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

Others
like
Willie
O’Reilly
at
Today
FM
said
the
problem
was
that
for
the
commercial
sector
there
was
too
 little
 involvement:
 ‘A
 trial
 has
 to
 have
 a
 feedback
 loop,
 where
 information
 is
 gathered
 and
assessed,
where
you
look
at
who
is
representative
in
the
group
and
you
ask
what
are
you
trying
to
achieve,
you
look
at
measurements
and
you
try,
in
some
sense,
to
come
to
a
conclusion.
That
wasn’t
a
trial’.
Other
commercial
operators,
including
UTV
Media
plc
and
Digital
Audio
Productions
made
the
point
that
they
did
not
feel
they
got
access
to
information
or
feedback.
For
UTV
Media
it
was
a
surprise
that
the
BCI
were
not
involved.
Ronan
McManamy
said
‘the
trial
became
very
much
about
additional
RTÉ
services’.
 In
 a
 sense
 the
 commercial
 operators
 were
 expecting
 the
 RTÉ‐led
 trial
 to
 be
 a
 combined
public
broadcaster
and
commercial
initiative
and
pulled
out
when
it
became
clear
to
them
that
it
was
an
 RTÉ
 operation
 and
 are
 now
 waiting
 for
 the
 BCI
 or
 BAI
 to
 take
 things
 forward.
 UTV
 Media,
 for
example,
said
it
had
wanted
to
put
some
of
its
UK
services
on
the
multiplex
but
had
found
a
closed
door
to
that.
While
the
cost
implications
were
an
issue
with
the
commercial
operators,
it
was
not
the
primary
reason
they
stopped
broadcasting
on
DAB
at
the
end
of
2008.
McManamy:
‘that
decision
was
taken
quite
clearly
because
it
was
an
early
stage.
There
weren’t
receivers
in
the
marketplace.
I
mean
most
of
the
stations
barely
heard
themselves
in
the
trial.
So
because
it
was
an
early
stage,
because
the
BCI/BAI
hasn’t
got
involved
–
that’s
why
the
decision
was
made.
But
I
wouldn’t
draw
any
too
many
conclusions
for
the
long
term’.
Given
the
lack
of
clarity
for
the
commercial
sector
and
the
lack
of
roll‐out
of
the
commercial
multiplex
the
decision
was
inevitable
according
to
UTV
Media.
For
Willie
O’Reilly
at
Today
FM,
and
Chairman
of
the
 Independent
 Broadcasters
 of
 Ireland,
 
 it
 was
 important
 for
 the
 commercial
 sector
 to
 stop
supporting
an
initiative
in
which
it
was
not
an
equal
partner.
Through
the
IBI,
he
said
his
view
was:
‘guys,
 why
 are
 we
 propping
 up
 RTÉ?
 What
 we’re
 doing
 is
 giving
 Government
 a
 belief
 that
 the
commercial
 sector
 and
 RTÉ
 will
 work
 on
 DAB,
 and
 a
 belief
 that
 we
 have
 a
 proper
 trial’.
 
 O’Reilly
maintains
 that
 the
 commercial
 sector
 needed
 to
 assert
 its
 position
 and
 not
 drift
 into
 a
 technology
which
could
be
a
costly
mistake.
‘My
view
would
be
that
we
probably
need
to
gather
the
stakeholders,
then
agree
the
appropriate
technology.’
2.6 Equal
access
for
all.
Is
it
possible?
Kevin
Griffiths,
Manager
of
Claremorris
Community
Radio
and
Chairperson
of
the
Community
Radio
Forum
of
Ireland
(CRAOL)
made

the
case
that
if
community
radio
is
to
be
part
of
the
digital
network,
it
needs
 to
 be
 an
 equal
 partner
 but
 that
 international
 examples
 were
 not
 very
 clear
 on
 the
 role
 of
community
radio.
‘I’m
aware
that
in
Australia
the
community
sector
was
a
sort
of
add
on
at
the
end
of
the
process
and
there
are
a
lot
of
community
stations
out
there
that
are
missing
in
bandwidth’. 29
Quentin
Howard
of
World
DMB
stressed
that
any
digital
policy
must
aim
to
be
inclusive
of
everyone
and
must
allow
for
a
transition
where
everything
that
is
currently
available
on
FM
is
available
on
the
new
platform.

This
was
for
the
benefit
not
just
of
the
operators
but
also
the
consumers
and
the
long‐
term
viability
of
any
digital
marketplace.

‘Unless
you
find
a
way
to
be
inclusive
…then
you
end
up
with
a
 discriminatory
 process
 that
 is
 not
 good
 for
 the
 radio
 industry.
 From
 a
 consumer
 point
 of
29 nd
Simons,
M.
‘Will
digital
kill
the
community
radio
star?’,
Crikey,
Australia,
April
22 
2008,
from:
http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/04/22/will‐digital‐kill‐the‐community‐radio‐star/
49