June 14, 2010
Switching Off Britain It’s almost exactly a year ago since the “Digital Britain” report was published. Within its 245 pages, there was a short chapter on plans for digital radio, which also included a switch-off for all of the UK’s analogue national radio stations and many local services by the end of 2015. Certainly – digital radio has some benefits, such as ‘rewind-and-pause’ of live broadcasts, and more scope for channel information about traffic jams. It’s also well suited to the internet, with the ability to download podcasts of programmes, access UK radio stations from abroad and so on. But the decision to scrap analogue stations, rather than offer the choice of both doesn’t really seem to stack up with consumers. 12 months on from the report, I’ve been exploring the current mood of pundits and the general public, and what buzz exists is overwhelmingly negative. Most of the anger is focused on the fact that the switch-off will make millions of radio sets obsolete, at the time when money is tight. Aside from the environmental impact, 91% of UK consumers are already satisfied with the existing choice of radio stations in their area (Ofcom’s own research) – in short, it’s hard to see where the consumer appetite is coming from.  Ofcom points to an existing base of up to 20% of radio users already owning a DAB (digital) set. But this seems to miss the fact that 37% of radio listening is out-of-home, much of it in vehicles. With fewer than 1% of cars having DAB radios fitted, (according to DRWG data), the switch-off seems more likely to disenfranchise existing analogue radio fans than introduce new listeners. Away from the stats, the switch-off strikes an emotionally dischordant note amongst many, eloquently summed up by veteran broadcaster Libby Purves: “Your existing wirelesses - the bedside one from which Humphrys or Wogan talks you into sentient life, the old Roberts on the bathroom windowsill, the wind-up Freeplay in the garage, the jogging one with a clip, the flash stereo for listening to Radio 3’s Haydn season, the pocket one that consoles you on the freezing railway platform, the one in your car…all could be useless after 2015. Which is an eye-blink away - less than half new Labour’s tenure, or a secondary school career. That ramshackle collection of radios, perfectly functional despite the odd bent aerial or melted chocolate on the £5 tranny in the schoolbag, could in less than six years be deaf to Radio 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5” This is not about luddite attitudes and burying-heads-in-the-sand – quite the contrary. In my experience, UK consumers have an uncanny knack of quickly working out a technological winner when they see one - just witness the speed at which digital TV was embraced, as soon as ‘Freeview’ made it possible to add many more channels at a low, one-off cost. Similarly, the popularity of mobile phones soon soared, once consumers realised the convenience of making calls without having to find a phone box and the handy brevity of an SMS text. Instead, the bottom line is that the consumer benefit of digital radio only really stacks up as an additional service, not a replacement, at least for the foreseeable future. The lesson to take from this is simply not to make the mistake the Government did, by ignoring the impact on consumers’ lives. Businesses would do well to pose the same killer question that consumers ask: “What’s the benefit over what I already have?” followed by what economists call a cost-benefit analysis, and what everyday folk describe plain and simply as……. “Is it worth it?” Download the Digital Britain Report

Switching Off Britain

It’s almost exactly a year ago since the “Digital Britain” report was published.

Within its 245 pages, there was a short chapter on plans for digital radio, which also included a switch-off for all of the UK’s analogue national radio stations and many local services by the end of 2015.

Certainly – digital radio has some benefits, such as ‘rewind-and-pause’ of live broadcasts, and more scope for channel information about traffic jams. It’s also well suited to the internet, with the ability to download podcasts of programmes, access UK radio stations from abroad and so on.

But the decision to scrap analogue stations, rather than offer the choice of both doesn’t really seem to stack up with consumers.

12 months on from the report, I’ve been exploring the current mood of pundits and the general public, and what buzz exists is overwhelmingly negative.

Most of the anger is focused on the fact that the switch-off will make millions of radio sets obsolete, at the time when money is tight. Aside from the environmental impact, 91% of UK consumers are already satisfied with the existing choice of radio stations in their area (Ofcom’s own research) – in short, it’s hard to see where the consumer appetite is coming from. 

Ofcom points to an existing base of up to 20% of radio users already owning a DAB (digital) set. But this seems to miss the fact that 37% of radio listening is out-of-home, much of it in vehicles. With fewer than 1% of cars having DAB radios fitted, (according to DRWG data), the switch-off seems more likely to disenfranchise existing analogue radio fans than introduce new listeners.

Away from the stats, the switch-off strikes an emotionally dischordant note amongst many, eloquently summed up by veteran broadcaster Libby Purves:

“Your existing wirelesses - the bedside one from which Humphrys or Wogan talks you into sentient life, the old Roberts on the bathroom windowsill, the wind-up Freeplay in the garage, the jogging one with a clip, the flash stereo for listening to Radio 3’s Haydn season, the pocket one that consoles you on the freezing railway platform, the one in your car…all could be useless after 2015. Which is an eye-blink away - less than half new Labour’s tenure, or a secondary school career. That ramshackle collection of radios, perfectly functional despite the odd bent aerial or melted chocolate on the £5 tranny in the schoolbag, could in less than six years be deaf to Radio 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5”

This is not about luddite attitudes and burying-heads-in-the-sand – quite the contrary. In my experience, UK consumers have an uncanny knack of quickly working out a technological winner when they see one - just witness the speed at which digital TV was embraced, as soon as ‘Freeview’ made it possible to add many more channels at a low, one-off cost. Similarly, the popularity of mobile phones soon soared, once consumers realised the convenience of making calls without having to find a phone box and the handy brevity of an SMS text.

Instead, the bottom line is that the consumer benefit of digital radio only really stacks up as an additional service, not a replacement, at least for the foreseeable future.

The lesson to take from this is simply not to make the mistake the Government did, by ignoring the impact on consumers’ lives. Businesses would do well to pose the same killer question that consumers ask: “What’s the benefit over what I already have?” followed by what economists call a cost-benefit analysis, and what everyday folk describe plain and simply as……. “Is it worth it?”

Download the Digital Britain Report

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