More Choice
Listeners in most major towns and cities in the UK can receive between 30 and 50 radio stations with a digital radio, in many cases that's more than double what's available on analogue. And it's not just more of the same - the content within that choice of stations is unique and exciting, delivering station formats that just don't exist on analogue. The FM spectrum is so clogged right now that there's no room for new stations that would expand listeners' choice with, for example, soul music, or country music, or big band swing, or any of the other 100+ brands that are available uniquely to DAB.
Because digital radio uses the spectrum more efficiently than analogue, it is possible to broadcast more channels using the same frequency, making room for broadcasters to expand their station portfolios.
Less Noise
DAB digital radio delivers improved sound quality. The technology allows the receiver to lock on to the strongest signal it can find and ignore everything else. This eliminates the hiss, crackle and fade so familiar on analogue radio.
With DAB digital radio there are no frequencies to remember and sets are tuned by station name. National stations stay put, so there's no retuning on the move.
More Information
Each DAB broadcaster (multiplex operator) has 20% of its capacity reserved for data services. Digital radio receivers have a screen on which stations can transmit information via Dynamic Label Segments (DLS). Some stations already transmit the latest news, travel, and weather, what's on now and next, website addresses and phone numbers. The latest DAB digital radios come with a built-in EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) letting you select and plan your listening up to a week in advance. The potential for advertisers to use the DLS facility on DAB for targeted advertising is an exciting prospect, and in the future, advertisers can use DAB to deliver web-type commercials.