BBC Radio stays with analogue

Tim Davie, the BBC’s director of audio and music, says the BBC will continue analogue transmissions, and called for radio manufacturers to continue to include analogue reception in their new devices.

“We should be selling radios with DAB and FM [reception] so that they are future-proof.” Davie, speaking at a London digital radio conference, said the case for digital is becoming clearer, and that digital listening is up 11 per cent year-on-year.

The UK government is due to make next year as to whether to set a date for a full adoption of digital radio. Currently about 29 per cent of all listening is through a mix of DAB, on-line or digital TV access. The government has stated that this must hit 50 per cent in order for the government to mandate an analogue switch-off date.