Satellite radio tuning in to Britain

Posted by T3 Online on Fri 29 Sep 2006

Kiss crumbly DAB reception goodbye - Satellite radio's heading to the UK, with more channels than you can shake an aerial at.

America's had satellite radio for years, it's massively popular and doesn't suffer from the flaky reception issues hampering DAB. Now two broadcasters want to bring it to Britain.

WorldSpace and Ondas Media reckon we'll lap up their range of channels, and WorldSpace even thinks it could offer 50 advert-free stations in the next two years.

Like satellite TV, radio from space delivers signals in a whopping footprint covering the entire country, rather than the regional broadcasts, or multiplexes, from ground-based DAB transmitters.

That means reception's generally better, especially in rural areas not blessed with digital radio through the current system.

The equipment needed to pick up the broadcasts could be cheaper too, thanks to lowered costs from several years' adoption in the US.

There could be a stumbling block in the form of subscription though. We Brits aren't used to paying for our radio programmes, but satellite services are likely to charge.

That fee could be as little as £5 a month, but with stations from the BBC, and commercial rivals available for nothing, is it really worth the extra expense?