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29 October 2014
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Speeches

Jenny Abramsky

Director of Radio & Music


Speech given at the World DAB General Assembly, Brussels


9 November 2001
Printable version


Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to come and talk to you today Β– I am genuinely delighted to do so.


And the reason I'm so pleased to be here is because as a result of decisions taken by the British Government in September, I have something positive and new to say about the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's commitment to Digital Radio.

After a number of difficult years where, I know, many of you doubted the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's resolve, and when many of us who believe in digital radio faced a stalemate and little prospect of moving forward, it is a relief to be able to take some critical leaps forward again.

It was six years ago when the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ became one of the first in the world to broadcast over a national DAB network by switching on our transmitters and simulcasting our five national radio stations. We hoped by doing so we would stimulate a market and see sets in the shops within two years. We have spent some Β£6m to Β£8m a year since 1995 on both transmitters and on promoting DAB as the technology for radio's future.

As the years have gone by, so scepticism in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ increased and continued promises that sets would be in the shops "next year", were, rightly, greeted with derision. It has not been easy and at times I have felt like a piggy in the middle. Explaining our continued commitment to those who thought we were doing too little, explaining our continued investment to those who thought we were doing too much.

But I can tell you that those of us in Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio never faltered in our commitment and determination to support DAB, although at times it has been tempting to express the scepticism publicly and I do believe that, if we had at any time over the last three years stated that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ no longer believed in DAB, we would have killed it as a technology in the UK.

So it took a leap of faith for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ to agree, in this environment - where there are few sets, where the sets there are are pricey and where there are no credible portables - to submit proposals for new digital radio stations, first to the public for their views, and then to the Government for its decision. But it was the right thing for us to do. And it emphasises the importance that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ places in radio as a key part of its digital future. It represents faith in the future of radio.

The process of getting permission for new Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio services has taken over 18 months, it's been very slow - first to convince my colleagues in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ that now is the right time to invest in digital radio, then second, to convince government to create new services. Six weeks ago we received permission from the UK Government to launch five new digital radio services. Their launch will transform Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio, at a stroke, doubling the number of national networks we run Β– the biggest change ever. It's an awesome challenge, but I think it has given digital radio in the UK the shot in the arm it needed and will hopefully reinvigorate the technology and the way people perceive it. It's always been about content and now we've got the chance to show what we can do.

But let me step back a moment. Radio, as you all know, is in excellent health all over Europe, with tens of thousands of stations and 210 million listeners who spend an average of three hours a day with them. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio, local and national, reaches 67% of the UK adult population Β– that's 32 million people Β– every single week, and our 50 stations have a share of over 51%. The UK has one of the fastest uptakes of digital television in the World, but radio as a whole in the UK continues to thrive despite the multiplying attractions of other media and entertainment. Ninety-one percent of adults Β– some 44 million people Β– tune in every week, doing more listening than ever before, almost 25 hours a week. Indeed some research the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ carried out in September amongst 25 - 35 year-olds showed that television consumption amongst younger people has decreased. We know that radio consumption has improved. It's radio's personal relationship with its listeners that gives it such a cultural importance to Europe.

As Europe has evolved over these past 80 years, politically, economically, socially, radio has been a trusted soundtrack for its people, at times of war and peace, of sadness and celebration. And in these uncertain times, we are reminded of its continuing significance. The response we have had to our Radio Services since September 11th has been extraordinary and not confined to our speech stations. Our youth music station, Radio 1, was inundated with e-mails from young people at the end of that extraordinary first week with messages saying things like these two:

listening to the show has helped me a lot. Knowing that there are other people in the world with the same thoughts as my own in a weird way is already helping me come to terms with what is going on. Joanna Smith (15)

Radio 1 has been a lifeline for me this week in so many different ways and I would like to express my thanks to the DJ's for turning up for work when I could do little, thank you for the sensitive broadcasting. Lynne (16)

They are very moving messages, but they are also an example of Radio's resilience, its relevance, its ability to adapt - and adapt is what it must do, as the digital future becomes the digital present.

Right now, as those e-mails show, radio is digital. More than that, if you want a glimpse of the cross-platform future, look at radio. It's streamed on the internet. It's broadcast via digital television. Listening to the radio has already emerged in research as a preferred activity while surfing, and Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio has taken to the net with great success. The five Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ national networks have dedicated, live, sites and are the most popular area of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's website after News and Sport, with some 30 million page impressions a month and around 2 million unique visitors every month. Our radio sites were recently awarded the inaugural Internet Prix Europa for, as the judges put it, "moving forward the frontiers of the radio and internet media, combining the strengths of both". And the popularity of radio stations on the digital satellite platform has surprised both us and the platform owner. Figures just released by Rajar show 21% of people with DSAT claim to be using it to listen to radio every week. This equates to 12.6% of adults - over 6 million people. And 9.5% of adults claim to lsiten to radio via the internet.

