Meh, not much has changed since the last survey’s cumes.
Pity gfk never releases the figures splitting the AM station’s DAB and analogue services. That would be interesting.
Oh and doublej… Sydney’s about the only place that cares. And not even great there. And to think people were pushing for doublej to be on FM at the last election. I think it was a “we’ll see if it’s feasible, but what a great idea” moment. Ha!
Yeah in its current form Double J would be a complete waste of FM space. It’s so obscure and niche. It needs to be more mainstream.
Double J’s a public service and not the kind of thing you can really measure in ratings, though, also if they’re low it might be because most people don’t have/know about/care about DAB+…. chicken or the egg? I agree their format is a bit all over the place atm
Triple J is a waste of space, let alone Double J. 
What they should do I think is take Classic FM off FM, surely that must serve a very small number of people and Double J would be a better use of those frequencies. Can the fringe demographic of Classic FM nerds not put up with using internet radio or admittedly pretty OK sounding 120kbps DAB?
No, what they probably will do is take Classic FM off and sell the frequencies to a commercial operator. Because that’s what governments do.
It appears that CRA are happy with the current DAB+ allocated spectrum and infrastructure but will not be making any further investment in the foreseeable future.
At the end of the day, someone has to foot the bill, and with a weak advertising market post-COVID, and the increased competition from international streamers, you can see the logic in this. To continue to be successful, you need a sustainable financial footing.
It will be interesting to see if the ABC ever decides to go it alone and launch its own DAB services in some of the major regional centres like Newcastle or the Central Coast, like what they’ve done in Launceston.
And the commercial sector wants taxpayers to foot the bill. You watch…they’ll use those reasons to cry poor and they’ll ask the taxpayer, probably via the ABC, to splash out for DAB+ or DRM or whatever system they go for in regional areas.
Did you actually read what Lizzie Young (CEO of CRA) said? There is not going to be any rollout of DAB radio in regional areas as it’s not a priority for them.
Yes I did read that piece of corporate tripe.
But I reckon if they don’t have to pay for it, it become a massive priority. 
If the ABC rolls it out, what’s the bet that they’ll want a piece of the spectrum or mux for their stations. At no charge to them, of course.
I doubt it. Has ARN launched DAB in Launceston off the back of the ABC? No.
Things change. Did ARN do this before they realise K&JO was a massive mistake and a drain on their resources?
You’re probably right in saying the commercial sector will stop with the DAB rollout. But, I’m saying if the ABC and SBS did it, the commercial sector will cry out for parity and equality and all that BS and want access at no charge, on ABC/SBS MUXs and spectrum.
And who funds the ABC? Us. Therefore, they’ll ongoing push forward if we pay for it. Not them.
I doubt it. They’re already doing well with the existing metro spectrum and streaming.
It’s also a big if, if the ABC decides to roll out DAB to more regional areas. From what I’ve heard and seen, it’s not likely or would be dependent on extra govt funding. Having said that, it would be good for places like Newcastle, Wollongong and Sunshine Coast to have ABC and SBS services on DAB (the full suite).
Take metro out of it. I’m thinking only of the regional areas.
They’ve said it’s not a priority from the CRA point of view. But if the ABC and SBS gets that additional funding to roll out digital radio into country areas…and the commercial sector goes kicking and screaming to the government of the day demanding access to the MUXs and spectrum at no cost, claiming parity and equality.
That’s what I’m getting at. The commercial sector isn’t saying it, but I am because I’m playing devils advocate (or avocado if you like). They don’t want to go further because it will cost them more. If someone else is rolling out the infrastructure, then all well and good, let’s go leech off them.
Launceston isn’t really a launch - it’s a very low power service barely covering the CBD, not a full power site with coverage not much more than those on channel repeaters in metro areas.
Given it was a trial site for how the ABC could do digital radio cost effectively that it hasn’t rolled out further is not a good sign for the ABC’s interest and the likelihood of them even just expanding it to be high power for North East Tasmania, let alone other regional areas.
Is it still on air? I thought it shut down
Does anyone know why ABC chose Launceston? Seems pretty random. Places like Townsville, Albury, Ballarat and Toowoomba are much, much larger. In fact Launceston comes in as only the 21st biggest city in the country.
ABC Classic has way more listeners than Double J! Even more than Radio National, although that’s not saying much. Not really a niche station.
A lot of GP clinics in my area play Classic FM in the waiting room, so there’s at least a few people that listen.
While I personally wouldn’t mind that as it would open up more commercial formats on FM, I don’t think any government would do that - particularly a Labor government. If Classic FM does get taken off FM, it will be replaced by ABC Local in my opinion, at least in the metros. In the regions where ABC Local is already on FM it could make way for either Double J or ABC Country.