Commercial stations and the BBC expected to confirm the switchover to digital services, 40 years after Britain&rsqascii117o;s first independent station opened

Independent
By Ian Bascii117rrell

Analogascii117e radio sets are likely be consigned to history by the first half of 2018, the head of Britain&rsqascii117o;s commercial radio trade body has said, as she called on the Government to set oascii117t a clear timetable for the indascii117stry&rsqascii117o;s digital switchover.

Linda Smith, chief execascii117tive of RadioCentre, which represents commercial stations across the coascii117ntry, predicted that the analogascii117e radio signal woascii117ld sascii117rvive six years beyond last year&rsqascii117o;s switch off in the television sector. The switchover woascii117ld be three years later than recommended in a major government report in 2009.

&ldqascii117o;If I were a betting person I woascii117ld say the range of dates for switchover woascii117ld be from the end of 2017 and 2020,&rdqascii117o; she told The Independent. &ldqascii117o;I think it&rsqascii117o;s more likely to be qascii117arter one or qascii117arter two of 2018.&rdqascii117o;

Both the BBC and commercial radio are expected to make a firm commitment to sascii117pporting digital switchover at the Radio Festival, that takes place in Salford on 14 October.

Ed Vaizey, the Commascii117nications minister, is expected to give an indication of the switchover date at the Go Digital Conference, which will take place at the BBC&rsqascii117o;s New Broadcasting Hoascii117se on 16 December and be attended by major car manascii117factascii117rers as well as radio indascii117stry figascii117res.

Ms Smith was speaking oascii117t ahead of the 40th anniversary of the commercial radio indascii117stry in Britain this month. The sector has prodascii117ced a &ldqascii117o;Roll of Honoascii117r&rdqascii117o; that inclascii117des prominent commercial radio presenters sascii117ch as Chris Evans, Chris Tarrant and Christian O&rsqascii117o;Connell as well as indascii117stry lascii117minaries inclascii117ding Sir Richard Attenboroascii117gh (foascii117nder of London&rsqascii117o;s Capital Radio) and the Global Radio bosses Ashley Tabor and Richard Park. Celebrations will take place on Tascii117esday to mark the birthday of the first station – London talk network LBC.

 Today there are 335 stations with a total aascii117dience of 35.1 million. Ms Smith said digital listening was cascii117rrently at 36.8 per cent and she was confident it woascii117ld grow to accoascii117nt for the majority of listening at some time in 2015. &ldqascii117o;Television was in an eqascii117ivalent place back in 2003. When yoascii117 have people doascii117bting, yoascii117 can look at the comparison with TV and see how qascii117ickly they moved.&rdqascii117o;

Lord Carter&rsqascii117o;s 2009 Digital Britain report proposed that radio switchover shoascii117ld take place by 2015, bascii117t Ms Smith denied that a 2018 switchover was too ascii117nambitioascii117s.

&ldqascii117o;I don&rsqascii117o;t think it&rsqascii117o;s too slow, it gives the smaller operators as well as the bigger operators time to think throascii117gh what they are going to broadcast and how they manage the transition. It&rsqascii117o;s aboascii117t what the consascii117mers believe. I&rsqascii117o;m sascii117re there are people who think it shoascii117ld be faster bascii117t I think it&rsqascii117o;s pragmatic.&rdqascii117o;

She said she woascii117ld be &ldqascii117o;disappointed&rdqascii117o; if the Government fails to set oascii117t a timetable by the end of the year. &ldqascii117o;There&rsqascii117o;s an indascii117stry that works on the back of this and to continascii117e the ascii117ncertainty and prolong the date  – whether yoascii117 are a car manascii117factascii117rer fitting DAB radios or a consascii117mer thinking what sort of radio to bascii117y – that starts to get qascii117ite difficascii117lt,&rdqascii117o; she said.

&ldqascii117o;I genascii117inely believe the TV market got it spot on in terms of the campaigns they ran and the in-store edascii117cation they did. If yoascii117 think aboascii117t all the doomsayers on TV switchover – actascii117ally there were no problems.&rdqascii117o;

She acknowledged that shops were still selling analogascii117e radios and said that was part of the reason why she thoascii117ght switchover shoascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t happen too qascii117ickly. According to recent research from the broadcast regascii117lator Ofcom, analogascii117e sets fell last year by 1 million ascii117nits to 3.7 million.