This is all wonderful news for radio. But don't mistake this for the entire Β– or worse, the desirable Β– digital future for radio. Yes, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ has a multi-platform strategy for radio - and there were some in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ who argued that DSAT, D Cable and the Web were all we needed to secure Radio's digital future. That argument has gone and at the heart of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's strategy for radio in 2001 is DAB. The only technology that we believe can take all radio's strengths is digital. Because it's a broadcast technology. It is robust and designed for one-to-many communication. It is portable!

DAB technology can deliver a wide range of radio stations to a wide range of devices, including mobile phones, PDAs, and now I believe, at an affordable cost. DAB enables us to takes the strengths of analogue radio and add much more, better sound quality, more stations to choose from, easier tuning and better reception, text services, data storage, even graphics and moving images if you want them. That's a pretty powerful proposition. That's why the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ is backing DAB. And most important for us as a publicly funded broadcaster, it will enable us to serve our licence payers better!

Which is where our new services proposition comes in. In deciding to launch five new services we have considered carefully the role of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio in the digital world. The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ has the largest radio production base in the world, every day, round the clock creating the most diverse, high quality programming across a dizzying number of genres. And so we should, given that we enjoy the privilege of guaranteed funding. That privilege places certain responsibilities upon us, both to our listeners, and to the industry at large. For example, investing in domestic, original production and so stimulating, developing and training a significant part of radio production industry; or discovering and developing on and off air talent.

And most fundamentally of all, that guaranteed funding means that we have no other purpose for our existence than to serve licence payers. I was determined that we would use this opportunity to create services capable of addressing the needs of people we currently underserve and and also to give to those who want more for their licence.

The Asian Network is already a successful local service in the West Midlands, but there are many Asians all over the UK that it does not reach with its mix of news, discussion, speech and music. Over 46% of all UK Asians live in London and the South East and we are not broadcasting to them. We will be investing heavily in the station to take it national, providing programmes in English and Asian languages, creating programming that addresses the needs of all the different Asian communities across the UK and will be looking to it as a source of on and off air talent that can be developed elsewhere in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. It will be a challenge for us to connect with these audiences, but the Asian Network is already rising to it magnificently, especially in these current testing times for many British Asians.

The second service that we hope will help the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ establish a stronger connection with underserved audiences is Network X, which is just a working title, I promise. Network X will play contemporary black music Β– hip hop, R&B, garage, urban. But more than that, it will aim to play a leading role the development of Black Music in the UK, actively seeking out and championing British talent and bringing new music and live music to young audiences with the same passion and commitment that its parent station for 15 - 24 year-olds, Radio 1, does. Eighty per cent of the Black Music played in the UK comes from the States. But we know there are young people across the UK who are playing and writing this music. We want to give them a voice. In so doing, we believe we will discover new DJ and artist talent, as well as support many independent record labels. This will not just be a music station. We want to create something that is relevant to the lives of its young audience, so there will be a dedicated news team 24 hours a day. The station will have documentaries and social action programming and, of course, it will be interactive.

I know that many of you think the reason people will buy digital radio will be the clever things you can do with the technology. Forgive me, but I think the key reason it will become a mass medium will be "content". That is why I think our other three new services will be critical in driving that appeal. Let me take Radio Five Live Sports Extra. It will be the extension of our very successful live news and sport station, Radio Five Live. Sports Extra will enable Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio to make fuller use of the dazzling array of sports rights we have. We will be able to broadcast Formula One on one service and Rugby on another. We will be able to go to Golf and the Premier League. We will be able to continue to cover an important News story and also cover the important Sports event. Sport has the ability to be a driver in radio digital uptake as it has been for Television because we will cross promote from the main sports service.

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Television has always made considerable use of its archive, its golden programmes like Only Fools and Horses and Fawlty Towers. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio has not, with the exception of the great comedies of the Β‘50s. Digital enables us to change all that. - to throw open the doors to the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's archives and let in the people who paid for itΒ– and I can tell you our listeners have been begging us to do so for years.

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Archive is unique. Over the years, it has captured and created moments of history in music, popular culture, drama, comedy and yet most of its most prized gems have only been broadcast once. We have sessions with every major pop artist of the last 40 years - Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Jim Morrison of the DoorsΒ…the list could go on and on. Indeed we recorded a new concert with Sting in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Radio Theatre this week. We have extraordinary early recordings of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones - we've interviewed them all, done documentaries on every form of popular music from Soul, Country, Punk, and RockΒ….

Network Y Β– another working title Β– will play the music and artists that shaped the sounds of the last 40 years, supplementing sessions and interviews from the archive with new music, live music, documentary, expert commentary as well as news and social action. Exploring influential music and musicians, this station will fill a real gap in the music radio market and serve an audience of music enthusiasts currently without a home.

