BBC and commercial radio clash over DAB move

The Radio Magazine: The Radio 2 controller, Lesley Douglas, has clashed with the Radiocentre chief executive, Andrew Harrison, over a proposed timetable for switching off the BBC’s national radio services on analogue.

In a Radio Festival panel discussion, Douglas rejected calls for Radios 1 and 2 to become digital-only before their commercial rivals, arguing that the move could “cripple the radio industry”.

She was responding to comments made by Harrison and the GMG Radio Scotland programme director Jay Crawford, who argued that the move would drive the take-up of DAB sets and benefit the commercial sector.

Harrison said: “I think it’s a waste of time and effort [privatising the two BBC stations]. We’ve got bigger things to worry about. The quicker that Radio 1 and Radio 2 are made digital-only, the the quicker DAB will become the default standard.”

Speaking at an earlier Radio Festival session, Crawford said: “We would be able to pick up some listeners and get a return on the millions of pounds we’ve invested so far [in digital].”

But Douglas said: “I don’t think Radio 1 and Radio 2 should be solely digital. I think to move Radio 1 and Radio 2 to digital only at the wrong time and ahead of the rest of the industry would cripple the radio industry.”

Asked whether the commercial sector should feel threatened by the appointment of Tim Davie as the new director of BBC audio and music, Harrison said: “I suspect it’s difficult for the commercial sector to feel more threatened than it already is. It’s a lot better to have the marketers at the top table than the accountants.”

He said commercial radio was suffering from an “over-supply” of stations. His comment coincided with the advertisement by Ofcom of what it is likely to be the last-ever FM licence, covering north and mid-Wales.

“There’s too many radio stations out there chasing too little revenue,” he said. “When commercial radio was in its heyday we got the balance right. We’ve now got a very difficult situation. We’ve just reached the tipping point.”

But he added: “Everybody agrees that there’s too many stations. Nobody believes it’s their particular group where the consolidation should start.”