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March 4, 2021 11:38 am  #1


To DAB Or Not To DAB - That Is The Question

Many here like to DX - listen for distant stations, primarily but not restricted to AM - just to see what they can pull in. 

Imagine, then, what it must be like to practice this hobby in Europe. Some countries have embraced Digital Audio Broadcasting. Others have been slower to adopt it. And now at least one is rejecting it altogether. DAB requires new radios and equipment to receive it. As far as I've been able to determine, it does not propagate well. But it does allow for dozens if not hundreds of new radio stations to come on air and market to fringe audiences that would normally never get formats aimed at them. 

If you ever needed proof of how divisive DAB has been, consider these two stories that appeared on the exact same day on websites in different places on the continent. They both seem diametrically opposed to each other. And yet the conversion to DAB, ready or not, seems to be on the rise over there. 

As the Irish story makes clear, it was tried and failed miserably in Canada. But imagine if it had succeeded here. You might have a scenario where you'd have car radios equipped only with the new technology. And if the borders were open and you took a trip to the States, all you'd get is dead silence - and vice versa.  (Not that I actually believe Canada would shut down analogue transmissions if the U.S. didn't go that way, as well.)

I'm glad I'm not living over there. I'm sure the DX-ing was once amazing. Now, I wonder if there's anything left to hear. 

Irish Times: Farewell DAB, the radio technology we didn’t need

Swiss Listeners Take Up Digital Radio

 

March 4, 2021 11:42 am  #2


Re: To DAB Or Not To DAB - That Is The Question

Is DAB still being tried anywhere in Canada?


I started out with nothing and I still have most of it.
 

March 4, 2021 11:50 am  #3


Re: To DAB Or Not To DAB - That Is The Question

I think it died an ignoble death when CHUM lost money on it. 

     Thread Starter
 

March 4, 2021 12:26 pm  #4


Re: To DAB Or Not To DAB - That Is The Question

DAB in Canada is dead.... When the US went with IBOC (HD radio) it was going to be a upward battle for Canada going with DAB.    Sadly the biggest issue is the mistake most Canadian broadcasters have been doing with HD.   Little to no unique content/programming, little to no promotion of what little unique programming is offered, and no push to radio/auto manufacturers to get HD standard on every radio like AM/FM is. 

Sadly people are not going to care, make an investment in a new radio unless the content is there that they don't already get, free of charge.   Should content be offered that is different than available on other platforms and promoted OR a move to a all digital transmission like digital tv did, would be the only way to get people to jump on board.   Right now.. if it happens to be in your car, you most likely at that point will listen to HD over analog.. but you are not going to race out and replace every radio in the home either. 

 

March 5, 2021 10:49 am  #5


Re: To DAB Or Not To DAB - That Is The Question

RadioActive wrote:

I think it died an ignoble death when CHUM lost money on it. 

How money did they really lose?  My recollection is that General Motors and others lost millions of dollars in R&D for the in-car DAB receiver.. CHUM and other broadcasters failed/refused to build out the necessary digital infrastructure, save and except the CN Tower transmitters, and a few other sites, but nothing along major transportation corridors.   Their "pay" DAB application heard 2004 and approved in early 2005 was nothing but a scam.  There were no "Canadian" DAB radios that had been developed, though they misled the CRTC on the availability of DAB technology and moreover addressable "pay" DAB radios.  They never made any attempt to acquire a manufacturing partner, or implement the CRTC's licensing decision.  It was simply a stall tactic to try and have the CRTC deny licences to Sirius and XM.  I was there. I also heard first-hand from the senior executives of GM and Honda, regarding the (Canadian) DAB scam. Here is part of the CHUM presentation.  The transcripts of the entire hearing, including rebuttals are  still online

