RTE sees start of demand for digital radio
RTE is seeing the ‘‘beginnings’’ of a demand for a digital radio service, with 6 per cent of Irish households now owning a digital set, and manufacturers starting to discuss the technology with RTE.
JP Coakley, head of RTE’s digital radio project, said the latest Joint National Listenership Report had shown higher than expected ownership of digital radio sets among the population.
In 2005, RTE had set a target of 5 per cent of households owning a digital set in 2009.
In Dublin, the prevalence of digital radios is as high as 10 per cent of households.
Coakley conceded that most radios now on sale were both digital and FM sets, but said it was still clear that people liked the new technology.
‘‘It’s a very simple decision to buy a radio that has a clearer sound, and people are taking to it,” said Coakley. ‘‘What we have here is the beginnings of a demand.”
RTE last week extended its digital radio transmission coverage beyond Dublin, Cork and Limerick to more than half of Irish households in nine counties.
It remains the only provider of digital radio services in the country, with no commercial radio stations prepared to make the necessary investment at this point.
However, all that can be heard on digital radio are the four RTE FM channels, plus RTE’s seven dedicated digital channels including a channel aimed entirely at children.
Coakley said it was now a matter for the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, the new body responsible for supervising public service and commercial broadcasting, to bring the digital radio issue further along.
In its last report on the matter, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (now the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) called for the development of a white paper on digital radio.
‘‘Until the whole sector decides to move forward, the digital radio proposition is never going to be what it can be,” he said.
‘‘It’s understandable that people out there have a licence on FM and they are nervous about where their business is going.
‘‘Digital radio invites us to imagine how radio might be configured as an industry for the future, and I know that’s certainly a tough ask for everybody.”
