Australia
With Australian public service broadcasters ABC and SBS signing onto the DAB platform this week it’s a good opportunity to review the scene Down Under.
The move to digital has very much been driven by Commercial Radio Australia, the umbrella body which represents commercial broadcasters. Their CEO Joan Warner saw the potential in DAB early on and has rallied the entire industry to adopt the platform.
Some of their reasons for going DAB include:
- Modernise the industry
- Anti-satellite radio move
- Data transmission offers new revenue opportunities
- If they don’t someone else will
The last point is key as Australian broadcasters are taking control of their own destiny. Working on a wholly united front they are very much doing it on their own terms.
The DAB Multiplex’s are operated as a joint venture which keeps costs down and control of transmission firmly with the existing broadcasters. That way no third-party Mux operator can dictate who gets on-air. Interestingly any potential new players have to wait out a six year exclusion period before being allowed on DAB. I feel this policy might not be a good one as one of the key drivers for DAB is new services. However its understandable that the industry needs to protect itself.
This united front also extends to the use of the multi-media/data side of DAB. Of the 40+ stations on air so far, over 80% are also broadcasting images and text to accompany the audio programme. It won’t be long before we see on-screen advertising.
There is lots of freedom too. Each participating broadcaster is given 1/9th of the Mux on a “use it or lose it basis”. What they actually do with it is up to them. Some have chosen to operate at high quality bit-rates, others at good quality bit-rates allowing them to run a second DAB only station.
Already we’ve seen “Pink Radio” – a station specifically centred around the rock stars upcoming concert tour and the ABC have launched three DAB specific stations.
All this makes DAB a great proposition for Australian listeners. They get their favourite stations, new stations and “cool” stuff displaying on the radios screen.
But what of the future? While the government sees DAB as a supplementary technology the broadcasters themselves see it as replacement. It may take 10 or more years to achieve a complete switchover but, considering that is the timeframe it has taken television to achieve digital switchover, it’s not a bad goal.
Even though it’s early days, I really admire the industry for coming together and taking the bull by the horns. I feel a lot of credit for that is down to Joan Warner. I can’t help myself saying this, so I apologise in advance … but “good on ‘ya”!
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