
to
the
project
streams
of
testing
/
trialing,
public
awareness,
transmission
network
roll‐out,
spectrum
management
and
commercial
launch
of
both
the
digital
radio
product
and
the
receivers
required.
[Communicorp Group Limited]
A
very
long
timescale.
[KCLR 96fm]
27