County-based radio `at risk' in digital age

County-based radio stations would not survive a full switchover to digital transmission, local radio station executives have been warned.

Mr Joe Yerkes, the chief executive of Midlands Radio 3, told a meeting of local radio executives yesterday that a full transition to digital radio would see the State divided into a small number of radio regions and would make it commercially impossible to provide a service to just one county.

Speaking to The Irish Times before the meeting, which journalists were not permitted to attend, Mr Yerkes said it was possible that the digital transmission network could divide the State into as few as six regions.

"Those regions might each carry six or seven stations, all equally distributed to the same area of as many as eight counties," Mr Yerkes said.

"That sounds great, because it means more service, but what it really means to the listener is that the local value that they get today will not be possible commercially.

"You have 21 local radio stations today that have protected areas. If digital becomes real, it's going to lead to a restructuring of the ownership of the industry. The only solution to that is more frequency availability, and at the moment it just doesn't exist," he said.

The restructuring caused by a complete switchover to digital broadcasting would be damaging to local democracy. "Any politician outside of Dublin will tell you that he relies heavily on the local radio station for access and that's what gets him elected.

"The radio stations are going to have to be very commercially structured, and that's going to mean less access for politicians and local communities. In a situation where there will be six or seven stations fighting for a small pot of revenue, we're going to be playing a lot more music and doing a lot less of that kind of stuff," Mr Yerkes said.

The prospect of the analogue network being switched off was remote at present, but digital technology was becoming more readily available. The price of a digital radio had come down from £800 to £150 in just two years.

He called on the Independent Radio and Television Commission to consult more closely with independent broadcasters.