Here is what they said.
Read it and judge for yourself:
https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/transcripts/2004/tb1103.htm
- 3683 MR. ROMAN: CSRC will be delivered to Canadians using an efficient and cost effective terrestrial based digital audio network. Industry Canada has confirmed that sufficient spectrum will be made available to do this. In addition, no amendments to Canada's existing satellite use policies are required for CSRC to launch. Based on the DAB Eureka 147 platform, our service will take advantage of global experience to offer Canadians crystal clear programming from coast to coast.3684 The technology CSRC will rely on is established and proven. For this project, CHUM has partnered with RadioScape Limited, the world leader in software defined solutions for digital radio. RadioScape software powers Texas Instruments' digital signal processor, the heart of a digital radio. Just last month, they crossed the one million threshold in units shipped worldwide.3685 The success of DAB worldwide, and particularly in the UK, has spawned the production of a tremendous range of consumer receivers and other equipment that are readily adaptable for CSRC. This will allow CHUM to apply existing receiver and broadcast infrastructure technology to CSRC. As a result, CHUM will be able to launch CSRC within the timelines and at the price points we need. Moreover, by employing the same technology as DAB, our receiver will also be capable of receiving over the air DAB stations, thus helping digital radio in Canada grow and ensuring the distribution of conventional Canadian radio stations.3686 MS SHEPPARD: Our service will be offered to Canadians for a monthly fee of $9.95 and our receiver marketed for less than $100. In the service's early years we will subsidize the costs of the receiver to ensure that this price point can be met. In order to ensure that the service is rolled out to at least 60 percent of the Canadian population we will invest heavily in broadcast infrastructure over the licence term with over $91 million in budgeted capital expenditures.3687 Based on the results of our research, and assuming a fair and equitable licensing environment, our business plan anticipates that the service's penetration will peak at one million subscribers in the seventh year of operation. Overall, our business plan clearly demonstrates that a truly Canadian subscription radio alternative is realistic and achievable.3688 MR. SKI: Mr. Chair, Madam Vice-Chair, Commissioners, CHUM, Astral and our technology partners stand ready to provide a compelling, truly Canadian subscription radio service to Canadians, a service that will fully adhere to the objectives of the Broadcasting Act.3689 We are not alone in believing this can and must be done. We interviewed a number of artists, music industry executives and prominent Canadians to get an idea of what a truly Canadian broadcasting system means to them.


 

Last edited by tvguy (March 5, 2021 10:51 am)

 

March 5, 2021 1:03 pm  #6


Re: To DAB Or Not To DAB - That Is The Question

turkeytop wrote:

Is DAB still being tried anywhere in Canada?

It's dead, but a  lot of money was spent on ads (way back in the day) with famous voices, so it's not like they didn't try to draw attention:





 


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

March 5, 2021 4:45 pm  #7


Re: To DAB Or Not To DAB - That Is The Question

my recollection was the "ads" ran in unsold inventory.   So I guess you're right.  They spent a fortune to use unsold inventory, which they didn't pay for.   But I'll leave that to the bean-counters.    I don't think that Gilbert Gottfried cost that much to do v/o work.  UBS a technology company offered to build out a robust terrestrial DAB network for little or no upfront cost, and the broadcasters passed.   Nothing was ever built out, aside from a mux at Mt. Seymour, Ottawa and Toronto, and Montreal so far as I recall.  The hardware costs weren't that great.  The "killer" was the CN Tower lease costs.  I believe I still have a copy of the last CN Tower (annual) billing.  It probably cost $10,000 per listener per annum for each broadcaster, given that there were only a small number of radios ever sold and in autos, you could only buy an after-market radio at Kromer Radio on Bathurst St.  I asked the GM of Kromer how many radios they had sold/installed - by around 2010.  He couldn't recall any. I do recall that Moses Znaimer had a car radio mounted in a wooden box in his office at Queen St. West ---but the radio had come over in the deal with Martin Rosenthal to buy CFMX (CFMZ)

 BTW in March 2011, CN Tower attempted to impose a price hike of  35.64% on DAB tenants.  In the case I recall , the broadcaster had provided notice a year earlier of termination of its  service, and had stopped broadcasting in DAB.  But CN Tower management hadn't bothered to read the paperwork.