BBC abandons plans to switch off FM in favour of digital-only

Radio executive says the future is ‘hybrid’ as he appeals for commercial stations to work together

THE BBC has abandoned plans to make listeners switch to digital radio.

In a move that will be welcomed by millions of motorists, and analogue wireless listeners at home, the corporation is to concede that FM must continue to keep audiences on side as music streaming and podcasts threaten the traditional strongholds.

Bob Shennan, the director of BBC radio and music, is to announce the shift in a speech tomorrow in which he will also appeal to commercial broadcasters to collaborate to ensure radio survives.

He will say that government plans to switch off analogue broadcasts would restrict choice for listeners and that DAB cannot be a full replacement for FM. The future will be “hybrid”, Mr Shennan will argue.

“We all once thought that DAB was the only future of radio, but audiences want choice,” Mr Shennan will tell an audio industry conference in Vienna.

“We now know DAB is important, but is only a part of the story, along with FM and the internet. We need to do more before we consider a switchover in the UK, and for that to be genuinely audience-led. For now, we believe audiences are best served by a mixed economy. Radio is also better served by a mixed economy.”

The Government originally aimed to begin to turn off analogue radio transmissions in 2015 but scrapped the plans due to poor take-up of DAB. Ministers then said a switchover would start once digital audiences were in the majority. That threshold was passed when DAB reached 36 per cent and listening via the internet pushed it over 50 per cent.

Increased choice via DAB and the internet has benefited commercial broadcasters, however. Last year commercial stations reached a higher share of the population than the BBC for the first time.

Mr Shennan will argue broadcasters should maintain analogue broadcasting indefinitely in part to protect traditional strongholds such as listening in cars. New cars are increasingly connected to mobile internet, offering easy access to streaming apps including Spotify and Apple Music, and abandoning FM could aid their growth at radio’s expense.

An Ofcom auction of airwaves for 5G mobile internet coincidentally begins tomorrow. Better connection for cars is seen as a major benefit of the new technology. Mr Shennan will warn that new digital technology such as 5G has the potential to transform radio again.

‘We all once thought that DAB was the only future of radio, but audiences want choice’

“How can radio make the most of this technology? Or more pressing still, how can we protect the critical radio space in cars, where we need to work with suppliers to ensure that radio thrives as part of the connected dashboard?”

In a sign of the increasing fear at the BBC that the explosion of choice for audiences online is threatening its role at the centre of both video and audio entertainment in Britain, Mr Shennan will appeal to commercial rivals for the radio industry to work together.

“It’s really time for us to come together as one united radio industry to secure our future,” he will say.

His appeal echoes comments by Anne Bulford, the BBC deputy director general, this month, when she asked commercial television for greater collaboration to meet the threat from Netflix and Amazon. She said the BBC was no longer a dominant force on screen.

Mr Shennan is overseeing a BBC audio smartphone app for release later this year that will supersede all the BBC’s existing radio and music apps.

Afew years ago, we invited readers to nominate laws they would like to see repealed. The most popular choice was the move to switch off analogue and force us all to listen to digital radio. The Coalition paid no attention, even to its own consultation, and for years the threat hung over listeners like a gale on the shipping forecast. Until today. We are very happy to report that the BBC will shelve its plans.

The Coalition’s date for going digital was pushed back because of weak take-up of DAB sets, and although greater numbers of us now listen online, the appeal of having an analogue radio around the house – the only option in cars of a certain age – makes keeping FM a necessity. How nice to know that sometimes so-called “progress” can be stopped by the force of common sense.