Short article in todays Irish Independent about where DAB is in Ireland. Though development of the platform has effectively stalled here, there are some very positive indications in the article.

RTÉ are as keen as ever to get the commericials involved, though it’s interesting to note they want them involved on RTÉ’s own DAB platform. My personal opinion is that this will never happen.

For the commercials, the IBI and UTV Radio appear to consider DAB as part of the future, but absolutely not a priority under the current economic climate.

For our part, we believe this period of stagnation is exactly the right time to experiment with DAB. As the platform has not taken off properly yet this time period allows us to take a Mux out for a test run and stretch every parameter to its maximum. Of the eight services lined up for the trial, four of them require some kind of trial/test content licence and it’s this matter which currently sits with the BCI.

However, according to the BCI website, their remit includes stimulating and developing the industy with different models of programming and service supply along with a hunger to try new things and new ways of doing old things with a willingness and courage to experiment, we’re hoping this issue will be resolved shortly.

Here is the original article from todays newspaper;

LESS than a year after RTE began going it alone with digital radio, the national broadcaster is extending the hand of friendship to the commercial players.

RTE Radio boss Clare Duignan, who took the top job after the commercials had already left the digital playing field, says the absence of commercial stations on RTE’s digital service is a “big issue”.

“We’ve begun to talk to the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI) and we’re very much hopeful that over the next couple of months we’ll be able to work something out,” she says.

“DAB (digital radio) is one of those areas where we really need to work together as an industry.”

But while Duignan is enthusiastic about the immediate prospects of commercials returning to RTE’s DAB platform, IBI boss Willie O’Reilly, who also runs Today FM, seems less enthused.

The commercials wouldn’t be interested in rejoining DAB “at the moment”, he says, because “the return on investment looks poor”.

Elsewhere in the commercials, UTV head of Irish radio Ronan McManamy says DAB can’t really evolve until some parameters are laid down by the broadcasting regulator. “Until that time, we should all hold our horses to a certain extent,” he says, adding that DAB is “not a priority” for UTV in the “current market place”. Meanwhile, Dusty Rhodes‘ Digital Radio Ltd is continuing to push ahead with its own commercial DAB trial, bypassing the RTE infrastructure.

The former DJ says he has four commercial stations signed up and has a transmitter ready to go after getting a licence for the trial from Comreg. The only missing piece of the puzzle is a licence from the Broadcasting Commission for some of Rhodes’ own DAB-only stations that he wants to launch on the platform.

“We want to advance the platform further than RTE has,” he says. “We want to test it to its limit for 12 months, so that when DAB is fully launched, we’ll be launching the right DAB”.

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