Decentered Media is publishing a new briefing paper examining the outcomes of the Small-Scale DAB programme and its implications for local and independent broadcasting. This blog post accompanies the paper and is intended to situate it as a discussion document for policymakers, regulators, and sector stakeholders.
The briefing reviews available regulatory data, market structures, and operational evidence from community and small independent services. Its central finding is that, while Small-Scale DAB has enabled additional digital capacity in some areas, a significant number of services are unable to participate on sustainable or proportionate terms. The constraints identified are primarily financial and operational rather than editorial or organisational.
The evidence indicates that transmission costs, multiplex governance arrangements, coverage requirements, and ongoing operational liabilities create barriers for certain categories of service. These include very small-scale operations, services with limited income potential, and services whose audiences or purposes do not justify continuous digital carriage costs. As a result, participation in digital radio is uneven, even within areas where multiplexes have been licensed.
A key policy implication is that current regulatory frameworks implicitly treat digital transmission as the default or preferred pathway for local radio development. The briefing suggests that this assumption does not adequately account for variation in service models, resources, or public purposes. In practice, this creates a structural disadvantage for services that are viable in analogue form but not in digital form under existing cost and governance conditions.
The paper therefore considers the continued role of AM and FM transmission within a mixed economy of provision. It does not argue against digital development, but it notes that analogue services can, in some cases, deliver public benefit at lower cost and with lower operational risk. Where spectrum remains available, the briefing suggests that analogue licensing should be treated as a legitimate and proportionate option rather than a transitional anomaly.
The briefing also raises questions about how programme success is evaluated. Metrics focused on the number of licensed multiplexes or services carried do not, on their own, capture service sustainability, diversity of provision, or long-term resilience. The paper suggests that future reviews should consider whether policy objectives relating to plurality, access, and local accountability are being met across the full range of service types.
Decentered Media is publishing this briefing to support evidence-based discussion with Ofcom, DCMS, and parliamentarians. It is not a proposal for a single regulatory outcome, but an analysis intended to inform review processes already anticipated within the regulatory cycle.
Responses, corrections, and counter-evidence are welcomed. The intention is to contribute to a clearer understanding of how transmission policy affects different parts of the local and independent radio sector, and to support proportionate regulatory decision-making based on observed outcomes rather than assumed trajectories.