Norway is about to set a trend. If you haven’t heard, they are going to become the first nation in the world to officially dump FM–frequency modulation–radio.
FM, around since the 1930s globally, has been a steadfast friend to people driving or radio fans for decades.
It’s obvious to say: The popularity of FM has waned recently.. though many still listen, they only do so often because they still don’t have other options..
Options such as DAB. Digital Audio Broadcasting. That is the new system being embraced by Norway. The Ministry of Culture is making the switch. By 2017, FM will start being phased out region by region. But the decision also seems obvious. In Norway, DAB listening now exceeds that of FM.
The squeeze is now on..
Whether other nations quickly or slowly follow Norway’s lead is up for time to decide. It’s clear that others will. And slowly by surely, as people give their love to the NET version of streaming instead of the FM version of sometimes staticy music broadcasting, the switch to DAB will become more of a global thing.
In America, though? I still sense an AM and FM lifespan to last a bit.. heck, there is still a market for ATARI, VHS, and even BETA. Radio will have a few more years before it goes the way of the FAX machine. Oh wait.. FAX machines are still around, too..
DAB, for the record, is used across Europe and Asia Pacific.. There are some interesting technical facts you can read on the means of broadcasting, should you want to.. But the important non technical takeaway: DAB is robust and for mobile listening–which is the really important fact. People have their ‘radios’ everywhere–their phones. DAB works well for the new style of music listening of our era.. DAB reception quality first degrades rapidly when the signal strength falls below a critical threshold, whereas FM reception quality degrades slowly with the decreasing signal.
And now NORWAY is paving the way for a whole new frequency.
So what’s yours, Kenneth?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWkMhCLkVOg]