A recent news item on the RADIOWORLD website mentioned that a tech company named Frontier Smart Technologies had stated that 64% of consumer radio devices sold in Europe in 2020 were analogue only.
Just think about that for a second. Despite the fact the DAB+ digital radio networks are being rolled out across Europe at the moment, nearly two thirds of the consumer radio devices now being sold can't receive it.
This suggests that FM radio on the 88 to 108 MHz band in Europe will be around for a long time to go yet.
I'm not really surprised. DAB coverage in the UK is extremely patchy, and many stations are not strong enough to be received at all. A weak signal on digital is entirely unreadable, whereas an FM weak signal can at least be heard, albeit with hiss.
ReplyDeleteA lot of DAB stations pulled out in the UK over the last year or so, apparently due to increasing costs of keeping themselves on that platform.
Another advantage I found is that, even at high ERP transmissions on 144MHz, an FM commercial receiver nearby remains perfectly happy and stable. DAB simply blanks out.