Wondered what UK Beoworlders thought of the latest announcement to phase out FM (and AM) radio by 2015. 

Whilst I acknowledge that Digital TV offered improved picture quality over the old analogue system, I have yet to hear a DAB tuner or radio  that compares to a reasonable FM signal.  And the though of all Frede's work on your Beomaster 5000s going to waste........tragic.

The only hope may be a massive audience reaction.  Some years ago, the BBC planned to withdraw 'The Archers' from Long Wave and there was uproar from a large number including French-based expatriots (Not sure if Bellac is a hotbed of Archers' fans, Peter!)  Maybe a similar response is needed now.

Or perhaps I'm just showing my age!

Cleve

 

I've posted on this subject before, and heard this tragic news tonight listening to 5 Live on my Beolit 600 - how ironic :(

What gets me is that my perfectly good Beolit collection (I have 5), all my Beomasters and my 1961 Jet Present 607 tube set will all be made obsolete because someone at the BBC decided that we were going to go to DAB and they were going to request (and got) additional funding to support new digital platforms. Hardly anyone I know has a DAB set, and those that do complain about poor signal strength outside of major cities. The public hasn't exactly gone out in droves here in the UK to buy the sets, so what's the reaction from those with an institutional vested interest? Let's simply cut off the old signals then people will have no choice but to invest reluctantly in a technology few have demonstrated any enthusiasm for to date. And to think of all those resources wasted when people are forced to buy new receivers when perfectly servicable analogue sets are thrown away - hardly sensible given today's environmental concerns.

I'll have to make sure that I have an FM transmitter - something like an iTrip! having said that, I have quite a few DAB radios - the BC2 for starters and three Pure radios. The quality is not as good as FM Radio 3 but as I listen mainly to Radio 4, not such an issue. Shame about my Beomaster 5000 tuner though!

I believe you have no reason to worry. There is no way BBC (or any other national broadcaster) will be able to get rid of its public service responsibilities without FM radio by 2015. How are they going to reach the countryside public with emergency announcements etc?

This DAB thing is a bit funny - our national broadcaster YLE started trial transmissions in 1997, but gave up in 2005 since there simply were no listeners. Nobody ever brought an affordable receiver to the market. Since then, we have had a small number of digital radio stations distributed in DVB along with the digital TV. I actually think this is a superior solution, since every 30 eur STB will be able to receive them in pretty good quality - but still there are only a handful of people that even know that it is there. I personally listen quite a bit to YLE's classical channel, which broadcasts round the clock in DVB-T with almost no talk and no interruptions (and since I'm obviously blessed with B&O systems, I can direct the audio from the STB through the TV to the stereo with no problems).

Personally, I don't think AM and FM radio will ever die completely. If nothing else, you will have a number of pirate stations to choose from

Cleve;

What is the announcement stating will FM be replaced by ?

Will digital radio (DAB) bring better sound quality with FM being phased out in UK 2015? What is the full potential for DAB and DAB2 when DAB can use the full air frequencies?

 

In Holland FM is almost end of life in my opinion driving in the car. Good quality sound but 9/10 channels not covering all regions in our small country. Not clever FM marketing. DAB can solve this! Radio at home is a different story.

Regards, Robert

 

Ever since I bought my BeoPort, I stopped listening to FM radio , that means for about 3 years..No commercials, no chatting, no music cut in the middle of the song, I definitely won't miss FM radio! And in my car I only listen to music from my SD card, and don't even turn on the radio when I forget the card at home..

I work at home at least once a week and Classic FM plays constantly on my Beomaster 1900 while I do so. DAB is a good solution for minimising hiss etc. but the ultimate quality isn't there and workable  DAB portable solution seems a while away yet. Given the huge number of FM radios out there (tens if not hundreds of millions) I really cannot understand the rush to turn off the transmitters.

Simon

SWISS_2:

Cleve;

What is the announcement stating will FM be replaced by ?

It's all here in this report.

 

It is misleading to say that FM will be phased out by 2015.  The report states the BBC's intention to have a full digital platform by 2015. This will entail all BBC stations switching from FM to Digital. It is not even set in stone that it will DAB, as other platforms such as DAB+ DMB-A and DRM are also being considered.

This will leave "Ultra local" stations to use the vacated FM slots. It will also allow stations that currently broadcast on MW to switch to FM.

I sincerley hope that the message that gets out to the general public is accurate and well informed.  People need to know exactly what is happening and when. They need to know which stations will be changing to which wave bands.

Even now we are getting customers in asking about analogue teletext. They hadn't realised that replacing their tv to Freeview would mean that they would no longer get the old teletext service.  I realise that alot of people who post here are well informed and fully up to speed with these types of developments but sadly the great British public only seem to sit up and take notice when they are forced to.

