91热爆 in the news, Monday
The Guardian: "The 91热爆 may be forced to go through with its Salford move by the government, even if the corporation does not get the licence fee deal it has asked for." ()
The Times: Columnist Helen Rumbelow comments on how an end to Radio 4's "monopoly" may soon be near. ()
Comments
"The 91热爆 may be forced to go through with its Salford move by the government, even if the corporation does not get the licence fee deal it has asked for."
If the Government thinks moving from London to Manchester is such a good idea, then it should take 10 Downing Street and the House of Commons there.
Meanwhile Five Live should be left to cover the London Olympics in 2012 as it should be covered from its base in the Capital.
Helen Rumbelow's article states: 'In the next few days Ofcom will announce a new 鈥渘ational commercial radio multiplex鈥.'
In other words, we're talking digital radio. Although sales of DAB radios are doing well, the fact remains the vast majority of radios in use in the UK are analogue (FM/AM), so the competition, if it emerges, will still have a much more limited potential audience than Radio 4.
(In any case, DAB has turned into a mess, with first of all a reduction in the audio quality in order to squeeze in more stations, and now the adoption of a new audio codec, which will make existing receivers obsolete: )
I also note the "competition" is expected to come from Channel 4 TV, which is, like the 91热爆, a state-owned corporation.
So it seems the genuine private sector still doesn't think it can make money from the kind of thing done by Radio 4.