All digital radio by 2015

All digital radio by 2015 - yeah, right.

We have been told by those on high that in the UK we could be switched over fully to digital radio by 2015. I'm not convinced.

Yes, a lot of us now have access to digital radio, through the internet, Freeview, Sky and cable - but most houses also have a scattering of ordinary analogue radios that they're in no hurry to get rid of.

However, the in-house problem is truly insignificant when compared with car radios. Pretty well every one of the millions of cars on the road has a radio. And to all intents and purposes they're all good old fashioned FM/AM. I have literally never seen a digital car radio. I'm sure they exist - but they mightily scarce, even in new cars.

Replacing the car radio stock is horrendous task - all the more so because of the anti-theft measures many manufacturers take. Both our cars have radios that are inherent parts of the dashboard - you couldn't just slot in a replacement even if you wanted to.

If Digital Britain seriously thinks that we will come close to their criteria for switching off analog radio by 2015 they have been on the happy pills again.

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