Monday, October 12, 2009
Motor manufacturers sign up to digital radio deadline
Digital radios should become standard in new vehicles from the beginning of 2014 after motor manufacturers agreed to adopt the technology.
Manufacturers and broadcasters have signed up to proposals made in the Digital Britain white paper published in June, which allow for FM stations to be turned off from 2015.
Installing digital radios in vehicles is seen as a key step to ensuring that digital becomes the principal way in which Britons listen to radio. Although a third of British homes have a digital radio, only a handful of vehicles on the road have digital receivers.
However, more than a fifth of all radio listening takes place in vehicles so broadcasters view the agreement as a crucial issue for the industry.
Digital Britain's goal is to ensure that all new cars either have digital radio as standard from 2014, or can be upgraded cheaply. What is less clear is how older vehicles will be brought into the scheme.
DATED; 12.10.09
FEED: AW
