Three of the big radio groups have urged the government to remain cautious in planning a turn off of analogue radio signals. The comments from EMAP, GWR and the Capital group follow a foreword by Culture minister Tessa Jowell in a report on digital radio in which she implied the turn off of analogue radio signals may now be in sight.
EMAP Performance Radio boss Dee Ford told reporters yesterday: "We don't see an urgency for a timetable for analogue switchoff. Emap has pioneered the growth of digital radio. We have more digital radio listening hours than any other commercial radio group. However, there are a lot of FM radio licences that are about to be advertised that have to be given time to become viable stations before thought is given to the switchover from analogue to digital."
Presumably keen to reassure the radio industry, a source at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport suggested yesterday that it was "extremely unlikely" that Jowell would be proposing an analogue switch off date any time soon.