On Monday morning the voice of Phill Jupitus will introduce the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. The chubby comedian is presenting the breakfast show on 6 Music; other names include Liz Kershaw and Craig Charles, who will all be offering an eclectic play-list that takes in New Order, Jimi Hendrix, Muse and Turin Brakes.
With radio listening figures on the increase, this is an exciting launch, albeit one dented by the fact that you can only hear 6 Music if you own one of the 50,000 DAB (digital audio broadcasting) radio receivers that have been sold in Britain.
Digital radio was dogged in its early days by broadcasters waiting for manufacturers to produce receivers on a mass scale and manufacturers waiting for broadcasters to produce specific programming. With the introduction in 1999 of Digital One, the national digital radio service, and then local multiplexes, the number of digitally transmitted services, both simulcasts and digital-only channels, now stands at just over 200. The number of digital receivers on the market for both in-car and home hi-fi use has also risen.
Amid fears in both the radio industry and the EU that the high price of receivers, combined with broadcaster inertia, would stifle the development of digital radio, a small breakthrough came last year when Psion repositioned its genie's lamp Wavefinder, which connects to PCs and provides extra multimedia material, at £199. Despite this, there was still the perception of listener resistance.
In an attempt to show that consumers would buy digital radios at the right price, Digital One and the manufacturer VideoLogic produced a heavily subsidised, one-off digital radio for £99. Only 300 of these retro-styled radios were produced. Available from eight shops around the country and through a special website, they sold out in under an hour in early December last year. "It's the beginning of the market," says Glyn Jones, operations director of Digital One. "Some time people say 'It's only radio, what are you getting excited about?' but last December proved that people will queue around the block in the cold for digital radios at the right price."
Jones points to the availability of such specialist, digital-only channels as Planet Rock, Oneword, dedicated to plays and books, and London's first gay station, Purple Radio, as serious draws. The BBC launched Radio Five Live Sports Extra as a full-time service in February but it is 6 Music that heralds a new age for the corporation. This will be followed in the spring by a contemporary black music station, 1Extra, and then by a channel dedicated to drama and comedy and a national, digital version of the regional Asian network.
According to BBC figures, DAB covers 65% of the UK population. The aim is to increase this to 80% next year, and 85% by the beginning of 2004. Manufacturers are capitalising on this activity. Roke Manor last year introduced a prototype of the world's first pocket DAB receiver, while Goodmans has announced it will launch six radios during the second half of this year. These will cover the £99 to £199 price range.
New PC chips are also expected and, as FM radios have been built into mobile phones, DAB on the move is another potential growth area. With digital-only services and new receivers now available, the next stage is full text, multimedia and internet-connected facilities. "We're encouraging the new services to think of themselves as digital, not analogue," says Rachell Fox, new media liaison manager of BBC Radio Music New Media. "We've got to think about the text read-out, the website and how the screen looks on digital satellite.
There are many opportunities." Command Audio, producer of the personal radio system, has entered into a joint development programme with Digital One and the chip manufacturer Imagination Technologies to develop on-demand audio services for new single chip digital radios. The aim is to allow listeners to produce a personalised schedule, featuring programmes and information that interest them. The key is the electronic programme guide. Noel Edmond's Unique Broadcasting and the GWR group have created the Digizone, a databroadcasting service for Digital One.
Unique is also involved in trials in London and Glasgow where listeners are able to email presenters, search for information and, ultimately, record programmes. There are plans to link to e-commerce sites, enabling listeners to buy the CDs being played. But it is the potential for TiVo-like functions -time-shift recording, pausing live transmissions, record settings for regular features, such as the Archers - on a radio that is exciting broadcasters and manufacturers. New programming is driving the interest in digital radio, not the technology. Given the earlier confusion, this can be only a good thing.