The media banging on about the end of FM all together will not do much for sales of BeoSound1, 3, 3200, 9000 I fear.

Btw if you follow the link above to the report the Radio related stuff starts on page 91 (out of 245 pages)

Opman

Thank you JohnBarker for the BBC link.

An interesting read, especially on the planned sources of financing.

Having just completed another BeoSound 1 jumper conversion from 110V back to 240v for a new B&O enthusiast last night, I'll gladly accept any BeoSound 1, 3, or 3200 units any UK member wants to donate to a good home. 

Opman:

It is misleading to say that FM will be phased out by 2015.  The report states the BBC's intention to have a full digital platform by 2015. This will entail all BBC stations switching from FM to Digital. It is not even set in stone that it will DAB, as other platforms such as DAB+ DMB-A and DRM are also being considered.

This will leave "Ultra local" stations to use the vacated FM slots. It will also allow stations that currently broadcast on MW to switch to FM.Btw if you follow the link above to the report the Radio related stuff starts on page 91 (out of 245 pages)

Opman

The Report does state that DAB is the preferred choice for the forseeable future.

It states also that ultra-local services that remain on FM after the Digital Radio Upgrade should only do so temporarily.(Page 95,paragraph 20).

Whilst DAB sound quality may be adequate for portable,or car,radio use,it's shortcomings are demonstrated when heard via a high quality hi-fi system.

This is due in the main to the periodic reduction in bandwidth since DAB's introduction,eg BBC Radio 3.

I still rate my 30+ year old Accuphase T101 tuner as being superior to any DAB tuner.

 

First critical article I've read in support of analogue vs. DAB. Shame it had to be Libby Purves, but you can't have everything I suppose...

For those of you UK based FM listeners and owners of mint Beolits who would like to make their voice heard to try and stop this move, here is a link to a petition

 http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Radio/

Cleve

Cleviebaby:

For those of you UK based FM listeners and owners of mint Beolits who would like to make their voice heard to try and stop this move, here is a link to a petition

 http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Radio/

Cleve

 

Wrong link - this is better!

 

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AM-FM-Radio/

Cleve

This subject made it to the TODAY programme on Radio 4 this morning.

It appears there is not enough money is available to make DAB available in all areas currently covered by FM

Apparently, last year only 2000 cars were sold with DAB radios, so i guess the rest had FM radios.

Keith Saunders:

This subject made it to the TODAY programme on Radio 4 this morning.

It appears there is not enough money is available to make DAB available in all areas currently covered by FM

Apparently, last year only 2000 cars were sold with DAB radios, so i guess the rest had FM radios.

Beat me to it Keith! Also, it was a topic discussed on BBC Radio 4's 'The Media Show' broadcast on the 1st July with spokesmen from BBC radio and other media organisations. Apparently some 600 or so new transmitters are required and the BBC person said they don't have the money for them, not to mention the other requirements for the roll-out. Commercial radio certainly doesn't either.

To add to my confusion, on another programme on the BBC radio last week ('Feedback'), a BBC spokeman (may even have been the same man!) said although they were committed to Digital radio, it would not necessarily be the DAB system!

 

Putting aside any technical descussion one may have about the value of DAB, for me its not like moving to digital television where you have more content etc, digital radio allows for more channels, but not much more. add to that, the fact that more and more digital radio stations can be found on Sky, Freeview and the Internet and its difficult to see the justification from a financial viewpoint as well.

Several DAB stations in the UK recently have closed down due to financial problems because of lack of advertising revenue and I expect more will follow and even the BBC cannot really afford DAB to be rolled out over the whole country in the same way as FM.

In my view, unless the the DAB stations get a lot of money from somewhere, FM stations will not be closing in 2015.

The main difference is that with TV, you could buy a set-top box and get DVB-T, with Radio, the problem is different, plenty of us have hifi with integrated FM tuner, MP3 players and mobile phone, standalon radio with FM tuner, and there is now way to adapt them.

Cleviebaby:

Cleviebaby:

For those of you UK based FM listeners and owners of mint Beolits who would like to make their voice heard to try and stop this move, here is a link to a petition

 http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Radio/

Cleve

 

Wrong link - this is better!

 

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AM-FM-Radio/

Cleve

The above petition is, unfortunately, not very well argued in terms of energy costs and all the other major disadvantages. Big danger is that it wont gather too many signatures. If it gets a relatively small number of signatures it will be seen as supporting the government's position rather than showing a great movement against the proposal.

Graham

Hello..

DAB radio in Australia is already obsolete! Australia has switched to DAB + rendering my becentre 2 DAB radio useless. (ive had it for less than two years).

Luckily my two beolits still work!!!!!

 

David Coyne

Sydney, Australia