Communications minister says he will not be pushed into setting date after MPs warn smaller stations 'face extinction'
Communications minister Ed Vaizey has indicated he will not announce a switchover date for digital radio next month after MPs warned that smaller stations "faced extinction" if the majority of broadcasters abandoned analogue.
Vaizey said he believed digital radio was the future, but said he would "not be pushed into a switchover date. We will not get ahead of listeners."
He was speaking at a House of Commons debate on Thursday in which the government faced a backlash from MPs over the prospect of a premature switchover.
Cheryl Gillan, the Conservative MP for Chesham and Amersham in Buckinghamshire, said digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio was "fundamentally the wrong platform for genuinely local stations" because it was too expensive and not local enough.
"For a small local station, the cost of broadcasting on a local [DAB] multiplex could well be unaffordable," said Gillan.
"The government is forcing them to change their editorial areas out of all recognition. To break that link with the local community flies in the face of my own government's localism and big society agenda."
Gillan added: "A cost-effective digital solution for small stations needs to be identified, otherwise those stations may face extinction if advertisers do not think it is worth paying to reach those listeners who are still listening on FM."
Vaizey, the government's culture, communications and creative industries minister, said: "I am a fan of digital radio and I do think digital radio is the future." But he said there had to be better coverage, cheaper digital radio sets, more cars with DAB fitted as standard and "good content like 6 Music."
"Those are the criteria. We will not be pushed into a switchover date. We will not get ahead of radio listeners," he told MPs.
Vaizey will confirm the government's policy on digital radio switchover at a keenly-anticipated meeting at the BBC's Broadcasting House on 16 December.
With digital take-up falling short of expectations, there was little or no prospect of a switchover date. But Thursday's Commons debate gives the clearest indication yet of Vaizey's thinking, with the industry split over the switchover.
While the commercial radio trade body, the Radio Centre, remains enthusiastic, pushing for a 2018 target date, a group of 13 radio companies representing 80 stations and a weekly reach of 6 million listeners, including TalkSport parent UTV and UKRD, came out against switchover earlier this month.
Vaizey said: "In terms of timetable and dates, I have always been clear this will be led by radio listening. There will be no switchover until the majority of listening is digital. It is clear we are not there yet … We need to make more progress."
Digital radio remains some way short of the 50% required before a switchover plan will come into force, under plans outlined by the previous government.
In the third quarter of this year, 35.6% of all radio listening was via digital platforms, a slight fall from the previous three months.
Questions remain about who will pay for the improvements required if DAB coverage is to match that currently provided by analogue, on FM and AM, an issue Vaizey said he would address.
Vaizey said local DAB coverage now stood at 72% of the country, with the BBC's national stations reaching up to 94% of the nation.
He said roughly half of all new cars had DAB fitted as standard, but Sharon Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, said only 5% of cars on the road had DAB.
Vaizey said he had never said small stations had to go onto DAB and said FM could work "in tandem" with DAB as AM has with FM.
But he admitted: "I do take the point that even when you have an FM/DAB radio, switching between FM and DAB can be complicated. What we are going to see more of is sets that switch seamlessly between FM and DAB, but that doesn't mean we don't have to look for a potential solution for local commercial radio to get onto DAB at a cost they can afford."
Vaizey said he had sympathy for smaller commercial stations which are "incredibly difficult to run. They are not rolling in money, they are almost running a community service. It's tough going."
Gillan, who called the Commons adjournment debate on Thursday, warned Vaizey that he could incur the wrath of listeners who will have to pay "hundreds of pounds" to upgrade their radios.
Highlighting her own local station, UKRD-owned Mix 96, she said the costs of broadcasting on DAB were prohibitive for smaller stations, between two and 10 times what they pay for FM and said stations were suffering a "worrying lack of certainty" over the length of their analogue licences with the digital timetable unresolved.
Gillan's concerns were echoed by a number of other MPs, including Julian Sturdy, the Conservative MP for York Outer, and Hodgson.
