Keys to the Failure of DAB in Spain

Abstract

It does not seem too risky or bold—at the start of the new century—to assert that digital radio has an uncertain future. The present article analyzes the causes of the failure of DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) in Spain using particular current and historical features of the Spanish radio industry to do so (note that Spanish radio falls halfway between the North American commercial model and the European public service model). The opinions of different telecommunications experts, comparisons with other European countries, as well as the defining characteristics of the standard chosen, Eureka 147, better known as DAB, are presented.

Notes

This contribution is made within the framework of the research project “Transformations of television and radio system in Spain in the context of digitalization (1997–2007),” funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology's National I+D+I Plan 2004–2007 (SEJ2007-65109/SOCI). The authors wish to thank José Joaquín Blasco Gil for his help in preparing this text.

¹We use the terms Eureka 147 and DAB as synonyms throughout this text, although the latter can be applied more generically and does not refer exclusively to the European standard.

²Official coverage and other interesting data about the current situation of DAB around the world can be accessed at http://www.worlddab.org/country_information.

³In 1993, the European standard for high-definition television was abandoned. HD-MAC had been set up 7 years previously through a European Commission directive. Since then, the Commission and the EBU have focused their attention on DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting).

⁴This section is based on a lecture that was subsequently published (Corominas, Guimerà, Fernández, & Bonet, 2005).

⁵Resolution of March 10, 2000 by the Secretary General of Communications (BOE of 11 March) and the Resolution of December 13, 2000 by the Secretary of State of Telecommunications and for the Information Society of the Ministry of Science and Technology (BOE of January 9, 2001).

⁶On July 7, 2006, the Council of Ministries approved the authorisation for the transfer of its license to CRB Digital, property of Blas Herrero. Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.la-moncloa.es/ConsejodeMinistros/Referencias/_2006/refc20060707.htm.

⁷The other community that opened a tender, Galicia, did not select a successful bidder. Retrieved October 2007 from http://www.televisiondigital.electronicafacil.net/Article5476.html, http://www.xunta.es/comunicacion/dxca/novas/120506concursodab.htm.

⁸In February 2009, private radio broadcasters asked Spanish to leave pending the obligation to broadcast in digital. Retrieved March 2009, from http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/medios/comunicacion/piden/Gobierno/bateriaayudes/elpepusoc/20090302elpepisoc_3/tes