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Global Stereo v Bauer Mono
pjex
Posts: 9,401 Forum Member
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I do most of my DAB listening in my car where stereo is important and mono stations sound of an inferior quality.
Very interesting that the two big radio groups have very different attitudes on DAB stereo, I can pick up the following stations on DAB in stereo in addition to the BBC;
Capital, Capital Xtra, XFM, Heart, Smooth, Classic FM all Global stations.
Yet Bauer's offerings are all mono; Kiss, Absolute, Absolute 80s, Magic, Planet Rock
We can all spend many hours debating the merits of Capital or Kiss, XFM or Absolute, Heart or Absolute 80s, Smooth or Magic. But ultimately it's all about the music quality and here Global win hands down with all their stations in stereo vs Bauer's mono offerings.
I think this commitment to stereo could really help Global win over audience from Bauer as in car listening becomes more important for DAB.
Very interesting that the two big radio groups have very different attitudes on DAB stereo, I can pick up the following stations on DAB in stereo in addition to the BBC;
Capital, Capital Xtra, XFM, Heart, Smooth, Classic FM all Global stations.
Yet Bauer's offerings are all mono; Kiss, Absolute, Absolute 80s, Magic, Planet Rock
We can all spend many hours debating the merits of Capital or Kiss, XFM or Absolute, Heart or Absolute 80s, Smooth or Magic. But ultimately it's all about the music quality and here Global win hands down with all their stations in stereo vs Bauer's mono offerings.
I think this commitment to stereo could really help Global win over audience from Bauer as in car listening becomes more important for DAB.
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You and I notice the difference between mono and stereo, but the great unwashed don't, (any more than they can notice the difference between SD and HD TV).
In any case, the only Bauer station I can bear to listen to, Wave 105, is in stereo on DAB, so it's not all their stations
1 Bauer could sell the bandwidth for 2 more mono stations?
2 the main Bauer national stations Kiss, Magic and Absolute could go stereo for the increasing number of listeners who get car stereo DAB sets?
Absolute would be able to use stereo as an incentive to get listeners to move from mono AM and could then close AM to save money?
Moving Heat and Kisstory from local muxes could also allow City 3 (the hits) to go stereo?
I understand Bauer has some local stations in stereo, none in my area, but none of it's stations are available nationally in stereo unlike most of Global's.
Bauer's "1" and "2" stations are all in 128 kbps stereo on DAB.
Lack of bandwidth and capacity is a problem. There was no room to fit all the Bauer FM national DAB stations in the digital 1 mux in stereo at 128kbps.
A reshape is needed to sort out this capacity problem. Digital 2 being introduce could help, but it's no guarantee that it's the complete solution to the capacity problems.
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/press/news/article/bauer-media-unveils-focused-commercial-radio-offering
It could be the new Virgin and DAB+ stations might also be stereo?
No all of Global's stations not all available on DAB UK wide.
The local/regional Hearts which have local/regional breakfast and drivetimes are only available locally or regionally on DAB where they're being broadcast on FM.
No. Not all of Global's stations are available on DAB UK wide.
The local/regional Hearts which have local/regional breakfast and drivetimes are only available locally or regionally on DAB where they're being broadcast on FM.
You won't be able to hear Robin Galloway on DAB in Carlisle, Dundee, Inverness, Berwick Upon Tweed or Aberdeen e.g. from 6am to 10am
These 1 and 2 stations are local stations in a handful of areas, Global has it's national brands across the UK in stereo by utilising Digital 1 (Capital Xtra and Classic FM) and Local Muxes (Capital, Smooth, XFM).
Bauer only seems to think England consists of the North, Midlands and London.
There are actually many areas of the South which aren't London, I'm in the South but as far from London as Manchester and I'm still over 100 miles east of Lands End.
Bauer needs to start filling many of the half filled local muxes in the South so they can get their services in stereo and compete with Global.
I'm guessing mono D1 is cheaper than putting a stereo feed on all the local muxes as Kiss was moved from stereo on local muxes to mono on D1.
Global demonstrating they are prepared to invest in DAB by spending more to ensure stereo coverage as opposed to Bauer who just cram everything onto D1 in mono to save cash.
This is only done as it'll be a clause in the FM licence for these stations that states you must also provide the station in stereo on DAN, hence Absolute now being on a local London mux in stereo. Bauer have no interest in stereo broadcasting unless they are forced to by licencing regulations.
Ok, I thought Heart as the UK's most listened to commercial station was available across the country, amazed Global haven't got it onto all DAB muxes yet. Potential to grow their audience even more.
I wonder how Heart's DAB audience compares with Magic's, despite Magic having a greater coverage area being on D1. I suspect Heart wins hands down, could be down to that stereo service they offer.
If you use a one speaker mono DAB set in the kitchen without or without headphones on, it's going to be heard in mono anyway even if the station is broadcasting at 128kbps in stereo.
It's another matter for someone who listens via headphones on a stereo DAB set.
http://media.info/radio/data/the-most-popular-radio-stations-in-the-uk
Most popular stations in the UK (June 2014.) Absolute with 1.8m is outside the top 10
All national DAB stereo except Kiss Magic and 5 live. But some of Magic are the now City stations?
But Heart's listening figures outside of London on DAB mostly come from the ex Real Radio stations or where what was once a full scale ilr in the local/regional muxes and not the London version on D1.
Local/Regional Heart outwith breakfast and drive had a ready made audience handed to them on a plate. But outwith Breakfast and drive, the local/regional Hearts have lost a lot of listeners compared with the Real Radio or ilr days.
I doubt most listening to Heart do so via D1 on DAB
The 9.1 million listening to Heart includes the all of the ex Real Radio and ex ilr's on all various platforms. But I highly doubt outwith London that the reach is particularly high outwith Breakfast and Drive in the ex ilr and Real Radio areas on FM or the local/regional DAB version.
Magic? Was that the London Magic 105.4 that are currently on D1 now, or the now City "2" stations?
Heart isn't on D1.
http://radiotoday.co.uk/2014/12/global-to-launch-heart-extra-and-more-digital-stations/ But would have thought the slot would have to be advertised so others can get a chance to bid?
Combining together the Northern England Magic 1152/1161/1548 stations with the London 105.4FM e.g. (if that was the case for June 2014) and comparing with other full scale UK national stations is just not right as they were different stations with totally different outputs.
That survey was probably more London biased than anything else where most listeners of these stations were probably from London.
Indeed, and the OP referred to car listening. My point still stands, most people don't notice/care the station they are listening to is in stereo or mono,
The thing is once you know a station is in mono it becomes annoyingly noticeable when listening in the car, I listen to Absolute a lot and it now sounds very flat when comparing it to Radio 2 or XFM when listening to guitar tracks.
So why do artists bother to record in stereo must be a hassle, wouldn't it be easier of they all just stuck out mono recordings if nobody notices?
If the Buaer stations remaining on D1 were to stay mono would create space for 2 new stations making 12 "new national radio stations" on both D1 and D2, but if Absolute, Kiss and Magic go stereo on D1, will stay at 10 "new national radio stations" on just D2?
But can't find any confirmation?