back to article No takers on digital Olympic radio station

Despite being given six months to respond, it seems no one is interested in running a digital-only radio station during the London Olympics - so Ofcom has shelved the idea. In April the regulator put out a request that those interested in running a DAB station for the duration of the 2012 games, and not beyond, should drop …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    I see !

    No one gives a rat's behind, so it must be very interesting ? Would anyone care to elaborate ?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Any chance ...

    this will be the first nail in DABs long overdue coffin ?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Probably

    ... they weren't offering enough drugs. Or backhanders.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Maybe they shoudl of tried wording it thus...

    "Would anyone like to set up an extremely expensive infrastructure, for a couple of weeks, on the off chance a few people may want to listen to it?"

    There, much more simple.

  5. LawLessLessLaw
    Boffin

    So we canned the idea

    That's not very fair on those who bothered to apply properly.

    Ofcom - crushing innovation at every opportunity.

  6. ElNumbre
    Badgers

    Cunning Alternative.

    I hope to receive updates on the Olympics via an invention that all the youfs have been talking about. I think its called an Interwebs and apparently its like some kind of electromonical newspaper that can be updated regularly, rather than relying on print schedules. I understand that by 2012, we should have telephones without wires that can be taken anywhere AND have the interwebs copied onto them. Imagine that?

    1. LuMan
      Troll

      Not only that

      Good idea, sir. I also intend on making requisite adjustments to the wavelength adjuster on my wireless electrogramme in order to fulfil my Olympic update needs. I hear that the BBC themselves ensure that regular updates on how many medals behind the rest of the world we are are made.

      This DAB malarky is tomfoolery and poppycock and has no place in our modern society.

  7. BristolBachelor Gold badge
    Stop

    DAB is a dead parrot

    It is an ex-parrot. It is only staying up because it's feet are nailed to the ground. Put it to rest.

    That's all.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    OFCOM run by morons?

    "The small number of responses, Ofcom explained, "means we have not been able to gauge fully how attractive a proposition this is likely to be to commercial operators". We'd venture a guess that the small number of responses is actually a good indicator of how attractive the proposition is."

    - Yes, not fcuking very!! idots.

  9. Fluffykins Silver badge

    Ah, yes, DAB

    Where 90% of the hardware available looks like it was designed by someone whose idea of advanced 3d modelling CAD packages is a really sharp crayon.

    It's funny, but I still can't find a decent home cinema system with anything beyond FM.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    Will there be a short term FM service?

    Everybody and his dog already gets Restricted Service Licences or whatever they're now called for short term events (everything from Caroline anniversaries to the Great Dorset Steam Fair and beyond). Will there be one for the Olympics? If so, why would anyone care about DAB?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You would hope so.

      Given the fact there's going to be a lot of tourists, many of whom live in countries wise enough to realise DAB is shite.

      Using FM/AM would allow many tourists to listen, they could bring their own recievers, or probably wouldn't be adverse to shelling out a fiver for one during the event. I'm guessing they'd be less willing to shell out over £30 for something they have no use for after the games.

      The cynic in me wonders if that was the idea; sell a shitload of dab sets to tourists and then massage the figures to make it look like domestic purchases.

  11. DrXym

    Don't get it

    Doesn't BBC 5 Live broadcast wall to wall sport anyway? I expect it will be doing little else than Olympic coverage when the time comes.

    1. corrodedmonkee

      cunningly

      They have rather cunningly nestled the Olympics in the gap between the Football Season, and have avoided Euro 2012.

      Being a London commuter, I'm not really looking forward to the Olympic weeks though, even if I move in I will likely take all that time off.

  12. JaitcH
    FAIL

    "means we have not been able to gauge fully how attractive a proposition this is ..."

    No doubt reflects this interest of the citizenry in this Blair/Brown extravaganza.

    Britain will be hard pressed to equal the BeiJing games and let's hope the Olympics will be paid off more quickly than the 1976 Montreal Olympics which took TWENTY YEARS TO PAY OFF!|

    "The Montreal Olympics can no more have a deficit, than a man can have a baby," said then Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau - a politician well know for extorting money from senior levels of government.

    Wonder where Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci is these days?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Title

    "though you might find some games-related information on the Frequency Modulated channels that will be in operation"

    This is == why I read The Register.

  14. Mark C 2
    Megaphone

    I heard...not!

    Maybe they should open the bids up for an FM / AM station, or one that uses them there new interwebs.

    Alternatively, just tell the BBC to provide the service, you know, like a Public Service funded by you and me.

    Next...

  15. Tron Silver badge

    Judging by the commonwealth games coverage on BBC TV...

    ...you'll be able to turn your TV on and see people sitting on a sofa talking about sport, rather than any of the real thing.

  16. LinkOfHyrule
    FAIL

    DAB sucks

    The bloody government, f-ofcom and the industry need to just admit what everyone's knows - that DAB is useless crap and a complete waste of everyone's time and money.

    Yeah, 'cus MP2 is really the future of audio broadcasting isint it! If DAB was good, pirate radio stations would be available on it but no, they are all still on FM or this thing called "the interwebz tubez"!

  17. Paul_Murphy

    I bought a portable DAB & FM radio.

    ASDA were doing them for £15 so I thought I would give it a go and see if it could replace the one in my bathroom.

    Dinky little thing that ran on 4x AA batteries, nice sound to it and it told me the time as well.

    Some 4 weeks later it's sitting downstairs on my desk and I'm back to using my old FM radio in the bathroom.

    Why? To get to listen to music I need to:

    push a slider at the back to turn it on, and

    then press a bottom on the top to activate it, and

    then press the same button again for it to go into DAB (or FM) mode.

    On my old FM radio all I needed to do was to turn the little power/vol knob on the front.

    When it works the DAB radio is great, but the batteries only lasted a few weeks and the turning on/off procedure really annoyed me.

    I'm sure they will get there one day, but until then I will be sticky with FM.

    ttfn

    1. Alan Edwards
      FAIL

      @Paul_Murphy

      I gave up on a DAB clock radio for the same reason.

      On the Sony FM job it was to replace, one button press gets me a 90 minute sleep on the last FM station.

      The stupid DAB wants me to turn it on, select the right source, then press a bunch of buttons to get sleep going.

      The only reason I wanted to replace the Sony was I was getting interference which I thought was the tuner chip dying. Turned out the interference was from a dying DECT phone base station sat next to it, the clock radio lives on.

    2. Oliver 7

      Really?

      "the batteries only lasted a few weeks"

      You listen to about 10 mins a day then?

  18. Richard Porter
    FAIL

    DAB

    Dead And Buried

  19. jamesrhamilton
    FAIL

    Erm

    OK - DAB is frequency modulated. It's just bits that are frequency modulated.

    Secondly, the article makes reference to a "station" when what was advertised was the opportunity to run a multiplex.

    Clearly, the author doesn't understand it along with the applicants.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like