Digital technologies

Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB)

With the growth of technology comes a new form of radio which is digital audio broadcasting DAB for short. It is used in several countries and still expanding, in 2006 a survey showed that approximately 1,002 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format.

DAB offer more of a range of radio programmes over a specific spectrum then FM radio. DAB hasn't as much interference however the DAB reception quality falls rapidly when the signal strength falls below a certain amount, unlike FM were the quality falls slowly with the decreasing signal.

Digital radios now have screens showing you information about what you're listening to, whether you're looking for the artist who's singing the song, the name of the song, news headlines, or the latest sports results. This is a great advantage for radio and for the listeners ow ever a disadvantage with the new DAB is that old generation cars cannot access this type of radio due to the fact they don't have the specific technology.

DAB digital radio networks already cover most of the major towns and hundreds of motorways and major roads. Both digital one and the BBC are currently reaching out to 8 out of 10 people in Britain which is also expanding.

Advantages of DAB

- Good constant reception
-Less interference problems
- More stations available
-Good sound quality
- LCD display


Disadvantages of DAB

- The reception can drop very fastly in hilly areas
-Coverage is not great
-Heavy battery consumption
-some cars can not receive the transmission due to the fact they don't have moder technology installed in the car.

In my opinion i think that radios should continue to broadcast FM, AM and digital due to the fact that some homes wont be able to access digital so therefore to cater for everybody, radios should include all three topics. Most people are use to AM and FM and therefore might not like the big change into digital radio and therefore radios could offer the choice instead of just using digital broadcasting.



DRM Digital Radio Mondiale

The new DRM broadcasting system has been designed by broadcasters, for broadcasters. Its been designed as a high quality digital replacement for the AM and FM radio broadcasting. It can now include more channels then AM by using various codecs.
DRM has a strong signal then AM and FM and due to the frequency that it uses. There are many advantages and benefits about DRM such as..

Listeners

Easier tuning
Better quality sound
Would now be able to access pictures and data


Manufactures

Increase market potential
New areas of interest
Replace receivers with new digital receivers


Broadcasters

Can reduce the power consumption to up to 40%-50%
It will allow multiple programming allowing more data to be transmitted
Increases opportunity for revenue

reception Platforms

Listening to he radio can be done in various of ways such as through a radio which can be found in cars, or in households, on telly through BBC iPlayer (as mentioned before) and on the computer. You can also access radio on a tablet e.g. iPad, mobile phones and televisions whic is a great advantage for raido stations. Through the years technology has advanced so therefore there are more ways to listen to the radio giving more people the chance to get involved and for radio stations to gain bigger audiences.

 Terrestial reception is a old fashioned radio reception, where to listen to the radio you had to have a aerial that could receive the sound wave signals to your stereo or transmitter radio and car radio.

Satellite radio is another type of way that radio signals can be sent, this is done by radio waves being sent out to space VIA satellite then sent back to the household owner who has a satellite dish fitted to their house. When the signals are being sent back to your house from the space the waves are transferred into audio and sound which will able you to listen and watch the show. This can be done around the world.

  

Distribution Technologies

With the advance of technology comes more ways in which radio stations can distribute their show, this can be done through the use of podcasts and iPlayer. By more ways of distribution gives radio stations a great advantage in getting a bigger audience and making sure they don't loose any fans.  This is also a great advantage for listeners because when ever they're not available they don't need to worry due to the fact they can catch up on the show on podcasts and iPlayer.

A podcast is just one way in which radio stations can distribute their shows. A podcast is a type of digital media which consists of audio radio, video, PDF or ePub files. This is then streamed to a computer or a mobile device where you'll be able to access the podcast. Alot 3G phones are now capable of allowing you to access a podcast. The BBC and absolute radio each have their own podcasts.

 http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/podcasts/ Here is a link to absolute radios website where you can access their podcasts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts This a link to the BBC website were you can access their podcasts

Each website also allows you to download the podcasts in order for you to keep and listen to when ever your free or depending on your availability.

Another way of distribution is BBC iPlayer which is a free service which allows you to catch up on programmes you have missed out on and radio programmes. It streams live shows which you can listen to but also you can catch up on programmes which you have missed in the last 7 days.

Listen again in radio means listening back to any radio stations in the past 7 days of broadcasting. This can be done through the distribution technologies such as BBC iPlayer ad Podcast.


Independent companies distribution content

With the advance of technologies has also made it easier for independent companies to produce their own show and for it to be broadcasted and listened to. In the old days people would have to record their show to a CD or tape and then send it of to a major radio company, but because of the advance in technology people can now make their own radio sows at home using microphones, phones for interviews and using specialist software. All they need to do then is to upload it to an email and send it off. This saves time more and effort for independent companies giving them more of a chance to get their show broadcasted. In college we have our own radio equipment which we can use to record or own show and then we could email it and sent it off. This also gives us as students and many other people opportunity's to experience what its like to create and host their own radio show.

Introduction

In this assignment I will be looking into the new technologies whihc have been introduced to the radio  industry. I have been asked to write a report on new tecnologies in the uk Radio industry.

The main tree topics I will be looking into are

- Digital technologies
-Distribution Tecnologies
-Reception platforms

In the UK we have AM, FM and DRM, the frequency that we have now gone for is DRM.