Digital radio switchover: the UK experience

The UK remains one of the world’s leading countries in the development of digital radio. However, it is unclear when radio will migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting in a similar way to television, which is progressively switching to digital transmission in a number of countries. When digital radio was first emerging, the industry, regulators and policymakers were broadly united in promoting digital radio as the natural successor to analogue. Yet other groups, such as small broadcasters and a number of consumer groups, expressed doubt that digital radio would, or should, replace analogue. The ensuing years have seen these doubts become more widely expressed, and a switchover in 2015, a deadline anticipated by the UK government, looks uncertain. This paper examines the relationship between industry, policymakers and listeners in the process of developing digital radio as a potential analogue replacement.