BBC out of tune with rushed switch to digital

DAb radio – what a rip-off! Like many others I bought a DAB radio when the BBC launched Radio 4 Extra, purely to hear something different and entertaining. Sadly many of the current Radio 4 comedy offerings fail to even raise a smile let alone a laugh, compared to older comedy that had skill and wit.

Unfortunately I didn’t take into account the penalties of using a DAB radio – like having to leave them plugged into the mains to retain their memory, their breathtaking capacity for using batteries, the inability to have two DAB radios on in the near vicinity as well as fluffy reception.

What really was annoying was listening to a BBC spokesman recently defending digital broadcasting and assuring us it was much better than before, and that ‘new’ DAB radios were far better now than the original ones as regards battery life. He was wrong on that one because my new Bush portable radio got through a new set of Duracell batteries in three weeks, with a mere two hours listening to a station while the rest of the time it was on standby. No wonder Bush supply a mains dropper with it.

The whole concept of DAB, I think, was pure vanity by the BBC and the Government to be the first country in the world to be totally digital – the true facts being that the initiative has caused millions of good FM radios to be junked; they are certainly not eco-friendly as regards energy consumption and they still have reception problems, especially those fitted in new cars.

The old FM radio could be switched off for six months and then be switched on again without having gone flat. I dread the day when the BBC switch off the FM wavelength permanently – I feel sure they will lose a lot of devoted listeners!