After declaring an obvious interest, I have to say that stating GCap is pulling out of DAB is somewhat of a very large exaggeration.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Andrew Bowden Sent: 09 April 2008 09:45 To: backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk Subject: RE: [backstage] DAB rollout... > Then you have GCap pulling out of DAB, the two stations closing down > (including Planet Rock, sniff) Planet Rock has had a reprive whilst they discuss sale options - and Global (who are taking over Gcap) are apparently more DAB friendly. > Plus my Dad prefers Radio 4 on FM because it doesn't drop to a lower > bitrate at peak time (why?!), call him an old cynic if you like. ;) It goes low at certain points because the station splits into two - so that the Long Wave opt outs can be broadcast on DAB. For example, 8:30am, Today on one, Yesterday in Parliament on the other. I presume they do the same for the Daily Service. LW Sport gets carried on Five Live Sports Extra, hence it's not a problem. IIRC, the opt-outs take up about 45 minutes a day, so it's more cost effective to use this feature than it would be to broadcast a duplicate station. > What worries me is that digital radio is almost still in a state of > flux; in the space of three years, an industry-changing redefinition > of the DAB standard is released and it causes all sorts of headaches > and potential problems for manufacturers and broadcasters. FM stereo > was standardised in the early 60s and it's not > really changed since, yet I still feel like my DAB receiver (my > venerable Wavefinder) is nothing more than 'sandbox kit', yet I've had > it for years. I think half the problem is people just can't trust > hardware they buy today to work in three/four years' time, whatever > the assurances given. I don't think it's /that/ bad but there's absolutely no denial that standards change quickly because technology moves quickly. Just look at your PC after all. And that's the route of the problem, and personally I suspect it's going to get worse as time goes on. DAB may look positively antique in 10 years time as far as technology is concerned. However when you have sizable audience bases, it's extremely difficult just to turn something off because something better has come along because people don't want to go out and buy new equipment. Such big switch-offs are rare (last one I can think of was the migration from VHF to UHF for TV signals which finally ended in the 1980s after UHF first launched in the 1960s) - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/ All correspondence, attachments and agreements remain strictly subject to fully executed contract. (c) GCap Media plc 2008. All rights remain reserved. This e-mail (and any attachments) contains information which may be confidential, subject to intellectual property protection and may be legally privileged and protected from disclosure and unauthorised use. It is intended solely for the use of the individual(s) or entity to whom it is addressed and others specifically authorised to receive it. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail or any parts of it please telephone 020 7054 8000 immediately upon receipt. No other person is authorised to copy, adapt, forward, disclose, distribute or retain this e-mail in any form without prior specific permission in writing from an authorised representative of GCap Media plc. We will not accept liability for any claims arising as a result of the use of the internet to transmit information by or to GCap Media plc. GCap Media plc. Registered address: 30 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7LA. Registered in England & Wales with No. 923454 - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