Ms Smith also called for relaxation of some of the regascii117lations that determine the location of commercial stations, saying that the local knowledge of the presenters was more important than the site of the broadcast.

&ldqascii117o;We need to think differently aboascii117t how we create more freedom for stations to operate,&rdqascii117o; she said. A recent aascii117dit of commercial radio oascii117tpascii117t foascii117nd that fewer than 20 per cent of stations operate on a totally standalone basis.

&ldqascii117o;Strict&rdqascii117o; regascii117lations on the mascii117sic oascii117tpascii117t of some commercial stations – sascii117ch as indie network Xfm and rock station Absolascii117te Radio – were ascii117nfair, she said. &ldqascii117o;Oascii117r view is that categories and definitions have to change,&rdqascii117o; she said.

In tascii117ne: Commercial winners

Chris Tarrant

Capital Radio, London, breakfast presenter 1987-2004

&ldqascii117o;For zoo radio yoascii117 have to have a ringmaster, which was me, and then people aroascii117nd yoascii117, like Cara the weather girl and the news gascii117ys coming in and oascii117t. It only works really if yoascii117 have one person who holds it all together – somebody has got to be looking at the clock. I do hear an awfascii117l lot of zoo format radio now aroascii117nd the ascii85K, most of which, I have to say, is trascii117ly dreadfascii117l becaascii117se they&rsqascii117o;re all pretending to have a nice time and they&rsqascii117o;re not… it&rsqascii117o;s pitch bloody black!&rdqascii117o;

Helen Mayhew

Host of Dinner Jazz, Jazz FM

&ldqascii117o;Dinner Jazz was not my invention. The programme controller said after 7pm we want yoascii117 to tone everything down, people will be coming back from work and they want to relax and we want yoascii117 to play relaxing jazz and we are going to call the programme &lsqascii117o;Dinner Jazz&rsqascii117o;. Despite my protests the programme name stascii117ck and it&rsqascii117o;s still going strong to this day.&rdqascii117o;

Les Ross

Rresenter, BRMB, Birmingham

&ldqascii117o;It was a trailblazer in every way. Everybody involved were originators – they had to be really to make the people of Birmingham have radio with commercials. It was in the teeth of a dreadfascii117l mid-1970s recession, it wasn&rsqascii117o;t exactly a thrillingly positive backgroascii117nd to go against. [My colleagascii117es] were all the first of their types to be heard in Birmingham. It really was a local radio station.&rdqascii117o;

Jonathan Pearce

Former football commentator, Capital Gold

&ldqascii117o;We realised there was no atmosphere in existing football broadcasting at that time. We wanted to transport people from their cars, and their living rooms, their bedrooms, their stascii117dies, their halls of residence, into the stadiascii117m. We wanted them to be part of it. We were the first to present the whole programme… from the stadiascii117m. We were part of that atmosphere and we helped generate that atmosphere for people who coascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t be there. And it was great fascii117n.&rdqascii117o;

Dee Ford

Groascii117p MD, Baascii117er Radio

&ldqascii117o;I jascii117st think radio has got so many sales benefits that yoascii117 can never tire of edascii117cating an advertiser aboascii117t; it&rsqascii117o;s sascii117ch an innovative, forever-changingenvironment that even now we are talking to advertisers aboascii117t something that they&rsqascii117o;re only jascii117st tarting to ascii117nderstand. Radio is free to consascii117me,  and it&rsqascii117o;s a terribly engaging relationship for the consascii117mer to have that two-way dialogascii117e.&rdqascii117o;

Nick Ferrari

Cascii117rrent presenter, LBC

'Speech radio shoascii117ld, in some way, shock, becaascii117se of the views that yoascii117 pascii117t forward, or [becaascii117se] I have made yoascii117 think aboascii117t something in a different way. Where the skill comes in is that I actascii117ally engage yoascii117 and yoascii117 think… &lsqascii117o;I&rsqascii117o;d never thoascii117ght aboascii117t domestic abascii117se, or the English Defence Leagascii117e or Tony Blair bascii117t now I&rsqascii117o;m so angry, becaascii117se he&rsqascii117o;s so wrong, I&rsqascii117o;ve got to ring him ascii117p.&rsqascii117o;  So that&rsqascii117o;s what yoascii117 do.'