Talking of radio, a government working group has put forward more firm plans regarding the switch off of the medium wave band and the move of stations on it over to digital. That said, the report doesn't give a definite timeline for turning off analogue radio signals, though says MW could be gone by as soon as 2020.
As previously reported, the government supports an eventual turn off of both analogue TV and radio services so it can flog off the airwaves to the highest bidder. TV and radio firms also advocate the switch over, not least so that they can stop the expensive business of broadcasting both analogue and digital signals at the same time.
But the switch off is tricky because it relies on viewers and listeners all having the required digital receivers and, while ownership of digital TV receivers and DAB radio sets continues to grow, many people concurrently use old analogue sets. That is especially true of radio - which is why talk of a switch off of analogue radio has so far been less proactive.
While not advocating firm switch off dates just yet, and advising that listeners be given at least two years notice, the Digital Radio Working Group says the government should start to plan for the move away from analogue radio, if only because it might encourage consumers who have been lapping up Freeview digital TV boxes to be similarly keen about DAB digital radio sets, sales of which have been slower.
Some believe internet-radio-over-WiFi will take over before DAB properly has time to establish itself as a preferred digital broadcast system, but those that advocate DAB as the better option continue to look to government to help them develop the broadcast medium.