UK Radio Frequently asked questions

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The Digital Britain report published in June 2009 talks about a "Digital Radio Upgrade" plan to be complete by the end of 2015. This would involve existing FM and AM statiions moving to D.A.B by 2015, and the space on the FM band being used for low-powered community radio stations.

More details on the FM Switchoff on our FM Radio page.

A common area of confusion. in the last few years, a host of new "digital" radio stations have appeared. There is common confusion over what exactly "digital" stations are, and where you can find them. The following all class as digital stations:

• Stations that broadcast on audio channels of Sky and Freeview (such as BBC1Xtra and BBC Radio 7). You can listen to these through your TV speaker, and connect the output from your set-top box to a Hi-fi system if required. For a list of radio channels on Sky, click here. For more on Freeview's radio services, click here
• Stations that broadcast on DAB - Digital radio that can be picked up with a special DAB receiver. Portable, in-car and hi-fi DAB receivers are available. For more on DAB, click here.
• Stations that broadcast on the Internet. Streaming audio to your PC via an internet connection. For more on Internet radio, click here.

Some stations broadcast on all of these formats, including the new national radio services from the BBC. If you're looking for more radio choice, you may find that the station you're looking for is available on all of the three options, otherwise consider whether listening to radio through your TV suits your requirements, or whether a portable DAB receiver more suits your needs.

What happens if you want to listen to a specific station, but you're out of the area? Suppose you're a fan of a local radio station, then you move away from the area... or perhaps you want to listen to a local station from work... maybe you've even moved countries and want to keep in touch with news from your home town... There are a few options to try:

• Internet Radio - More and more stations offer a streaming radio service - with their signal being available over the Internet. To receive these, you need an Internet connection (preferably Broadband). Go to the station's website and see if they offer a Listen Live service. If you prefer to listen on something radio-shaped, and not your PC - try something like a BT Voyager or a Wi-fi Internet radio - More on our Internet Radio page
• Digital TV - An awful lot of radio stations (including many local stations) are available on the digital TV platform - The widest choice is available on Sky Digital, including the BBC regional stations, Heart 106.2 (0124), BBC London (0152), LBC (0177), Spectrum (0185) and RTE (0160). Freeview and cable providers also offer radio stations - See our Digital TV page for the options
• Get a good aerial - If you're only a little out of the area, a local aerial contractor may be able to fit a directional FM aerial, pointing directly at the station's transmitter. If you want to Do-It-Yourself, you'll find what you need at Maplin Electronics
  
  

Looking for a portable FM radio with recorder and MP3 player? Try a Zen Micro - It holds 2,500 songs, has an FM radio and recorder, and PC connectivity - and it's smaller than an iPod mini! The Zen Micro will store up to 2,500 songs on its 5GB hard disk, and its easy-to-remove rechargeable battery delivers up to 12 hours of high-quality digital audio. FM radio and voice recording further extend its versatility. More on our Zen Micro page. As of January 2006, a video version, the Zen VISION:M is available.

See our Mobile Audio page

If you know a little about music copyright, you may now that each time a piece of music is played to an audience, a royalty payment is due. In the UK, there are three main bodies that are responsible for collecting royalty fees from radio stations and apportioning the money to their members. They are as follows:

• PRS (Performing Right Society). Body that collects royalties in respect of music played by radio stations for artists and composers. More details at www.prs.co.uk
• PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd). Body that collects royalties in respect of music played by radio stations on behalf of record companies. See www.ppluk.com
• MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society). Body that collects royalties in respect of music played by radio stations, specifically jingles and music used in adverts. See www.mcps.co.uk

Most music radio stations own a 'blanket' licence, that allows them to play whatever music they wish, in return for an annual licence fee (based on audience size and revenue). To allow the likes of PRS to apportion the revenue, PRS ask each station to return a detailed summary on what was broadcast, via a series of random "sampling periods", where all music played including jingles, advert music, and even the presenter singing, gets logged and returned to PRS for analysis.

If you've heard a song but don't know the title or artist, there is a service out there that may be of use. Shazam allows you to dial a number from your mobile, hold the mobile so it can hear the track, and then get the information on title and artist back as a text message. The fastkey number is 2580, and you can find more details on this service at www.shazam.com

Once you have a title and/or artist - try Amazon to order the CD, or download the song legally with napster.co.uk (over 1 million tracks available!)

We quite often get asked what's involved in setting up a radio station in the UK (legally), so here's a few considerations:

• Licensing - UK commercial radio stations are regulated by OfCom. If you want to run a radio station, you need to get a broadcasting licence from OfCom. This includes FM, AM, community, restricted-service and DAB digital stations. For more on licensing, see http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/
• Technical - You have to have a technical plan in place to get your signal broadcast. For FM and AM stations, you need a transmitter - Two firms can help: Arqiva (formerly NTL Broadcast) and National Grid Wireless (formerly BBC/Crown Castle). Those looking to broadcast on DAB will need to reach an agreement with a Multiplex operator covering the required area. If you want to broadcast on Sky, you'll need to negotiate for space on their satellite transponder. Ofcom offers some guidance on this on their website .
• Business plan - To run a radio station, you need a sound business plan to make sure that you can pay the bills, recoup the setup costs, and generate revenue.
• Music - To broadcast music, you'll need to reach agreement with the UK copyright bodies PRS, PPL and MCPS - see above
• Costs - Vary depending on the type of station and the length of the licence period. Costs include transmitter rental, music copyright licence, broadcast licence, premises, studio equipment, broadcast circuits, promotion budgets and staff costs, as well as the standard costs of running a business.

The above gives a general idea of what's involved in setting up a UK station. There are a couple of books on the subject, which may be worth considering. The Ofcom site also carries information on the licensing process and what's involved. For non-UK stations, contact the appropriate regulator in your country for guidance.

Another option open to you, is to consider broadcasting on the Internet - to get started, all you need is a PC and an Internet connection. We have some information on how to set up an online radio station over on our Internet Radio page.
You could also consider creating a podcast - see our DIY Podcast section for notes on how to get started as a podcaster.

One of the slightly annoying things you may notice about digital radio and TV, is that there's a slight time delay in the digital transmissions - sometimes up to a couple of seconds. This can be a pain if you are listening to a digital service with an analogue service in another room,or you're using the BBC pips to set your watch.

The delay is due to the way channels are combined together (multiplexed) and compressed - it's one of the limitations of having a system that can squeeze loads of channels onto a single frequency. Your digital radio is receiving the encoded and compressed signals and using an onboard microprocessor to decode the incoming data and convert to audio - something that doesn't happen with standard analogue TV.

Satellite listeners note that there's also the delay of a round-trip to the satellite and back (Typical delay is 900ms and 2200ms, depending on the data encoding/decoding used, and allowing for the 72,000 kilometre journey)

• Take a look at our industry job links page for some tips
• See our Radio courses page for details of training
• Consider buying a book on the subject. We recommend two books

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