[hanssolo]

Originally Posted by chandleo

Neither of those are on Digital 1, and not really national services - I know Capital has a lot of network stuff and the same with Kiss (though Allegedly they are a national station now) a true proper national alternative ala Core would be a welcome addition imo.

Both Global with Capital (7 million listeners) and Bauer with Kiss (4.4 million listeners) reguard each other as national rivals with local optouts which is why they are not on D1!
So will need a large radio group to launch another new CHR station with a big marketing budget on D1 to take them on, perhaps only Virgin in partnership with a UK group, but unlikely?

BFBS took over Core,s slot, but is only aimed at services families and is under threat from Garrison who want to bid for BFBS's contract in 2013!

[dpb]

Originally Posted by chandleo

Neither of those are on Digital 1, and not really national services - I know Capital has a lot of network stuff and the same with Kiss (though Allegedly they are a national station now) a true proper national alternative ala Core would be a welcome addition imo.

Originally Posted by hanssolo

Both Global with Capital (7 million listeners) and Bauer with Kiss (4.4 million listeners) reguard each other as national rivals with local optouts which is why they are not on D1!
So will need a large radio group to launch another new CHR station with a big marketing budget on D1 to take them on, perhaps only Virgin in partnership with a UK group, but unlikely?<snip>

I think a Core Mark 2 may be a welcome addition but I think it would find it hard with Capital and Kiss to be honest. I believe Capital's starry advert appears on the national digital TV channels - Kiss has the benefit of cross-promotion etc.

Not to mention Bauer's Smash Hits and The Hits as well getting good figures.

[hanssolo]

Originally Posted by dpb

Not to mention Bauer's Smash Hits and The Hits as well getting good figures.

Most of Smash Hits and The Hits are kids listening to Freeview with some online. We have The Hits in the SE on London/SE regional DAB with presenters mostly from Manchester, but doubt if Bauer will roll it nationally on DAB as it clashes with Bauer's local station policy!
There is no Bauer local hit's station in the SE! (There is Wave on the South coast)

Smash hit's seems automated and just ticking over with no investment!

[dpb]

Originally Posted by hanssolo

Most of Smash Hits and The Hits are kids listening to Freeview with some online. We have The Hits in the SE on London/SE regional DAB with presenters mostly from Manchester, but doubt if Bauer will roll it nationally on DAB as it clashes with Bauer's local station policy!
There is no Bauer local hit's station in the SE! (There is Wave on the South coast)

Smash hit's seems automated and just ticking over with no investment!

I doubt they will roll them (back(in the case of SH!)) out on DAB but if you want to find a hit music station that isn't Capital or Kiss they are probably where to go.

[DiandalScotland]

When Absolute was up for sale not so long ago, wasn`t virgin interested in returning to the Uk? Sir Richard Branson could try and get the slot for Virgin Radio although do we really need another pop/rock station.

I would welcome Sky News. I remember when ITN had their station on dab.

[chandleo]

Originally Posted by DiandalScotland

When Absolute was up for sale not so long ago, wasn`t virgin interested in returning to the Uk? Sir Richard Branson could try and get the slot for Virgin Radio although do we really need another pop/rock station.

I would welcome Sky News. I remember when ITN had their station on dab.

This would always be a nice possibility, quite a few of the other Virgin Radio stations round the world are more of a pop/chart format - Virgin Radio Dubai for instance, and they have pretty slick presentation too.

[Peter the Great]

Originally Posted by chandleo

I think Digital 1 is still missing a replacement for Core i.e. a Top 40/Chart Hits Station, every other music type seems to be covered on Digital 1, so maybe a decent national Chart Hits station could be in order?

No thanks! There are enough stations already available that offer this sort of bland format. I hope Amazing Radio does return to DAB. If it doesn't then I hope it gets relaced by something which is equally interesting and different.

[Crapital Fart]

About time a proper dance or urban music station made it on to D1 such as Ministry Of Sound Radio or a national version of Choice, KMFM extra or Fire Radio.

[Orangy]

Originally Posted by Crapital Fart

About time a proper dance or urban music station made it on to D1 such as Ministry Of Sound Radio or a national version of Choice, KMFM extra or Fire Radio.

Remember the bandwidth that's available is really quite poor. 64KBits/Mono. Amazing ended up sounding awful as they sold back some of their available bandwidth to other services. Anything is going to sound awful - a mainstream music station, particularly the services you suggest would sound dire.

I don't want to get in to a DAB bitrate rage or argument, but to be realistic, the available bandwidth shouldn't be used for anything other than speech, how Ofcom allowed a music service to run at such a low rate, is astonishing.

[AngusMast]

Personally I'd like LBC to take the space, they have moved on to a number of regional and local multiplexes recently, next step would to become a truly national station, with or without London variations.

Could someone tell me if there is only one version of LBC or do they have have different adverts on the stations outside London?

[mfr]

Originally Posted by AngusMast

Personally I'd like LBC to take the space, they have moved on to a number of regional and local multiplexes recently, next step would to become a truly national station, with or without London variations.

Could someone tell me if there is only one version of LBC or do they have have different adverts on the stations outside London?

I agree. LBC (or LBC News) would be a great addition to D1. The lack of a national rolling news station or talk station is a big gap.

I seem to recall LBC originally had elements of regionalisation (local news / travel?) but this was removed at the end of 2008.

[hanssolo]

I notice on Amazing's blog
http://blog.amazingtunes.com/news/am...ars-of-shivers

Tomorrow is Amazing Radio‘s third birthday. That very day, with impeccable irony, we will apply to Digital One to get back on the air. We await the result, and the public reaction, with interest.

[peter_sharp1uk]

Since Talksport can only talk about football these days, i think that LBC would be a good addition.

[Martin Phillp]

Originally Posted by mfr

I agree. LBC (or LBC News) would be a great addition to D1. The lack of a national rolling news station or talk station is a big gap.

I seem to recall LBC originally had elements of regionalisation (local news / travel?) but this was removed at the end of 2008.

LBC replaced DNN on the MXR regional muxes. As part of the rules of that slot then, regional news and travel were provided.

[tghe-retford]

Originally Posted by Orangy

I don't want to get in to a DAB bitrate rage or argument, but to be realistic, the available bandwidth shouldn't be used for anything other than speech, how Ofcom allowed a music service to run at such a low rate, is astonishing.

By the radio industry telling Ofcom that a) the vast majority of DAB radios are mono kitchen sets, b) the vast majority of people were satisfied with 128kbps stereo (64kbps mono) and c) dismissed outright those who complained about audio quality or who wanted DAB+ as a very small number of "audiophiles" who could just get lost and listen instead via satellite, Internet or mobile listening. With a media regulator who believes in the free market, free of interference, the result was inevitable.

[hanssolo]

Originally Posted by tghe-retford

the vast majority of people were satisfied with 128kbps stereo (64kbps mono)

I think music at 64k mono is only allowed after listening tests with the latest software encoders, the listening test criteria was not as far as I know published.

had a look at the application form from the link on post 1

The closing date for Digital One to receive your Expression of Interest is noon on 1 June. We expect to inform people whether their enquiry will be taken to the next stage of this process by noon on 8 June

[Bangers]

Originally Posted by hanssolo

I think music at 64k mono is only allowed after listening tests with the latest software encoders, the listening test criteria was not as far as I know published.

had a look at the application form from the link on post 1

64kbps mono for music can be used with any codec. This has been the case since the Radio Authority.

[allan66]

Does it have to be a UK based operator to apply for the space? For example could say RTE or a Dutch operator (Radio 10 Gold wishful thinking!) could apply.

[BMR]

Originally Posted by allan66

Does it have to be a UK based operator to apply for the space? For example could say RTE or a Dutch operator (Radio 10 Gold wishful thinking!) could apply.

I *think* (but am far from sure) that they would have to treat all applicants from within the European Union equally.

So that would obviously include RTE and 10 gold. I can't see RTE bidding though, as is documented elsewhere they are in dire financial straits.

[Peter Henderson]

For example could say RTE apply

Since Digital One is not yet available in NI, probably not.

If or when Digital One does appear here, RTE might take up the extra space on the local multiplex.

[2Bdecided]

Originally Posted by Phil Dodd

Around the year 2020, only 8 years away now, it is going to become cheaper for Sky to stop using satellites to broadcast it's dozens of channels, and switch them all over to be internet based.

I suggest to you that at the same time, it will be cheaper for broadcasters to switch from terrestial digital in favour of internet and 4G.

With TV, you're comparing the cost of multiple satellites (launch costs approx $150bn each) with the cost of "cabling" the UK (not just "cables"/fibres - the whole infrastructure, including servers, caches, etc etc).

With radio, you're comparing the cost of multiple transmitters (for a national service), or a single/small group of transmitters (for a local service), with the cost of... multiple transmitters.

There's a difference in the choice of on-demand vs live (where people currently have that choice) - check the iPlayer statistics, for example.

Most importantly, by and large, you're talking about pay-TV vs free-to-air radio.

This suggests these two things are not comparable in the way that you suggest.

Radio and TV are such different beasts. Look how quickly satellite TV switched to digital compared with terrestrial radio! Radio sits over a decade behind.

My bet is that radio over 4G will be popular (live and on-demand), but will still be dwarfed by FTA live listening for many many years.

A more interesting question is: where people have greater choice, how many will continue to choose traditional live radio (delivered by whatever means)? I bet that varies hugely country-by-country, depending on the quality of radio in each country, and the availability of competition (Spotify etc etc etc).

Cheers,
David.