Does anyone know what the future is for FM radio ?

[Evans Electric]

Currys had a small radio / CD player  ...tempted to buy when I see the radio is FM/AM   not DAB   .   

I heard they had delayed switching off FM  but wondering whats happening now .  

 

[Andy™]

itll get turned off just like analogue TV did, but i cant see it happening for a few years at least

 

[binky]

not heard anything about shutting down FM

 

[ProDave]

The analogue radio switch off keeps quietly being hushed up and delayed.  I think the big issue is the number of car radios without DAB and in many cases not standard DIN sized radios that can easily be changed.

Analogue tv switch off was a complete fiasco, with little publicity and analogue only tv's still on sale to an unsuspecting / gullible consumer long after analogue switch off was planned, but not widely publicised.  One would hope they would know better this time. Set a date. Widely publicise it and encourage people NOT to buy FM radio's   But some hope of that.

Oh and they need to DRASTICALLY improve DAB coverage to be at least as good as present FM coverage. But again some hope of that, many can still only get "freeview lite" instead of the full freeview service for instance.

 

[Evans Electric]

Makes you wonder ...we watch TV on a Freesat  dish  which I presume is digital  ...however if it rains heavily  the picture goes off   :C    We then switch to the analogue   loft aerial .

 

[Doc Hudson]

Quite a while ago I remember listening to a program relating to FM and digital only radio, one of the points raised was that radio has a larger quantity of small local interest or regional licences to transmit specific community relevant content. (Our local town has a small station that only transmits to a small geographical area.)  They suggested that a full DAB conversion would kill many local stations that provide a beneficial service to a lot of communities.  

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/dab-digital-radio-switchover-fm-uk-11364137002537

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43458695

https://www.pure.com/uk/dab-radio/digital-radio-switchover

Doc H.

 

[Geoff1946]

I suspect many view DAB radio as a solution to a problem they don't have, and even as a problem which they will be forced to deal with eventually.

I'm dubious about the 50% take up too. Who was asked and what was the question?

Yes we have a DAB set, (but we also have at least five FM ones if you count in household vehicles). We find the DAB harder to use, albeit perhaps due to familiarity, but NO better reception or sound quality, possibly poorer. In practice it's rarely used.

Yes we regularly listen to digital radio, sort of. We put on the bedroom TV radio channels most nights for half an hour of background music. It's digital, but does that count?

Regarding killing local stations, I'm not sure. It's happened to the FM ones anyway up north, as the regional stations are bought up by national ones and the local content disappears.

For my part, the longer FM remains, the better.

 

[Evans Electric]

Quite a while ago I remember listening to a program relating to FM and digital only radio, one of the points raised was that radio has a larger quantity of small local interest or regional licences to transmit specific community relevant content. (Our local town has a small station that only transmits to a small geographical area.)  They suggested that a full DAB conversion would kill many local stations that provide a beneficial service to a lot of communities.  

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/dab-digital-radio-switchover-fm-uk-11364137002537

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43458695

https://www.pure.com/uk/dab-radio/digital-radio-switchover

Doc H.

Thanks for the Doc .     I notice a comment  on there .....Digital radio is more efficient   :C      What does that mean  ?  Switch  the DAB radio on , theres your programme ..switch the FM band on ...theres your programme also ,  it sounds the same . 

Notice the comment about "power hungry " too .   I bought  a small  Roberts digital  with earphones ,  size of an older cellphone ..........its a battery eater , it devours them at  a rate of knots . 

 

[ProDave]

Thanks for the Doc .     I notice a comment  on there .....Digital radio is more efficient   :C      What does that mean  ?  Switch  the DAB radio on , theres your programme ..switch the FM band on ...theres your programme also ,  it sounds the same . 

Notice the comment about "power hungry " too .   I bought  a small  Roberts digital  with earphones ,  size of an older cellphone ..........its a battery eater , it devours them at  a rate of knots . 

The tv spectrum used for analogue tv managed to deliver just 5 channels. That is all there was room for.

Each analoge tv channel has been replaced with a "digital multiplexer" which carries 20 or more channels.

The result is we now have over 100 freeview channels (not all proper tv channels mind)  AND they have been squeezed into less spectrum space than the analogue channels used to occupy, and some of the vacated space is now used for 4G mobile phones.

There is however a lot of resistance to the DAB system used in the UK. Many say it is a poor implementation, with very low bitrate and poor audio quality.  for home listening through the hifi I use a satellite receiver, I have a spare one dedicated just to receiving radio channels. There are more radio stations to choose from on satellite than DAB and at a higher bit rate.

 

[Evans Electric]

Thanks Dave ,  most interesting .