Radio in the UK: Technology and Policy for an Industry in Transition

The radio industry in the UK is one of the most technologically developed in the world. Digital broadcasting is widely adopted, with hundreds of stations on air, while the BBC pioneered the use of the Web for podcasting and streaming of ‘on demand’ radio. Legislation has been passed which prepares the way for ‘digital switchover’, the replacement of analogue transmission with digital as the main listening platform. In other respects however, the industry might be regarded as going backwards. Commercial stations are closing down and local stations are becoming less ‘local’, carrying networked or syndicated content and consolidating into regional or quasi-national stations. Despite the increased capacity offered by digitalisation, much of that new space remains unfilled, and the variety of station formats appears, if anything, to be reducing. Ironically the newest tier of stations, community radio, is emerging on the ‘old’ analogue FM and is unlikely to migrate to digital platforms in the near future. This chapter examines these apparent paradoxes, the mismatch between the technological progress and prowess of radio on the one hand and the diminishing range of services on offer on the other.