Hi all, don't know if some of you remember that some time ago I posed a question as to why all of a sudden, my DAB stations had stopped broadcasting DAB Logos and track information, and some stations had even disappeared ?.
When I collected the car on the 14th September, I had a number of local stations (north west) that were broadcasting these logos which looked very smart on the large Discover Nav pro screen. I did notice that a number of them carried a text warning that appeared once in a while on screen saying that their station would change after September 24th. Well since then, apart from BBC World Service, I have absolutely no stations at all that broadcast these logos any more.
Well, I've just read this and wondered if that's something to do with it.
"Why have so many local stations disappeared from DAB? Well, it’s to do with the closure of the North-West regional DAB multiplex. When you switch your shiny new DAB radio on for the first time, it scans for all available stations, which you can then pick and choose from for your listening delight. Unlike FM, stations are bundled together in groups and broadcast together, digitally. One of these bundles was the fantastic North-West regional – a group of stations you couldn’t easily get anywhere else. It’s this bundle of stations which is effectively being broken up, with pop music stations getting a reprieve and other “niche” stations missing out on being broadcast on local multiplexes due to lack of space.
Up until 24th September, the North-West regional multiplex carried several of these digital-only stations, such as LBC and Choice FM. Whilst this was great for listeners, who got a chance to listen to something different and unique, the stations’ owners reviewed the listening figures and compared them with their bigger brands (Capital, Real Radio and Smooth Radio) and decided that it no longer made commercial sense to keep paying for carriage on DAB digital radio, since LBC and Choice were fairly London-centric stations that could not attract the level of advertising in the North-West enjoyed by their sister stations, which also have an FM frequency to bolster listening figures and advertising. There was also limited space on local multiplexes for Manchester, Liverpool and Lancashire, which meant that not all stations could be moved from the North-West regional without cramming them onto local DAB in mono."
I thought DAB was supposed to be the next great thing and that FM was supposed to be switched off fairly soon. Is this another lie fed to us by the government ?
