La revolución discreta: el DAB y la normalización de la radio digital en el Reino Unido

Abstract

If the development of digital radio is a revolution in audiences' consumption of the medium led by relatively recent advances in distribution technology, it is a limited one. Yet, in the United Kingdom the impact of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) has far outstripped that elsewhere in the developed world. Behind dramatic recent growth in receiver sales and listening hours lie concerted public and private sector investment, massive falls in unit pricing and a broadening of choice through the provision of additional, as opposed to simulcast, services. DAB is not having an easy ride, though, and competition from other digital media as well as doubts about the technology mean the revolution could still falter, as the commercial sector in particular struggles to maintain its investment and new services close. A brief flirtation with mobile television, once promising instant returns on that investment, ended abruptly this year, but television may again come to the rescue. The coming year will be decisive in determining whether in the UK radio does indeed have its own digital switchover.