Radio broadcasting’s digital dilemma

Abstract

Although digital radio broadcasting has undergone significant development over the last quarter-century, no single protocol is poised to break out as a bona fide replacement for traditional analogue radio services. This article illuminates the history and status of radio’s digital transition in an effort to understand its stagnancy. The current state of affairs is due to a variety of factors, including a lack of regulatory engagement with the transition, political and economic shifts in the balance of power between the various broadcaster constituencies involved, and the recalcitrance of receiver manufacturers and listeners to adopt any digital radio broadcast technology. The questions raised by the technologically agnostic nature of radio’s digital malaise beg for deeper scrutiny by media scholars, especially those involved in broadcast research as well as technology and policy studies.