Communities block digital radio market despite its development in Europe
Most autonomous communities have been slow to develop digital radio technology (DAB+) for years. This is the European radio industry standard that uses digital broadcasting signals, does not require the use of the Internet and has better sound quality, efficiency and features than analogue frequency modulation (FM). Despite the benefits of digital broadcasting, a dozen regional administrations are preventing hundreds of new legal competitors from entering the Spanish radio market.
Only the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Navarre have applied and received licences. Galicia and Extremadura have declared the awards null and void, while the rest of the regions do not want to change the “status quo” that privileges the current kings of FM, namely Cadena Ser, Cope and Onda Sero. These three groups are the main beneficiaries of this situation, as they own more than 80% of the media’s advertising business.
At the same time, the mood of the main companies in business influences the decisions of the administrations, without any signs of resuming digital technologies from the communities, despite requests for open tenders from dozens of companies with an investment vocation in the environment. In some communities, tenders and competitions are blocked by appeals to the Supreme Court, with no signs of an imminent resumption.
Industry sources admit to elEconomista.es that the administration’s inaction has led to the emergence of dozens of pirate stations, mostly foreign, that broadcast via DAB+. However, these digital signals cannot be heard through conventional transistors or radios, as they are not compatible with DAB+. This will require upgrading radios, which cost between 30 and 60 euros. At the moment, new buildings, as well as new cars, are required by law to have DAB+-compatible equipment.
Jaime Rodriguez, legal partner at Diez Romeo: believes that the position of the communities violates the Constitution, “violating freedom of expression and communication, as well as the right to establish media outlets.” The same expert regrets the situation “which limits information pluralism, closes access to the media for new companies and deprives listeners of the right to receive truthful information and freedom of speech.”
Carlos Rodriguez, Coordinator and Legal Advisor www.SpainDAB.comassures that DAB+ “will remain in Spain and that over time “all stakeholders will realise the potential of DAB+ and it will be widely adopted due to its advantages.” technical improvements it offers over traditional analogue radio. In fact, Norway completed the switch-off of FM seven years ago to provide digital radio broadcasting to the entire population of the UK, Denmark and Switzerland, ahead of Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Among the markets that are starting to adopt this technology are France, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Poland, while Spain, Greece, Ireland – Sweden, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania are also starting to adopt it.
For example, the advantages of DAB+ over FM can be compared to the advantages of digital television (DTT) over analogue television. The transition from one technology to the other has accelerated in Spain in recent years, with the so-called analogue blackout of 2010 and the recent departure of channels broadcasting in standard definition (SD), which gave way to the consolidation of high definition. . (HD). However, DAB+ is not proposed as a replacement technology for FM, but will coexist with the above, but with the possibility of receiving metadata, including text, images, programme information and covers or logos.
Among other threats, the dominance of the “big three” in the sector could be undermined by the allocation of new frequencies for this type of broadcasting. This would involve dividing the advertising pie between new players, which is usually not welcomed by those potentially affected. Among other details, sources in the sector confirmed “the growth of digital radio networks and stations when regional authorities announce tenders for licenses.”
“DTT” radio
Spain has reserved for DAB+ a frequency band from 195 to 223 MHz with 16 channels at 1536 MHz, of which 12 channels correspond to multi-frequency (MF, compatible with provincial switch-offs) services, both national and regional. The remaining four channels allow broadcasting on a single frequency (FU) without switch-offs and therefore without huge revenues from local advertising.
Although the government’s initial plans pointed to 2006 as the deadline for 80% of the population to have access to these digital broadcasts, this percentage is now negligible, as national transmissions are only made in Madrid and Barcelona, as the centres of Torre España and Collserola, respectively.
What benefits does DAB+ technology offer?
DAB+ (Digital Audio Broadcasting) promises to coexist with analogue radio broadcasting in frequency modulation (FM) and amplitude modulation (AM). In a broad sense and from a television point of view, DAB+ can be compared to digital terrestrial television (DTT) compared to the now defunct analogue broadcasting. For users, this technology significantly improves the quality of the signal, similar to CD, with a very efficient use of the radio spectrum. In this way, “greater coverage is achieved with less equipment, with consequent savings in energy consumption, offering a solution to the problems of multipath propagation (vehicles in motion) without interference between stations, and with less environmental impact, since it provides greater coverage.” This can be achieved with fewer repeaters and the use of lower-power transmitters,” explains elEconomista.es Jaime Rodríguez, partner lawyer at the law firm Díez Romeo.
Expected digitalization
Radio has been able to connect with its audience for a hundred years, and no one doubts that it will continue to do so in the future, taking advantage of emerging technological innovations. The podcast is already part of the commercial skeleton of radio stations, as are other uses of the Internet and social networks. Constant communication involves the consumption of media through applications, where analogue FM technology is the king of technology, monopolized by three communication groups in advertising. However, from the business world, it is noted that “the digitalization of the dial is an urgent and necessary topic in Spain, while the DAB+ standard is successful in Europe, but is blocked in almost all autonomous communities due to inconvenient competition for administrations.”