Ofcom enlists 4-year-olds to boost dodgy DAB stats • The Register

Do you listen to the radio? Do you use a DAB digital radio? Are you concerned about a digital switchover for radio which will mean that FM radio will be phased out?

Ofcom have produced the latest in a series of reports on which the future of radio broadcasting in the UK will be based. It seems to skew the data it uses on purpose to indicate that the use of analog radio is waning and that DAB uptake is a success.

For example, Ofcom claims five digital-only stations are reaching over one million listeners a week. However, the ‘listeners’ it cites are aged 4+ instead of the industry-standard benchmark of 15+.  Other ‘statistical shenanigans’ are also pointed out in this article at The Register.

It’s designed to convince us that DAB is a good idea and a complete success which we should all rush out to support by buying DAB radios and junking our perfectly-serviceable (and superior quality) FM sets.

There’s also a more in-depth blog about it by a chap called Grant Goddard, an independent media analyst, here – http://grantgoddardradioblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/lies-damned-lies-and-ofcoms-first.html

We’re being fed false information again. Somebody have a word before we’re sold a digital pup.