Retrocesso no DAB, na Grã Bretanha

De acordo com o The Guardian, “Key figures from the BBC and commercial radio share their thoughts on whether DAB has a future, after GCap’s announcement that it is scaling back its digital operation” [ler]. Richard Berry, no weblogue Me, my Radio and I, escreve que “For DAB to really take hold we all need DAB everywhere and that will take a long time. And that’s a problem for radio even before we start the argument about how crap the actual DAB technology is! (…) DAB also faces unexpected challenges, with almost 2% is listening online. In Q4 RAJAR also report that 8.1 million people listen to radio online (live and listen again) EVERY week. Radio is in more places and whilst RAJAR says that this has a positive impact on radio generally it doesn’t do much for poor old DAB… and could still be replaced by the better DAB+ being use elsewhere in Europe or the much lauded DRM. So getting out now and focusing on the tried and tested and new, cheaper online platforms make economic sense” [ler], não culpando necessariamente a CGap pela decisão de desinvestir na tecnologia DAB, atendendo à necessidade de ir ao encontro dos ouvintes, seja no que respeita à programação ou mesmo às plataformas ques stes efectivamente utilizam, reconhecendo o (ainda) potencial do FM e o crescente potencial da Internet para a rádio, bem como as plataformas móveis.

Efectivamente, a empresa optou por fechar as suas estações de rádio digital, TheJazz and Planet Rock “and sell its stake in national digital radio operator Digital One as part of a £9m cost-cutting package” procurando, desta forma, manter a sustentabilidade da empresa, “maximising the revenue and profit potential of five key brands on FM and broadband, the platforms that we believe consumers want and which offer the greatest growth opportunities”. [ler]