'The Roll Out of Digital Audio Broadcasting in Ireland and Explorations into the Future Radio Landscape' Study submitted in part fulfillment of the requirement for the award of BSc. in Multimedia Vanessa Monaghan May 8 2012 1 Declaration on Plagiarism I declare that this material, which I now submit for assessment, is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others, save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. I understand that plagiarism, collusion, and copying is a grave and serious offence in the university and accept the penalties that would be imposed should I engage in plagiarism, collusion, or copying. I have read and understood the Assignment Regulations set out in the module documentation. I have identified and included the source of all facts, ideas, opinions, viewpoints of others in the assignment references. Direct quotations from books, journal articles, internet sources, module text, or any other source whatsoever are acknowledged and the source cited are identified in the assignment references. This assignment, or any part of it, has not been previously submitted by me or any other person for assessment on this or any other course of study I have read and understood the referencing guidelines found at http://www.library.dcu.ie/citing&refguide08.pdf and/or recommended in the assignment guidelines. Signed____________________________ Student Number ____________________ 2 Abstract: The Irish radio landscape is changing. We are on the eve of Analogue Switch Off for Television, which will leave frequencies clear, for both Digital Audio Broadcasting and for a 4G mobile network. These two things may change the way audio content is broadcast and consumed. With the help of fourteen radio industry professionals, looking at the Public Service Broadcasting and Commercial sectors as well as the technologies they may be using shortly, this study looks at the uncertainty that faces Irish broadcasters as they look to explore a new means of transmission and the hurdles they face in a quest for a standardized format. 3 Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2: Literature Review................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter 3: Methodology......................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 4: Digital Audio Broadcasting in Ireland.................................................................................. 18 4.1 Digital Broadcasting from The Broadcaster's View.................................................. 18 4.2 DAB Formats............................................................................................................ 19 4.3 Regulation Issues...................................................................................................... 21 4.4 More Choice?............................................................................................................ 23 Chapter 5: IP Based Radio..................................................................................................................... 26 5.1 Irish Statistics............................................................................................................ 26 5.2 Audience Listening Habits........................................................................................ 27 5.3 Broadcast Bandwidth Concerns................................................................................ 29 5.4 How Internet Audio Stream Providers Work............................................................ 31 5.5 4G Rollout in Ireland................................................................................................ 33 5.6 WiFi Radio Case Study: BuzzRadio.fm ................................................................... 35 Chapter 6: Satellite Radio....................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 7: Converging Platforms........................................................................................................... 40 7.1 Hybrid Radio.............................................................................................................. 40 7.2 Smartphone App Development................................................................................... 43 7.3 Radio You Can See.................................................................................................... 44 Chapter 8: Other Digital Possibilities..................................................................................................... 47 8.1 HD Radio................................................................................................................... 47 8.2 Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)................................................................................. 48 8.3 Alternative Radio Business Models............................................................................ 50 Chapter 9: Future DAB/DAB+ Trials in Ireland..................................................................................... 52 Chapter:10: Conclusions.......................................................................................................................... 55 10.1 Further Research........................................................................................................ 57 10.2 Limitations.................................................................................................................. 58 continued overleaf 4 Table of Contents Continued: References.................................................................................................................................................. 59 Bibliography............................................................................................................................................... 64 Appendix Appendix A: Justification of Interviews....................................................................................... 66 Appendix B: Transcription of Interviews...................................................................................... 68 - B.1 – Dusty Rhodes, ........................................................................................................69 - B.2 - Andy Green, Brendan Kehoe, Total Broadcast....................................................... 79 - B.3 - Robin Crowley, Gaydar Radio...............................................................................100 - B.4 - Donal Quinlan, Cork FM.......................................................................................104 - B.5 - Paul Campbell, Amazing Radio.............................................................................112 - B.6 - Greg Parke, BuzzRadio.fm....................................................................................119 - B.7 - Garvan Rigby, Spirit Radio .................................................................................. 127 - B.8 - Dave Timpson, RTÉ.............................................................................................. 132 - B.9 - Pat Balfe, Communicorp....................................................................................... 143 - B.10 - Peter Bradshaw, United Christian Broadcasting ............................................... 147 - B.11 - Gregory Orton, Solaris Mobile........................................................................... 151 - B.12 - Denzil Lacey, Zava Media ................................................................................. 163 - B.13 - Lisa Ní Choisdealbha, Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.............................. 166 - B.14 - SimonYoung, Radio/TV Presenter...................................................................... 175 Appendix C: Radio Station Case Studies .................................................................................... 176 Appendix D: Images.....................................................................................................................186 Appendix E: Email Correspondence.............................................................................................193 Appendix F: Original Thesis Proposal......................................................................................... 203 Maps, Diagrams and Illustrations: Fig. 1: The Electromagnetic Spectrum.................................................................................................... 18 Fig. 2: Spin 1038 media player................................................................................................................ 27 Fig. 3: Capital FM media player -Tube Service View............................................................................. 41 Fig. 4: Capital FM media player - Presenter and Song Details................................................................. 41 Fig. 5: Q Music - Screenshot, Studio View with television style graphics.(1)......................................... 46 Fig. 6: Q Music - Screenshot, Studio View with television style graphics.(2)......................................... 46 Fig. 7: DRM band comparison with DMB and HD Radio........................................................................48 5 Acknowledgements: Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr.