UK auto manufacturer Ford has pledged to make DAB digital radios standard across its range by the end of 2012 – one year earlier than the industry-wide agreement. The new Ford Focus has been launched with DAB radio as standard, because Ford believes it will tempt buyers who are wary of the mooted 2015 date for all FM broadcasts to be ended. It now plans to extend that policy.
“It is a looming issue, and we want to be well placed,’ said Ford of Great Britain managing director Nigel Sharp. “The fact is that the Focus’s radio is future-proofed now, whereas those in our competitors’ cars aren’t.
“The plan is to extend that across every Ford model in the next 18 months or so. There are technical issues to overcome because, for instance, traffic alerts are broadcast only in FM at the moment, but we are confident we can achieve our goal.”
(Source: whatcar.com)
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 12:10
The problem with this strategy as I see it,is only northern ireland scotland england and wales currently uses DAB,few other countries in europe use it,so when you drive across europe,there are only one or two european countries that use DAB with the rest on mw lw and fm and possibly shortwave too. Imagine driving abroad and finding there are very few or any stations in dab to listen to. Can you see where i’am coming from,and why other car manufacturers refuse to fit dab stereos to their cars as standard or offer them as expensive optional extras? Having DAB only car stereos fitted to all new fords is pointless in that respect. Reception is still poor on dab in many areas despite more transmitters being activated across the uk. Also what ford seems to be ignoring and conveniently forgetting is:what if the uk drops DAB for the more superior DAB plus standard? Will current standard fit ford DAB car stereos be upgradeable via a software upgrade to DAB plus or will this involve more expense and trouble for the ford owner who has to shell out for a new ford DAB plus stereo? It’s a very bad idea,and one that should be delayed until things are more clearcut with the state of broadcasting in the uk at present. A lot of broadcasters are dragging their heels over DAB and dont want to move over,and several commercial stations have pulled out of DAB bigstyle,with that state of affairs in tow its better to see where things are going first than jumping in with this wildcat crazy idea.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 12:34
A new car with dabplus will even have am/fm as standard. Soon even with all bands below 30MHz to AM/DRM listnings, a world radio reciever.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 17:34
All I ever see is plans beig made by BROADCASTERS and GOVERNMENTS who seem to be making decisions about transmission formats for us.
Has anyone ever bothered asking the LISTENERS ?
Quite honestly (and I do mean honestly) if it all goes digital then I will NOT be
listening at all.
I listen because it’s conveneient for me. Simple receivers usually built into
my existing daily life, such as my ham radio handhelds or cheap music listening devices.
If it all DAB then it means that I’ll have to deliberatly use a fixed DAB rx at home,
which I am not prepared to do, it’s a lot of hassle for little return.
When will broadcasters and governments get the message - WE DON’T WANT YOUR STUPID DAB !
If we did then it would have taken off a long long time ago.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 19:09
Andy,this is a car manufacturer that thinks dab is the future of radio and that by forcing a change on carbuyers with dab only car stereo fitments to new cars it can win heads and hearts at the same time.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 19:19
AM/FM/DABPLUS is the european broadcasting standards, so in the near future all recivers got this in new radios. You are not forced to listen to dabplus, choice AM/FMDRM if you want, so will broadcasters do.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 19:41
I agree roy car stereos with drm on sw mw lw(with automatic analogue selection when no drm is present) plus drm+ on fm(and automatic analogue selection when no drm+ is available) plus dab+ would cover all the possibilities combining analogue and digital in one easy to use all encompassing car stereo, but do you think ford and other car manufacturers are going to make such a set and put it in their cars? Fat chance of that!
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 20:05
Anthony; first we have to see the dab+ future in cars, then we will know the future of am/drm. I got the carboxand like to tune into am stations on SW while driving. BCC,VOA, DW, RNW kilometers by kilometers, the same news station.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 20:07
Anthony; first we have to see the dab+ future in cars, then we will know the future of am/drm. I got the carboxand like to tune into am stations on SW while driving. BCC,VOA, DW, RNW kilometers by kilometers, the same news station. If dab+ will be standard, it will be a new car every second sold in EU with dab+.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 20:20
Andy,this is a car manufacturer that thinks dab is the future of radio and that by forcing a change on carbuyers with dab only car stereo fitments to new cars it can win heads and hearts at the same time.
No quite IMHO.
It’s a car manufacturer beleiving it’s the future of radio because of daft policies
pushed by the shortsightendness of broadcasters, governments and possibly others with hidden agendas.
If DAB is so darn good, why hasn’t it been adopted by the listenership WITHOUT external pressure ?
Simple, it’s not wanted.
If something is good, it gets taken up en masse regardless.
It\’s as simple as that.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 22:20
In the bitter end, listners will choose AM/FM instead of dabplus service. In the evenings i do listen to MW/SW while driving, more choice, better programs, more exotic programs.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 22:23
Ofcom is wrong,dab broadcasters are wrong,politicians and governments are wrong as are in-car entertainment manufacturers and car manufacturers who fit their products,they are ignorantly blind to the fact that DAB is a poor platform with mediocre sound quality,woefully bad reception and feeble inadequate reception robustness. In the uk,am broadcasters should use drm via mw lw and sw,fm broadcasters should use drm+ and dab users should use dab+. Suitable multiband radios for domestic,portable and car use should utilize all these standards,with automatic frequency switching and epg information transmitted,the radios would also pick up the analogue wavebands too,to accommodate stuck in the mud stations who refuse to go digital and stick up two fingers to the govt in defiance. By having all these things in existance,its possible to accommodate analogue and digital broadcasts at the same time and everyone wins.
on Mar 17th, 2011 at 16:06
Agreed.
Except for the DRM on MW.
All MW statiions can go to DAB+ which has enough capacity for al existing stations and more.
Leave FM and AM analogue, to cope for a very loooooong transition period.
We dont do DAB= on the FM band don\’t we and kick out analogue FM, so we dont irritate analogue AM with DRM hiss.
As for SW, at th e next conference, split all SW bands in a nalogue and digital part. However my strong feeling is that DRM wil not pick up.
(SW and MW can be saved by better content, more entertainment, for example for an older audience who are served poorly on FM. Yes play those Beatles, Stones, Who Pinl Flouyd etc on MW and SW, and you will find people in remote areas and maybe not so remote areas where this format is not available, listening. And there is always a demand for good lively presented news programmes. For audiofreaks also available on the Internet)
Closing down BBC 648 is exactly the wrong way around.
on Mar 17th, 2011 at 16:23
Ruud, soon as we got radios with am/fm/drm and dab+ there will soon pop up new am/drm stations on SW. DRM in the 11-m band offers better audio quality than even dabplus. A 500watts = 5 kw ut of antenna, gets the same radius as a 5 kW FM, but better groundwave, no dropouts.
on Mar 17th, 2011 at 19:43
The DAB-only Traffic Radio service is to be shut down, leaving literally dozens of drivers stranded. The Highways Agency quango said the UK government will no longer fund the service once the contract expires in August 2011, RadioToday reports.
I have a factory fitted DAB receiver in my car and it reverts to FM for traffic information.
Since owning a car with a DAB radio I have noticed the London multiplexes disappear while the FM signals remain stable.National BBC DAB seems very reliable but I tend to drive near to the outer regions of the M25.
The real problem is not the transmission system but the poor choice of stations on DAB and now I tend to listen to internet radio via 3G via an iPhone into my car radio aux line in socket.