The return of five radio stations in the evenings on Freeview in Scotland
Alix Pryde
Director, 主播大秀 Distribution
In May 2011 I wrote my first blog post, covering the (in June 2011). I shared the difficult choice we鈥檇 had to make to prioritise 主播大秀 ALBA over 主播大秀 Radio services.听 I鈥檓 really pleased to announce that we鈥檙e now able to restore five further radio services to full-time carriage on Freeview in Scotland, bringing the total to eight out of 13.
The original decision
主播大秀 ALBA launched on satellite in September 2008 but not on Freeview.听听 It had always been the aim to launch on Freeview, but we had to find an affordable way to do it.听 To make space, the for 主播大秀 ALBA to broadcast in Scotland in the evening in the place of 13 主播大秀 Radio services.听 We launched 主播大秀 ALBA on Freeview at the conclusion of digital switchover in Scotland in June 2011.
The 主播大秀 Trust also challenged 主播大秀 Management to look at affordable technical solutions that would allow some radio services to be retained around the clock.听 The first part of this happened alongside the launch of 主播大秀 ALBA as we were able to retain three services.听 We prioritised stations unavailable on FM and, because we couldn鈥檛 restore all seven stations without FM coverage, we gave priority to the stations that were the most listened to on digital television in Scotland: 主播大秀 Radio 5 live, 主播大秀 Radio 1Xtra and 主播大秀 Radio 6 Music.
Restoration
We鈥檙e making a set of technical changes in Scotland which gives us some limited additional capacity to restore radio services. We鈥檝e had to take a call on the best way of using this capacity, including which stations and in what quality.
We started by following the guiding principle of the original decision: to restore stations without FM coverage.听 Prioritising the stations primarily aimed at a UK audience (i.e. excluding the 主播大秀 World Service) gives: 主播大秀 Radio 4 Extra, 主播大秀 Radio 5 live sports extra and 主播大秀 Asian Network.
As the national radio station for Scotland, restoring 主播大秀 Radio Scotland is naturally a high priority.听 Furthermore, digital platforms take the MW version of the station with its coverage of sport in the evenings.听
In common with 主播大秀 Radio Scotland, the absence of 主播大秀 Radio 4 has been noted regularly in listener correspondence over the last two and a half years.
Consequently we鈥檝e strived to restore all five stations noted above. In order to restore as many stations as five, they will be in mono rather than in stereo.听 This does mean that there will be a drop in audio quality in the evenings compared with other times of the day. But we feel that maximising the number of stations is preferable to restoring fewer at higher quality.听 We bore in mind that the stations we were seeking to restore are not purely music radio stations, and so, whilst not perfect, mono was a valid option.
For those wondering where the capacity has come from, our Red Button text service is running in less capacity now than in 2011 thanks to an increase in efficiency and we鈥檙e reducing the audio bit rate of our TV channels from 256kbit/s to 192kbit/s on Freeview in Scotland; 192kbit/s is on a par with other public service broadcasters鈥� main channels.
So as you can see, this good news is not without its trade-offs. But we have considered them very carefully and believe we have struck the right balance.
Summary
The following radio stations are now available around the clock on Freeview in Scotland:
- 主播大秀 Radio Scotland
- 主播大秀 Radio 1Xtra
- 主播大秀 Radio 4
- 主播大秀 Radio 4 Extra
- 主播大秀 Radio 5 live
- 主播大秀 Radio 5 live sports extra
- 主播大秀 Radio 6 Music
- 主播大秀 Asian Network
听
Five radio stations continue to be unavailable on Freeview in Scotland while 主播大秀 ALBA is on-air in the evening:
- 主播大秀 Radio 1
- 主播大秀 Radio 2
- 主播大秀 Radio 3
- 主播大秀 Radio nan G脿idheal
- 主播大秀 World Service
听
The first four of these are available very widely across Scotland on FM and all are available on DAB, satellite and cable television and online.听 主播大秀 World Service is also available on 主播大秀 Radio 4 FM overnight.
I hope this improvement comes as good news to you.听 I am sorry if we have not been able to restore all of your favourite stations but I hope this blog helps to explain why we have prioritised the services we have.听 We will continue to look for opportunities to restore further radio stations as technical advancements allow.
is Director, 主播大秀 Distribution
- See also Alix鈥檚 blog