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Communications minister Ed Vaizey has indicated he will not announce a switchover date for digital radio next month after MPs warned that smaller stations "faced extinction" if the majority of broadcasters abandoned analogue.
Vaizey said he believed digital radio was the future, but said he would "not be pushed into a switchover date. We will not get ahead of listeners."
He was speaking at a House of Commons debate on Thursday in which the government faced a backlash from MPs over the prospect of a premature switchover.
Cheryl Gillan, the Conservative MP for Chesham and Amersham in Buckinghamshire, said digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio was "fundamentally the wrong platform for genuinely local stations" because it was too expensive and not local enough.
"For a small local station, the cost of broadcasting on a local [DAB] multiplex could well be unaffordable," said Gillan.
"The government is forcing them to change their editorial areas out of all recognition. To break that link with the local community flies in the face of my own government's localism and big society agenda."
Gillan added: "A cost-effective digital solution for small stations needs to be identified, otherwise those stations may face extinction if advertisers do not think it is worth paying to reach those listeners who are still listening on FM."
Vaizey, the government's culture, communications and creative industries minister, said: "I am a fan of digital radio and I do think digital radio is the future." But he said there had to be better coverage, cheaper digital radio sets, more cars with DAB fitted as standard and "good content like 6 Music."
"Those are the criteria. We will not be pushed into a switchover date. We will not get ahead of radio listeners," he told MPs.
Vaizey will confirm the government's policy on digital radio switchover at a keenly-anticipated meeting at the BBC's Broadcasting House on 16 December.
With digital take-up falling short of expectations, there was little or no prospect of a switchover date. But Thursday's Commons debate gives the clearest indication yet of Vaizey's thinking, with the industry split over the switchover.
While the commercial radio trade body, the Radio Centre, remains enthusiastic, pushing for a 2018 target date, a group of 13 radio companies representing 80 stations and a weekly reach of 6 million listeners, including TalkSport parent UTV and UKRD, came out against switchover earlier this month.
Vaizey said: "In terms of timetable and dates, I have always been clear this will be led by radio listening. There will be no switchover until the majority of listening is digital. It is clear we are not there yet … We need to make more progress."
Digital radio remains some way short of the 50% required before a switchover plan will come into force, under plans outlined by the previous government.
In the third quarter of this year, 35.6% of all radio listening was via digital platforms, a slight fall from the previous three months.
Questions remain about who will pay for the improvements required if DAB coverage is to match that currently provided by analogue, on FM and AM, an issue Vaizey said he would address.
Vaizey said local DAB coverage now stood at 72% of the country, with the BBC's national stations reaching up to 94% of the nation.
He said roughly half of all new cars had DAB fitted as standard, but Sharon Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, said only 5% of cars on the road had DAB.
Vaizey said he had never said small stations had to go onto DAB and said FM could work "in tandem" with DAB as AM has with FM.
But he admitted: "I do take the point that even when you have an FM/DAB radio, switching between FM and DAB can be complicated. What we are going to see more of is sets that switch seamlessly between FM and DAB, but that doesn't mean we don't have to look for a potential solution for local commercial radio to get onto DAB at a cost they can afford."
Vaizey said he had sympathy for smaller commercial stations which are "incredibly difficult to run. They are not rolling in money, they are almost running a community service. It's tough going."
Gillan, who called the Commons adjournment debate on Thursday, warned Vaizey that he could incur the wrath of listeners who will have to pay "hundreds of pounds" to upgrade their radios.
Highlighting her own local station, UKRD-owned Mix 96, she said the costs of broadcasting on DAB were prohibitive for smaller stations, between two and 10 times what they pay for FM and said stations were suffering a "worrying lack of certainty" over the length of their analogue licences with the digital timetable unresolved.
Gillan's concerns were echoed by a number of other MPs, including Julian Sturdy, the Conservative MP for York Outer, and Hodgson.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook. Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.