Analysis of the unwillingness of radio industry players to fund build-out of local DAB digital radio transmitters in the UK, written by Grant Goddard in January 2011 for Grant Goddard: Radio Blog.

1. COST OF COMMERCIAL DAB
RADIO LOCAL TRANSMITTER
BUILD-OUT "NOT THE BBC'S
RESPONSIBILITY" SAYS BBC
TRUST CHAIRMAN
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
January 2011

2. Cost Of Commercial DAB Radio Local Transmitter Build-Out "Not The BBC's Responsibility" Says BBC Trust
Chairman page 2
©2011 Grant Goddard
Culture Media & Sport Select Committee, House of Commons
15 December 2010
BBC Annual Report & Accounts 2009-10 [excerpt]
Sir Michael Lyons, Chairman, BBC Trust
Mark Thompson, Director General, BBC
Damian Collins, MP Folkestone & Hythe (Con): Has the [Licence Fee] settlement affected
the amount of support you can give to digital radio switchover and the build-out of digital radio
in local services within the regions?
Sir Michael Lyons: What you see in yesterday’s announcement is a clear message that the
BBC remains committed to DAB and will continue to build out up to FM equivalents. That is
clear. It is involved in discussions with the commercial radio industry and Government about
local build-out, for which it is not responsible and for which there are not funds currently
identified. They were expected to be undertaken by the commercial operators of those Mux
[DAB multiplex] licences.
I don’t think I should add very much to that, other than that, clearly, the Government has
determined on a switchover date. Whether that can be achieved is, in our view, whether the
audience is ready for it to be.
Damian Collins: I suppose whether it can be achieved ought to be linked to the level of
coverage as well. The Government has been clear about that, too. In those negotiations you
are having with Government and the commercial stations, is the amount of money you have on
the table a smaller amount, as a result of the settlement, than it was before?
Mark Thompson: No.
Sir Michael Lyons: It is clearly another one of the pressures that we have to balance in a
tighter envelope; that is the important thing.
Mark Thompson: I think it is fair to say that the underlying commitment that we have made
and the focus we have on the building out of our own national multiplex, is unchanged by the
settlement.
Sir Michael Lyons: Absolutely. It is a reference to local, I think, that I was …
Mark Thompson: Quite. But the BBC’s focus has always been … the issue about local is that
we only have in England, and only intend to have, a single BBC local radio station per region.
With each local multiplex that has been opened so far, we have taken a place on that
multiplex; we decided that we should do that.
I have no reason to believe we would not continue to do that as they are built out. But whereas
the national multiplex, obviously, is a way of getting additional BBC services to the public – the
digital services – there is no such increase in BBC services that we can offer if you are taking
a single station which is analogue and putting it on digital as well. So our focus is on national
build-out, and the broad policy and the commitment over time to absolutely keeping pace with
the audience, building out nationally, is unchanged by the settlement.
Damian Collins: Your commitment is clear, and you made that again today, but is it going to
take longer to get there now, as a consequence of finding some other issues you have to deal
with?
Mark Thompson: I don’t think so. If you say something slightly different, which is, "Would
some people have liked some level of additional commitment in the settlement?", perhaps they
would, but it is not there.
Damian Collins: But as far as you are concerned, your commitment is the same?

3. Cost Of Commercial DAB Radio Local Transmitter Build-Out "Not The BBC's Responsibility" Says BBC Trust
Chairman page 3
©2011 Grant Goddard
Mark Thompson: It is exactly the same.
Damian Collins: In the document put to us yesterday, you talk about preparing for any
potential radio switchover. That does not sound like it is going to happen within the next five
years.
Sir Michael Lyons: That is not a judgment for the BBC; that is a judgment for Government.
The BBC is very clear that it is doing its bit in these national investments. There remain
unresolved issues about where the investment comes from at a local level. That is not the
BBC’s responsibility, but we are part of those discussions. And then, very critically, as the
Government has conceded, switchover can only take place … I do take your point that
audience preparedness will to some extent depend on coverage, but it also depends on
choices made about replacement television sets, investment in cars and a whole series of
other things, which are not in our gift.
[This is an uncorrected transcript of evidence taken in public and reported to the House. The
transcript has been placed on the internet on the authority of the Committee, and copies have
been made available by the Vote Office for the use of Members and others. Any public use of,
or reference to, the contents should make clear that neither witnesses nor Members have had
the opportunity to correct the record. The transcript is not yet an approved formal record of
these proceedings.]
[First published by Grant Goddard: Radio Blog as 'Commercial Radio Local DAB Build-Out "Not The BBC's
Responsibility" Says BBC Trust Chairman', 7 January 2011.]
Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk