Still no Nationwide DAB Radio

This was my experience for sure. It was often worse in the evenings too. Back when TuneIn Pro supported timeshifting I'd often go back a minute to give myself a longer buffer but they removed that feature now.

I'd say most people are seeking alternative choices on the internet to the abysmal FM choices in rural Ireland.

What makes my blood boil is people at a time when there was never a better time to be alive for radio/technology/choice whinging about some channel hardly anyone listens to not on a technology nearly half the country couldn't get in the first place.

Who are you paying to listen to RTE gold?

that wouldn't be happening at all seeing as the reasons why the BBC wouldn't be broadcasting here would be available for people to find out.

you under estimate people's capability to find information by a substantial milage.

Alternative rock. It started life as Phantom, initially as a pirate. The rename to TXFM was the last throw of the dice.

your last statement says it all.

the BAI'S restrictive licensing conditions.

your claims are only correct under those, there is no evidence either way they are correct in general because we operate the highest cost regulatory model in europe if not the world, are possibly the highest cost country to do radio and we have a very restrictive model.

there is every justification to remove the effective prohibitions on DAB in ireland and to remove the barriers to entry.

if then you are proven correct that there is no further justification for more stations then so be it, the actual market will have and be able to decide that themselves.

but until then, how things are under the current model aren't proof of anything outside of that model.

The Ocean FMs, Highland Radios, etc etc wouldn't take kindly to having Dublin, Cork, etc stations in their backyard on DAB eating their advertising lunch.

This is why the commercial radio stations had zero interest in it.

There is no point setting up a whole new nationwide broadcasting system at considerable cost when FM isn't full anywhere, even in Dublin.

Sure, open up FM to low-power local "garden shed" type operations if you want, but they'll find it very hard to survive unless their owner/operator is willing to bankroll them. We could have more temporary licences like Xmas FM, maybe local authorities / chambers of commerce would be willing to fund temp licences for a couple of weeks for a local festival etc?

Meanwhile the BAI is fine with mysterious backers from outside the state bankrolling heavy loss-making stations, and those stations broadcasting completely one-sided propaganda and commentary on political matters, provided those stations are designated "religious" 🙄

That's a recipe for destroying local radio altogether, with only nationwide commercial operators left.

Without protection in their local market none of the stations in smaller areas could survive.

not necessarily, it depends on multiple factors and any competition would come with allowing local operators to decide their own content and business model as well.

the reality is that as it stands, due to the BAI's failure to modernise beyond 1989, and the model of regulation and everything else we have, local radio as we know it is on borrowed time, it's a question of when and how it ends.

With that attitude even smartphones and internet would have to be banned, just for Ocean FM or Highland Radio to continue to exist a a single source of information.

I honestly don't really enjoy the Irish local stations for that Anti DAB attitude. They think they are the only ones who do propper radio journalism on a local level, like some historic monarch's divine right - and exactly for that attitude I avoid them. In the end, more and more listeners will consider online alternatives, and there is lot's available in terms of streams on smartphones.

With this attitude the negative status quo regarding DAB will sadly continue: "Ireland is too small", whilst Norway has a similar population and lot's more mountains and fiords to cover, "the ship has sailed" and "now it's too late", whilst at the same time France is rolling out Metropolitain 1 and 2 nationwide, same as the Czech Republic aiming for DAB by 2030.

Or even worse, it'll kill local radio, - it hasn't done so in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Actually most of the pirate operators these days (certainly in Dublin) are oldies oriented. Most of the dance operators from recent years, including the "pandemic" years, went online!

transmission costs are prohibitive for small operations but dozens of community radio stations broadcasting on FM would suggest it's not an issue

But none of these community stations are financially viable, they rely on volunteers to do the work and public funding to keep the lights on. That won't scale to commercial stations on DAB.

I think most Irish dislike the idea of DAB some even hate it, - with comments like "now it's too late" and "the ship has sailed", whilst other countries in the EU are actively doing the DAB roll out towards 2030.

Maybe the attitude will change, once BBC Radio 5 and TalkSport are no longer available on MW and BBC Radio 4 is no longer available on LW?

I also don't know if it's even legally possible to have some UK stations on DAB in Ireland in the future, like Radio 4, Radio 5 and possibly an Irish version of Talksport? ( There is one for for the 5 Million plus Scots in Scotland )

And then besides legal hurdles there would the "why should they?" and the "ever evil Brits" kind of discussion to overcome as well.

It was a pirate operation.