News story about the indefinite postponement of the DAB digital radio switchover government policy in Denmark, written by Grant Goddard in December 2010 for Grant Goddard: Radio Blog.

1. NEWS: "DAB RADIO: WE DO
NOT USE IT HERE!" SAYS
DENMARK
by
GRANT GODDARD
www.grantgoddard.co.uk
December 2010

2. News: "DAB Radio: We Do Not Use It Here!" Says Denmark page 2
©2010 Grant Goddard
‘DAB radio: we do not use it here!’ said the headline in daily newspaper 'Ekstra Bladet' last
month, noting that the proposed digital radio switchover in Denmark has been postponed
indefinitely.
Danish state radio, Danmarks Radio [DR], confirmed that it will half its number of DAB radio
channels, reducing its total radio services from 23 to between 10 and 12 by next year. In April
2010, the government had insisted that state radio should, in future, focus on quality rather
than quantity [see my earlier blog]. Despite having launched its DAB channels in 2002, in
aggregate they achieve less than a 10% share of radio listening in Denmark.
Mikael Kamber, media director of Danmarks Radio, commented: “It was a great idea when we
introduced so many DAB stations at that time. Then, they were a public service channel
assignment. DR helped launch digital listening. But I will say that, today, we can state: mission
completed.”
Kamber suggested that, with the growth of online music players such as Spotify and TDC Play,
consumers now had lots of other options to find exactly the music that suits their tastes. He
explained: "Anyone listening can go online and find exactly what interests him. If you want to
hear saxophone music, then there are plenty of opportunities to find it. You can even find
saxophone music from the New York school on the web ".
One of the factors limiting DAB usage has been listener inertia. In 2009, nine out of ten Danes
listened to only one or two radio stations each week. “New figures show that only 6% of
listeners to [youth station] P3 change channel,” said Danmarks Radio media researcher
Dennis Christensen. “The remainder listen to P3 whenever they turn on their radios.”
[First published by Grant Goddard: Radio Blog as 'Denmark: "DAB Radio: We Do Not Use It Here!"', 7 December
2010.]
Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of
experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy
roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at
http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk