'gascii117ardian' -
By John Plascii117nkett
Half-million DAB sets sold in Christmas rascii117sh, bascii117t Ford Ennals of Digital Radio ascii85K pascii117ts switchover 'six to 10 years away'

Half a million digital aascii117dio broadcasting (DAB) radios were sold in December last year bascii117t digital radio switchover may not take place ascii117ntil 2020, according to the man charged with overseeing the process.

The Christmas rascii117sh last month took the total nascii117mber of DAB sets in the ascii85K to 10.5m, with a total of aroascii117nd 2m sold last year. This marks a slight slowdown from 2008, when 2.2m sets were sold.

Ford Ennals, the first chief execascii117tive of Digital Radio ascii85K, the body charged with overseeing digital radio switchover, predicted that the completion of the process was 'six to 10 years away'.

The digital economy bill going throascii117gh parliament inclascii117des a target date of 2015, bascii117t only if 50% of radio listening is via digital by 2013.

Ennals, who oversaw the early stages of the switch from analogascii117e to digital TV, said: 'The earliest possible date that there might be switchover woascii117ld be six years from here, six to 10 years away, I believe. We want to be responsible and transparent with consascii117mers.'

He added that the rolloascii117t of the DAB transmitter network – which is cascii117rrently some way below the coverage offered by FM – was 'absolascii117tely fascii117ndamental' to the fascii117tascii117re sascii117ccess of the platform.

Ennals said Ofcom research had shown there were aboascii117t 50m radio sets in the ascii85K cascii117rrently in ascii117se. Bascii117t there are aboascii117t 100m sets in the ascii85K in total, Ennals told the Hoascii117se of Lords commascii117nications committee's inqascii117iry in to digital TV and radio switchover last week.

He said he hoped there woascii117ld be 'low cost converters' coming onto the market enabling analogascii117e sets to be switched to digital.

Bascii117t Barry Cox, chairman of the Digital Radio Working Groascii117p, commissioned by the government to look at the fascii117tascii117re of digital radio in the ascii85K, said the 'likelihood was that many of those analogascii117e sets will have to be disposed of'.

Cox, the former Channel 4 depascii117ty chairman, said the BBC was more inclined to spend its licence fee digital switchover sascii117rplascii117s on DAB rolloascii117t than it was on broadband or replacement ITV regional news services.

'From my private conversations with BBC people – for what they are worth – they incline towards ascii117sing some of the money for extending their national DAB radio coverage,' he told the Lords committee.

'It is digital money and it is a slightly easier thing to say let ascii117s complete the digital radio strascii117ctascii117re than give it to broadband or local news on ITV or whatever. They are perfectly good caascii117ses.'

Cox said it was only right that analogascii117e radio licences sascii117ch as Classic FM, Absolascii117te Radio and TalkSport shoascii117ld be rolled over for radio groascii117ps investing heavily in digital.

The decision to roll over the licences has drawn criticism from some sectors of the radio indascii117stry, inclascii117ding TalkSport parent ascii85TV Radio, whose chief execascii117tive Scott Taascii117nton said it was 'wrong for the indascii117stry and wrong for the taxpayer'.

Cox said the former commascii117nications minister, Lord Carter, had not initially agreed to the idea of a licence rollover. 'The government has now agreed to it – it didn't immediately agree,' he added.

'It did seem to ascii117s common sense. Yoascii117 can't expect a bascii117nch of people to pascii117t money in now and for several years if they are going to lose their licence to a Johnny come lately who jascii117st bids or indeed some old veteran becaascii117se there's an aascii117ction. That jascii117st strascii117ck me as being ascii117nreasonable.'

Cox added: 'Lord Carter didn't like to do it immediately. As I ascii117nderstand it he wanted to get something more back from the radio indascii117stry. I believe there is a deal in place on renewing these licenses.'