Post by Flash on Apr 22, 2008 1:27:22 GMT -5
Breaking radio silence
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Proponents say digital radio will shake up the music business.
Proponents say digital radio will shake up the music business.
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Lia Timson
April 22, 2008
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A $400 million broadcast system will allow listeners worldwide access to 13,000 digital radio stations away from their computers, reports Lia Timson.
Earlier this month, ABC Local Radio Sydney presenter James Valentine was amused and a bit flattered when one of his rant competition listeners rang from Adelaide.
She explained on air that she listens to Valentine's program each weekday afternoon over internet streaming instead of tuning to her local station.
It is not the first time a listener from out of town has revealed their online listening habits. Previous callers to various shows have phoned while tuning in in Canada, Britain and other places far outside their favourite station's coverage area.
It's the nature of the internet and digital distribution that information and entertainment have no borders. And it is in this context that Australia is about to launch itself onto digital radio broadcasting over the airwaves.
It was legislated by the Howard government and will start on New Year's Day in the capitals, later in regional areas.
The driving force is the need to better use the spectrum - digital technology is more efficient - to make room for other services such as those demanded by mobile phone and digital TV operators.
Australia's radio industry is investing $400 million to update its infrastructure and is one of the first countries to adopt DAB+, the second-generation digital audio broadcasting technology.
DAB+ provides a better signal, "CD-quality" transmission and more efficient spectrum use. It also allows simultaneous data services that will see stations display names of songs and artists, weather information, advertiser links and traffic updates on radio LCDs.
Digital broadcasting will start in the capitals after trials with Commercial Radio Australia (the radio stations' industry group that promotes the technology), the ABC and SBS in Sydney and Melbourne.
It will be preceded by a three-month marketing campaign to tell analog station listeners that they have more choice in digital.
By then, listeners may already be buying internet radios that let them listen to 13,000 online radio stations away from their computers and at their desks. But Commercial Radio Australia's CEO, Joan Warner, is excited about digital's prospects.
"We're very busy. It's a massive undertaking to coordinate the roll-out in all capital cities at the same time," Ms Warner says