Thursday 12 March 2015

Nordic Motorist Organizations: Put a Brake on FM Switch-Offs

DAB Radio may cost Danish and Norwegian car-owners more than 2 billion euro.
The Danish national motorist organization FDM has asked for an inquiry into the cost for of a transition from FM to DAB 2019.  - The Norwegian organization for car-importers BIL has informed to the ministry of culture that their members reject the elements of compulsion and a premature FM switch-off 2017 in "little Norway" in comparison with the rest of the world. - In Sweden two national motor organizations have questioned a premature switch-off 2022. - Finland permanently opted out of DAB already 2007.

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Britain Is Not Ready For a DAB Radio Switchover

Pessimistic minister admits people are wedded to their FM radio
Ed Vaizey, the UK minister for culture, communications and creative industries, has admitted that the public’s limited uptake of DAB radios has harmed industry across the country. Vaizey said that government plans for an all-digital radio future have been knee-capped by DAB radio’s slow penetration in the UK market.

Sunday 8 March 2015

FM Radio Should Be in All U.S. Smartphones

Congressmen Ask FCC To Act On FM Chips In Smartphones
A letter from House Committee on Homeland Security Ranking Member Bennie Thompson and House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter Defazio asks Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to do everything in (his) power to make certain that every American consumer has access to the FM radio chip in their smartphones today.

Saturday 7 March 2015

BBC Radio on the Television Network

Local Radio on Digital Terrestrial Television 
BBC local radio in England is now on the DTT network across the UK. Most viewers using Freeview can now access a BBC local radio station. Local radio stations co-located with BBC regional television services appear to be the main beneficiary of this rollout. 14.5% of the UK listens to radio via the TV at least once a week; it currently accounts for 4.7% of total radio listening.

Tuesday 3 March 2015

Gloomy Prognosis for DAB Radio in the Nordic Countries

FM Radio to be retained for decades while online listening is increasing.
Denmark has been broadcasting DAB-radio since 2002. Norway is on its way into a complete DAB+ structure and for Sweden there is a DAB+ proposal to the government for a transition period 2016-2022. Finland has definitely left the DAB track.  -  Will DAB survive the established FM radio and the fast rising on-line platforms in the Nordic market with a total population of 26,7 million - and a combined resource of 50 million FM receivers?

Monday 2 March 2015

Mobile broadband future major platform for radio and tv

Data transfers on 5G thousand times faster than 4G
Record-breaking speeds have been achieved during tests of 5G data connections. Researchers at the University of Surrey's 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) managed one terabit per second (Tbps) - many thousands of times faster than current data connections.
At 1Tbps, it would be theoretically possible to download a file 100 times the size of a feature film in about three seconds. The speed is more than 65,000 times faster than average 4G download speeds.