RDS in NZ

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richms

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#1475005 20-Jan-2016 04:25

DAB doesnt really offer anything new tho. Its still just a linear playback of stuff. Im guessing the broadcasters are kinda glad they didnt have to deploy it.

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sbiddle

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#1475032 20-Jan-2016 08:11

jarledb:

am289:
Would be great if we had DAB radio in NZ.

Amen! Norway is working towards turning off FM in 2017, and I really miss DAB here in NZ.

I recon DAB will come to NZ when the rest of the world has switched to it (with the exception of USA and Canada who don't use it because the frequencies are used by the US military).

As far as I'm aware the DAB trial in Wellington is still going but I think the Auckland broadcast was stopped.

Nobody cares about DAB so I doubt we'll see it here. The car market will be focused around Carplay and Android Auto within the next year and listing to a linear radio station will be something limited to people who drive around in a 92 Corolla.

DAB has struggled to gain traction in markets outside Europe, and even in Europe the UK was one of the most developed markets but last I read still had less than 40% of radio listening via DAB. They're talking about whether FM shutdown will ever occur there after pushing the dates back. Even Aussie has pretty much accepted FM shutoff may never occur due to the poor DAB uptake.

richms

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#1475056 20-Jan-2016 08:43

My $30 kmart DAB radio is still getting the trial. Only way I have to listen to george without absurd amounts of static since it isnt skytower based, the signal here is good.

With the idea of shutting off FM, what would they use the spectrum for? Its only a 20MHz slice, what would it save them in transmissions etc? Its not like TV where there was a decent change in quality going to digital. The output of most radio stations proves that they dont give a toss about sound quality.

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alasta

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#1475627 20-Jan-2016 18:54

sbiddle: Nobody cares about DAB so I doubt we'll see it here. The car market will be focused around Carplay and Android Auto within the next year and listing to a linear radio station will be something limited to people who drive around in a 92 Corolla.

I have often heard this said by people who only listen to music and only watch entertainment shows on television. However there is still a strong case for linear broadcasting for news and current affairs (or what's left of it). I specifically like to listen to live interviews and commentary during the commute to and from work, rather than content that was recorded several hours ago.

sbiddle

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#1475690 20-Jan-2016 20:39

alasta:

I have often heard this said by people who only listen to music and only watch entertainment shows on television. However there is still a strong case for linear broadcasting for news and current affairs (or what's left of it). I specifically like to listen to live interviews and commentary during the commute to and from work, rather than content that was recorded several hours ago.

I do as well - but you only have to look at the latest radio ratings to see radio is on the same train tracks as the TV3 wreck ahead but just going a little slower. Overall a lot fewer people are listening to live radio, and those that are listening are doing so for a lot less time.

cyril7

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#1475709 20-Jan-2016 21:29

And whats wrong with 92 corolla's, good AWA Clarions, what more could you want!

Cyril

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#1475770 20-Jan-2016 22:42

jarledb:

am289:
Would be great if we had DAB radio in NZ.

Amen! Norway is working towards turning off FM in 2017, and I really miss DAB here in NZ.

I recon DAB will come to NZ when the rest of the world has switched to it (with the exception of USA and Canada who don't use it because the frequencies are used by the US military).

However they have Sirius XM sat radio which is even better, at least in choice! My brother has it in his car and it's awesome.

ScuL

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#1475777 20-Jan-2016 22:51

I've got RDS support on my factory radio (European car).. it worked well with ZM. Switched automatically from ZM Auckland to ZM Waikato and so forth.

The majority of stations show names & tunes.

Haere taka mua, taka muri; kaua e wha.

openmedia

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#1476109 21-Jan-2016 13:12

Got RDS in my new Mazda which is OK, but no traffic alerts like the UK.

Just trying to find a hack to see if it has the DAB tuner from the UK model

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

jarledb

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#1476262 21-Jan-2016 16:38

Geektastic:

However they have Sirius XM sat radio which is even better, at least in choice! My brother has it in his car and it's awesome.

Never going to get satellite radio in NZ. A national DAB network would give the possibility of a lot more national channels with various content, and also makes it easier to cover places like NZ, since it thrives on reflections from mountains etc, and allows for the use of single frequency networks without interference.

Dealing with a national network on FM (or even worse, many of them) is not easy.

Being able to listen to the same channel from top of the north island down to the tip of the south island would be brilliant. I have given up on listening to radio while traveling in NZ - too much dilly-dallying to try and keep reception.

Mobile broadband is not working well for long drives either, it drops in and out. So I am usually listening to offline (downloaded) playlists in Spotify or to downloaded podcasts when we do our cross country drives.

In the city/town its another matter of course, even though its impossible to get channels like ZM everywhere in Napier, getting dropouts quite a few places.

For mass broadcast mobile broadband is still far off from being an alternative to FM or DAB. For one its impossible to scale it to the same amount of listeners that the radio channels reach today, and for another its not as its even covering the main roads in NZ. AND the mobile networks are too fickle for things like emergency broadcast services.

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sbiddle

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#1476264 21-Jan-2016 16:43

jarledb: For one its impossible to scale it to the same amount of listeners that the radio channels reach today, and for another its not as its even covering the main roads in NZ. AND the mobile networks are too fickle for things like emergency broadcast services.

I won't post the number here but it's safe to say I was pretty impressed when I heard the number of active users Spark had for their Spotify deal. In terms of listeners it beats some radio stations out there.

Streaming services such as Spotify don't require full time connectivity and I'm sure a lot of users cache their music. It just means people in their car can listen to what they want to, not what somebody else wants them to listen to.

richms

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#1476269 21-Jan-2016 16:47

For emergency use there are several very good nationwide AM networks. Anything else I don't want to be listening to someone talking crap that is paid placements and other ads with the odd bit of music that is interesting. Podcasts or Spotify FTW.

Richard rich.ms

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