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

Not
all
respondents
agreed
with
the
emphasis
placed
on
incentives
to
attract
commercial
radio.
Kevin
Griffiths,
 Claremorris
 Community
 Radio
 among
 others,
 argued
 that
 investment
 in
 digital
 would
ultimately
be
a
commercial
decision
which
if
it
was
to
their
commercial
advantage,
companies
should
pay
for.
What
is
required,
though,
is
‘some
element
of
Government
support
that
protects
interests
of
non‐profit
broadcasters’.
The
 question
 of
 incentives
 to
 encourage
 industry‐wide
 participation
 in
 a
 new
 digital
 roll‐out
 is,
however,
 only
 part
 of
 the
 equation.
 The
 UK
 experience
 of
 incentives
 such
 as
 automatic
 licence
renewals
was
in
that
in
many
cases
it
did
not
lead
to
any
new
content.
The
need
to
create
a
culture
of
innovation,
therefore,

within
the
proposed
digital
radio
policy
was
raised
by
a
number
of
respondents
including
 ComReg,
 the
 BCI,
 the
 Department
 of
 Communications,
 RTÉ
 and
 Dusty
 Rhodes,
 Managing
Director
of
Digital
Audio
Productions.

For
Dusty
Rhodes,
lessons
needed
to
be
learned
from
previous
strategies
 that
 had
 attempted
 to
 transition
 a
 whole
 sector
 by
 migrating
 existing
 services
 to
 new
platforms:
 ‘There's
 no
 point
 in
 saying
 
 if
 you
 simulcast
 on
 DAB,
 we'll
 extend
 your
 licence
‐
 because
there
is
no
point
in
only
simulcasting
on
DAB.
It
should
be
if
you
simulcast
on
DAB
and
do
X,
Y
and
Z
to
actually
improve
the
service
to
the
listener,
then
we'll
extend
your
licence.
Simulcasting
alone...What's
the
point?’
This
point
was
echoed
by
John
Doherty
of
ComReg
who
argued
that
additionality,
bringing
something
new,
would
be
central
to
developing
the
business
case
for
digital
radio:
‘I
think
that
the
UK
experience
would
seem
to
demonstrate
that
it's
a
quite
difficult
business
case,
even
for
the
incumbent
operator…
[it’s]
difficult
for
commercial
operators
to
build
a
strong
business
case
around…
you
have
to
future‐
proof
it,
look
at
new
technology,
look
at
content
and
look
at
what
actually
would
underpin
a
business
case
to
actually
make
it
a
successful
product
launch
out
there’.
Similarly,
Quentin
Howard
referred
to
the
UK
experience,
in
that
while
the
they
had
incentivized
the
major
brands
to
move
into
DAB,
it
had
not
linked
that
transition
to
the
need
to
innovate,
to
change
radio.

Phil
Laven
put
it:
‘radio
needs
to
be
doing
something
different…if
broadcasters
don’t
react
by
offering
new
content
tailored
to
their
particular
audiences
people
will
start
to
go
off
air
because
they
can’.
JP
 Coakley
 of
 RTÉ
 argued
 that
 ‘the
 key
 to
 regulation
 of
 DAB
 is
 some
 sort
 of
 balance
 between
 the
protection
of
the
existing
market
versus
competition
and
innovation‐
new
competition,
new
services,
new
 innovation.
 And
 that
 I
 think
 explains
 the
 fear
 or
 incapacity,
 or
 unwillingness
 of
 regulators
 to
engage
with
this.
Because
it
essentially
means
inventing
a
new
market…
while
protecting
the
existing.
So
that
is
difficult’.
For
him,
Australia
was
proving
a
digital
radio
role
model.
‘I
think
what’s
new
about
Australia
is
the
mandating
of
innovation.
The
mandating
of
new
content.
You
get
your
licence,
you
get
your
transmission,
but
you’re
also
compelled
to
bring
something
new
to
the
table’. 26
Several
of
our
interviewees
spoke
of
the
need
for
digital
to
deliver
something
‘better’
than
FM
and
concern
 was
 expressed
 about
 the
 UK
 model
 where
 multiplexes
 had
 been
 pushed
 to
 carry
 more
services
 at
 lower
 sound
 quality.
 For
 John
 Doherty
 at
 ComReg
 this
 was
 one
 of
 the
 lessons
 Ireland
needed
 to
 learn
 from
 the
 UK.
 It
 has
 to
 mean
 more
 than
 spectrum
 efficiency,
 it
 has
 to
 make
 a
difference
to
the
end‐users.
‘What
is
the
difference,
if
you
like,
that
they
can
look
from
this
technology
over
an
existing
radio
set
that
has….been
around
now
for
nearly
a
hundred
years.
If
they’re
going
to
26 
Australian
Government.
‘Broadcasting
Legislation
Amendment
(Digital
Radio)
Act
2007’,
Department
of
Broadband,
Communications
and
Digital
Economy,
Australia,
May
2007.
47