Digital dilemma
Michael Vestey
No doubt many people have received a digital radio as a Christmas present and are enjoying the very clear sound quality that it offers. I wrote in November that I couldn't really see the point of the BBC's five digital stations and that if I could receive it I probably wouldn't listen to any of them. with the possible exception of BBC 7, which broadcasts comedy, drama and books from the archives. I don't feel there's much for me with the other four: 6 Music with pop and rock; 1Xtra with black music; Five Live Sports Extra, and the Asian Network.
I received a note from Ben Budworth. managing director of Oneword Radio, an independent digital station which broadcasts audio-books, plays, comedy and discussion. 'I am convinced you are wrong and would be delighted to tell you why over lunch. Would you accept, or is your mind for ever set?' Well, I couldn't make lunch but instead was sent a digital radio in the hope that I might he converted to the cause. It's called a Pure Evoke 1, and eyeing it now it looks rather old-fashioned in its plain wooden case. Digital enthusiasts are certainly right about the sound quality. At first, I found it almost eerily clean of interference, unlike radio as we know it. began to miss the hiss of FM and the falling away of Medium Wave though I'm used to it now.
But I can't truly say I'm converted. My main argument was not about digital radio as such; it was questioning whether the BBC should be spending millions of pounds on five digital radio stations heard by so few people. If the investors behind Oneword are prepared to back their sta tion, all well and good. But the BBC already has five analogue radio stations in Radios One to Five Live, financed by the licence-fee. Now licence-payers are paying for its digital radio which covers only 70 per cent of the country, though the BBC hopes it will reach 85 per cent by next summer. It seemed to me that once again the BBC was spreading itself too thinly. Instead of having constantly to seek aboveinflation increases in the licence-fee each time, it might think of ways of putting the money into its five core networks or perhaps even think of reducing the licencefee. I feel pretty much the same about its digital television stations.
As far as the people behind Oneword are concerned, one can only admire their boldness. The station tells me it has an audience of only 61,000, though its highest was 120,000. It was started by Unique Broadcasting Media, which produces material for Radios Four and Two, and a Hong Kong firm called US', which, curiously, owns Gieves & Hawke. Obviously, it doesn't make a profit yet, though as its audience rises with the growth of digital radio so will its advertising and sponsorship deals. Before Christmas it was said that there were only 300,000 digital radios but with the BBC using its analogue networks to plug its digital stations — and how! — that number is sure to climb. It's also available on Sky and Freeview as well as the Internet.
The price of digital radios is also coming down. From £800 four years ago, you can now buy one for under £100. Ben Budworth hopes they'll eventually be £20 each. Sony is re-entering the market and Ford is said to be installing digital radios in its new cars next year. In its press release, Oneword asks, 'Who needs Radio Four?' I do, for one. Oneword is similar ih that it broadcasts dramatised readings of books, plays and archive comedy. It also has a daily author-interview programme, Between the Lines, presented by Paul Blezard, and a show about books and the book trade called Footnotes. It lacks news and current affairs, which give Radio Four a sharpness, an edge. Oneword doesn't carry news, though the focus-groups it consulted said they wouldn't have minded short bulletins. If, as they hope, they move offices to the ITN building this year, the station might be able to carry some news. It has a weekly programme called Planet Politics, which interviews politicians, but that's about it.
To follow the audio-books on Oneword you need more of a commitment to listen. Before Christmas the audio-hook of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, read by Peter Firth, was broadcast in nine two-hour episodes over almost a fortnight. It would have been impossible for most people to have stuck with it. One hopes that Oneword succeeds. In our dumbed-down, celebrity-obsessed culture, a radio station that promotes literature should be encouraged.
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