I had not seen the whole of the Times report previously. I hope it is accurate (you know what newspaper reporters are like)
There are a few car radios with DAB tuners, but not many, and they are substantially more expensive than their FM predecessors. The same applies to virtually all DAB radios and tuners, and when you consider exactly how many radios most households have, to replace them or adapt them is going to be a very expensive process.
Just for fun count up how many fm radio’s you have that might need converting or replacing.
Pundits may point to the uptake of digital televisions and say well that went quite well, but there was a confluence of several factors (Freeview, and affordable large screen TV’s and some important sporting events) that spurred that processes. Unfortunately DAB Radio has no similar events on the horizon, and there is a very strong following and commitment to the current system. For the consumer I can only see one major advantage and that is the possible number of stations available.
The other claimed benefits of DAB are more difficult to prove and justify. I personally have listened to many different DAB set ups from £30 converters to £500 audiophile DAB tuner equipment, and whilst there is a discernable difference bewteen the cheapest and the more expensive the difference is not as great as the costs may suggest, and in all cases, I found the DAB systems just seemed to produce a rather flat and unemotional sound field which is best described as slightly ‘lifeless’ compared to a good FM broadcast. I was also very surprised to find that BBC radio 7 is only broadcast in MONO, when it is in stereo on the TV Freeview radio channels!
One of the major drawbacks I have found to DAB, is the need for a consistent high strength RF signal and quality. To prevent missed data packets. Many receivers have the facility to show the number dropped or missed data packets, and it is very noticeable how the audio signal degrades with just a few missed packets. This is audible as dropouts and at low numbers it sounds like clipping distortion, but with larger numbers, it becomes more like the comedian and the faulty microphone you actually miss chunks of audio. FM on the other hand given the same types of poor signal produces more his but the content is still discernable. This could be a major annoyance in cars where the aerial is constantly moving and so the signal strength will constantly change.
So at the moment I do not see DAB as being a wholly viable alternative to FM – Long live FM