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ commissions more new writing than any institution in the world, writing for drama, writing for comedy. Network Z Β– yes, that's a working title too Β– will showcase the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's archive of comedy, drama, and readings, Speech radio has always been at the core of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's public service mission. We have increased investment in News and in Sport over the last ten years, now we will increase investment in drama, comedy. There will be unabridged readings, classics and contemporary alike, and the network will extend the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's unparalleled commitment to nurturing new writing talent. But above all we will be investing once again in children's speech radio with daily magazine programmes as well as drama and readings.

These services will launch next year and could not better signal the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's intent to make digital radio work. We are also required by Government to promote digital radio technology and equipment "vigorously", not just the services, and ensure that our services are "universally available within a reasonable period of time to those with appropriate receivers".

Which brings me to the second reason why I was particularly pleased to be asked to speak here today. We will be spending over Β£18 million a year on these new networks so we must ensure they are heard. Apart from DAB, we are required to make them available on several platforms satellite, cable and the internet, but that is not enough. Currently, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's digital radio transmitters cover 60% of the UK population, the same level of coverage as when we began digital broadcasting in 1995. Today, I can announce that the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ has begun building digital radio transmitters once again. In six weeks 65% of the UK population will be covered and that figure will rise to around 80% by the end of 2003, and hitting 85% in early 2004. These percentage figures use the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's own system of measurement and we are confident that this coverage will be robust and reliable.

This all adds up to a significant additional investment in DAB and represents a multi-million pound vote of confidence in digital radio. Set that alongside our ability Β– and indeed our Government requirement Β– to cross-promote to our thirty-two million strong audience, and our ability to promote on TV to 90% of the UK population , then the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's commitment to digital radio is most unequivocally renewed.

But I think I must make it clear that we will only cross-promote when we have succeeded in breaking the deadlock of no sets, at affordable prices, and portable, being in the shops. We have to give our listeners the means to listen - radios. I will not ask my networks to promote DAB if those 32 million listeners cannot then go out into the high streets and actually get hold of affordable digital radios and in a range of styles. Our listeners must be able to go into a shop without needing to explain to the stores what a digital radio set is. Without being mis-sold a radio with a digital display. Without effort. Buying a digital radio should not be a trial. It should be as pleasurable and exciting as buying a DVD player a digital TV or an MP3 player.

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio and Commercial Radio in the UK are doing their bit, indeed Commercial Radio in the UK has led the way for Commercial Radio in Europe and invested millions and provided terrific content. New services and the coverage are there or will be soon. Across Europe the pieces are falling into place. I particularly welcome the very positive conclusions reached by Anne Coutard in her report for the French Government on the future of radio in France, and the recent developments in Germany, supported by the digital radio initiative involving all industry players, confirm that the most important European market for radio is maturing quickly.

Make no mistake, this is digital radio's moment. But we all need to seize that moment Β– not just broadcasters, but manufacturers, retailers, governments and regulators too. If we believe in digital radio, then we need to work together to see it reach its potential. We are all faced with a huge opportunity. In public service radio, that opportunity is to improve massively our offering to audiences. In Commercial Radio, to develop new business opportunities. In manufacturing and retail, there are literally millions of digital radio devices to be sold across Europe. In government, the chance to safeguard and promote into the future the unique cultural heritage radio has in Europe.

Despite all its advantages, digital radio doesn't just happen. It needs commitment.. The UK has one of the most mature markets for digital radio, yet only forty thousand sets have been sold . Manufacturers and retailers need to rise to the challenge of taking Britain's radio listeners digital. But the advances that there have been have resulted from favourable market conditions. Extending and renewing analogue licences has encouraged UK Commercial Radio to invest in digital radio, for example. That should provide some measure of security for retailers and manufacturers to put their weight behind digital radio.

That isn't the case in all other European countries and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage the European Commission to send a clear signal of support for radio itself Β– by backing digital radio. I appreciate that it requires the support and co-operation of member states to turn words into action, but I hope it will now work to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the digital future across Europe. And I hope that the Commission will accept that radio has as much right as Television to be on more than one digital platform and that digital / DAB is one of those platforms. If the Commission helps to foster a co-ordinated approach then it will help to create the single market we all need, and encourage the manufacturers, for whom digital radio is just one of a number of new products and technologies. Decisions on regulation, frequency and spectrum allocation are all political decisions. They have helped radio in Europe take on its present unique character, whereby both public and private sectors can thrive, along with cultural and linguistic diversity. Europe has a similar role to play if these values and achievements are to survive and grow in a digital environment.

I sincerely hope that the encouraging signs we are seeing across Europe will provide digital radio with the impetus it needs to flourish well into the future. Digital radio has the potential to revolutionise and revitalise the industry we love. And if it does, then it will give radio as resonant and relevant a voice in the digital world as it has enjoyed in the analogue one.

Thank you very much.



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