Radio calls for guarantees from Digital Britain

The commercial radio industry is calling on the Government to reserve the currently unused capacity on the second national digital radio multiplex for future radio services.


As part of several demands linked to Lord Carter's interim Digital Britain report, the commercial radio sector also wants the Government to guarantee FM radio licences until beyond switchover, expected to occur no earlier than 2015 at the earliest. By doing so, it believes its future would be more secure, in turn allowing for more certainty to invest into digital radio.

Currently, FM licences are only renewed for those companies that commit to renewing their digital radio licences. The radio industry believes linking digital radio to FM licences damages its ability to raise finance to support digital growth. Without the certainty their FM licences will be rolled over, the industry argues that it limits their ability to raise finance for digital expansion.

According to a senior industry figure, the commercial radio industry will make a total of five requests to government in light of Carter's report. It wants public investment to ensure DAB coverage is extended to mirror FM coverage. It wants pressure to be exerted on car manufacturers to include DAB tuners in all cars. It wants the Government to guarantee FM radio licences until beyond switchover. And it wants more freedom for stations to broadcast the same show across individual stations.

Finally, it wants the Government to reserve the unused capacity on the second national digital radio multiplex for future radio services. Channel 4-backed 4Digital Group, the consortium that won the licence for Digital Two in 2007, handed its licence back to Ofcom on 30 January.

Richard Eyre, former chairman of GCap Media, said: "The industry needs to get the dialogue right and convince the Government what's in it for the public. It needs to stop saying it needs relief from costs. Carter has set a high hurdle for the industry to find arguments for digital radio that exhibit public interest qualities."