BBC to keep FM – bad luck if you splashed out on a DAB radio!

THE BBC has cancelled its big FM radio switch off – meaning listeners have wasted money on expensive digital sets.

Analogue signals were due to begin to be turned off in 2015 under Government plans, forcing millions to tune in to digital.

But the proposals were put on hold amid fears that not enough listeners had switched to Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) radios.

Despite advances in technology, digital signals are still patchy in some parts of the country and suffer a time delay.

Now, Bob Shennan, the BBC’s director of radio and music, will announce that FM will continue as part of a ‘hybrid’ future with DAB and the internet.

The decision will come as welcome news to millions of motorists and analogue listeners, who rely on FM to catch their favourite programmes.

However, it will be met with dismay from the many who have wasted money on expensive DAB radio sets, which cost up to £150, in anticipation of a switchover. A lot of cars are not fitted with DAB radios, and converter kits cost around £100.

In addition, many homes have multiple radios and switching them all to digital could cost hundreds of pounds.

Mr Shennan will tell a radio industry conference in Vienna today: ‘We all once thought that DAB was the only digital future of radio, but audiences want choice.

‘We now know DAB is important, but only 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.’

Mr Shennan’s appeal for unity indicates an increasing fear at the BBC over the ever-widening choice for audiences online. Last year, commercial stations gained a higher share of the population than the BBC for the first time. They have been aided by the increased choice offered by DAB and the internet.

Mr Shennan will also say that 5G mobile internet coverage has the potential to transform radio, but that its future relies on the industry to stick together. He will also express fears that the growth of in-car apps such as Spotify and Apple Music could threaten radio.

The worry is that switching off FM could leave motorists with no choice but to abandon radio altogether. Analogue radio was originally set to begin turning off in 2015 under Government plans. But a weak take- up of DAB, on which stations such as BBC 6 Music are available, meant the proposals were put on hold, and ministers said a switchover would begin after digital audiences accounted for half of overall listening.

That threshold has already passed, with DAB now accounting for 36 per cent and the internet more than 50 per cent.

It comes after BBC deputy director general Anne Bulford asked the commercial television industry for greater collaboration to tackle the threat from Netflix and Amazon. A BBC spokesman said: ‘We remain fully committed to DAB as part of our distribution strategy but we must also take account of the needs of our audience across a range of platforms.’