Radio broadcasting

[rustic]

A general question on radios, is France intending to shut-down FM broadcasting in favour of Digital in a few years time? I had meant to check this out while in Normandie recently, but forgot. There is a move to DAB radios in UK, but many are not very good.  I am interested in what may be happening in other parts of the EU on this, if anything.  I have noticed when driving in France, there does seem a good selection of stations judging by what the 'auto-tuning' of the car radio finds, when compared to the UK.   

[Martin963]

France - somewhat to its advantage as it turns out - is arguably behind in digital radio.

They ran transmissions -  largely of a continuous test nature - using DAB but on a much higher frequency than what's used in Britain (ie about 1500 MHz as opposed to our 210 MHz).    Only about seven urban transmitters became operational and the whole thing flopped.    Looking at the British situation they're probably heaving a sigh of relief....

Back to the drawing board,   France has decided not to use DAB+ either,   but yet another standard for their RNT (radio numerique terrestre).   It's one of the DVB family,  maybe DVB-C - I can't remember.    I believe it's testing in Paris and Nantes is scheduled.  It's not the same system as anyone else in Europe is using or is going to use.

I'd take the proposed British switch off with a pinch of salt.    There is arguably a public demand for more channels on TV,  and one of the hidden driving forces for DSO is so that the government can sell of bits of the UHF band.    For radio,   many folk are satisfied with what they've got,   a lot of the new digital stations on DAB have flopped,   and the Band II spectrum which would be released is limited in width and use (so of much less interest to the Treasury).   

I know the BBC are running promotions for a scrappage scheme,   but this whole business may come back and bite them on the b+m when the limitations of the present system are brought into sharper relief.    I'd be a lot happier if they were promoting new DAB sets that were upgradeable to DAB+ or AAC or were future-proofed in other ways.

And you are quite right about the choice on FM in France,   although many of the commercial stations are quasi-national in set-up,  it means that there are nearly a dozen completely different music-genres available in many areas,  whereas in Britain we've ended up with one quasi-national station (Heart) swallowing up the competition.   ILR in Britain has become a catastrophe in my view....

But public service radio in France is not - in my view - up to the standards of the BBC,  even taking into account how Auntie has become so same-old same-old and tired sounding,   particularly on Radios 3 and 4....

[Keni]

Friends in the Haute Vienne/Dordogne border have received notification about analogue signals being turned off from June 2nd this year - at least that is how the leaflet has been translated.

[Anton Redman II]

Are you sure that is radio rather than TV ?

[Martin963]

That was the closing of the *analogue* *TV* Canal + service on ch 10 VHF from the transmitter at Les Cars which serves Limoges and a large area of 87, 24, 23, 19.   It did indeed shut down on June 2nd.

Without wishing to sound mischievous,   I do wonder how some Brits survive in France if a leaflet about closure of one pay TV service can lead them to believe that radio is closing down with no alternative platform proposed.

Maybe the story got mangled a bit en route to this thread!!

[Keni]

Most probably all have Sky anyway!