Digital Demands

Ralph Bernard, GWR Group’s chief executive, has called on the Government to help fund the commercial development of Digital Audio Broadcasting. He appealed for the cost of DAB to be taken into account when setting licence fees.

Speaking at the FT New Media and Broadcasting conference, Bernard revealed that the Group’s national station, Classic FM , had contributed £5.5 million to the Treasury in licence fees and revenue payments since going on-air in 1992. Bernard stated: “If that money was made available for commercial DAB development, it could be used to research the market for DAB and create the infrastructure that will be vital for its success. The scale of investment and period of return are beyond our normal expectations, for DAB to work something must be done to stimulate the market.”

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