Car makers can drive digital demand
Thursday September 11 2008
Willie O'Reilly, chairman of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI), has called on the motor industry to be proactive and lead the way on promoting digital radio by putting DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) technology in cars.
O'Reilly, who is chief executive of Today FM, said that car makers will dictate the future of DAB, which offers sound reception with no hiss, crackle or fade. "It won't be entrepreneurial skills or Government policy that will decide the success of digital, it'll be decisions taken by the likes of Ford, BMW and Toyota," O'Reilly said.
"If these companies were to put DAB radios in their cars from next year, it would completely change the radio market. Suddenly, consumers would have the technology in their cars -- and we know how important car listenership is for radio," he added.
But O'Reilly is not convinced that car makers see digital radio as an in-car entertainment priority. "I don't think they're interested," he said.
"The DAB manufacturers have failed to convince the motor industry that digital is an attractive thing to put in a car. Car makers are hugely sensitive to what drives sales. So if they don't see digital as an opportunity, we must listen to that."
The only other way to promote digital is for consumers to go out and buy DAB radios for about €40, and O'Reilly says not many people are doing that. People are happy with FM radio and even if every home in Ireland was to have one DAB radio, where would it fit in with the other traditional home sets?
Trials in Dublin, the north east, Cork and Limerick mean that a third of the country can now receive DAB.
RTE told the Department of Communications that when DAB extends to the south east by the end of 2010, penetration will rise to 52pc.
