Is DAB Radio Fit For Purpose?

Every now and then I am really surprised when a product which is launched amidst great fanfare, and totally under-performs. This is my experience of digital radio or DAB, short for Digital Audio Broadcasting, the new platform which is supposed to be replacing FM in 2015.

The Ridiculous Spoof Character Created to Promote DAB 

I changed my family car this year and the new one has a DAB radio. It's rubbish. It seems to be utterly incapable of receiving ANY station for more than a few moments before skipping, breaking up, or going completely silent. Investigating the reasons for this reveal that it is due to poor signal quality. FM outperforms it on every station, but for some reason, when I change to the FM tuner, it constantly skips over to the DAB. There must be an option in settings to prevent this auto swap-over, but I haven't had the patience to search through the manual to find it yet.

The Digital Radio I have in the house isn't much better, although its stasis does mean it can be tuned into Radio 4 or Radio 2 without too much interference. The point I want to make here really is about like-for-like coverage.

How utterly absurd that such a platform should be foisted upon us when it is below the standard of the old one? How does this happen?

What are the benefits for the consumer of changing over and why role it out if it is going to offer an inferior service? Fifty years' development and investment has resulted in FM providing robust radio coverage to 98.5% of the UK population, DAB clearly cannot compete on this level. Originally I remember it was all about clarity of sound, but I really don't think that argument holds much water, especially for the average listener. So is it about variety and choice? Perhaps, but studies show that consumers are very satisfied with their existing choice of radio. 91% of UK consumers are satisfied with the choice of radio stations in their area and 69% of UK consumers only listen to one or two different radio stations in an average week, according to Ofcom research.

As a business owner who strives to ensure value added is an integral part of my business model, I really do wonder how ideas like this, which seem so poorly researched, achieve such a wealth of backing and funding. Surely they must have promised something at the outset which they have failed, to date, to deliver?

I hasten to add that I am no expert on this field, and this is merely my experience and opinion as a consumer. I would love to hear from you if your experience is different.

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