Will DAB become a success in Germany, or will it go down in the German history books as yet another niche service that failed to live up to expectations? That is the question currently being debated by German authorities, which by the end of this month are expected to announce whether the public broadcasters will receive the government funding necessary to re-launch their DAB services – a decision that is likely to have a knock-on effect on the future of DAB across Europe.

In 2008 the KEF (Kommission zur Ermittlung des Finanzbedarfes), which is the body that allocates licence fees for public radio services in Germany, created a stir within the industry by announcing huge cuts in the funding available to public broadcasters for DAB. This decision is now due to be reviewed during the last week of May, with one of two likely outcomes:

Positive outcome for DAB ~ KEF decides to fund the re-launch

If the KEF decides to re-initiate the full funding for public broadcasters, it will be the second piece of good news for DAB in Germany as the federal states recently announced the licensing of a national multiplex for commercial use. The combined momentum of both public and commercial broadcasters moving forward with the re-launch of DAB (or DAB+, which is a flavour of the DAB family of standards) would significantly boost the chances of widespread adoption.

Negative outcome for DAB ~ KEF decides not to fund the re-launch

If, however, the KEF decides to stick with its previous decision of limiting funding to public services, commercial broadcasters would be very reluctant to take on the full cost and risk of the much anticipated DAB re-launch. Without this re-launch (and the accompanying injection of new content and services), DAB adoption in Germany would slowly grind to a halt.

Although many in the industry are waiting for prompt and decisive action by the KEF, it is unclear whether this will occur by the end of May. The difficulty in Germany is the need for a close consensus across a much larger group of stakeholders (including all of the federal states), which inevitably takes longer to reach. This contrasts starkly with France where a huge decision to mandate DAB was recently made by the French government with very little consultation between key stakeholders and much to the surprise of the automotive industry.

So where does this leave vehicle manufacturers? Well, many within the industry are holding their breath in anticipation of the KEF decision. With France already mandating the fitment of DAB-compatible radios, the hope is that Germany will fully embrace DAB in order to increase the likelihood of a pan-European network of DAB services. Only then will vehicle manufacturers begin to ramp up the fitment of digital radios in the car and offer value-added features beyond the limitations of today’s analogue radio.

Are you interested in obtaining more information about DAB?

SBD’s Andrew Hart is speaking at the World DMB Car Manufacturers workshop on the 27th May in Hildesheim, Germany. His presentation entitled Broadcast vs Connected will provide attendees with an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of different content delivery methods being employed by the automotive sector. If you would like to find out more about this event, please visit WorldDMB Forum.

SBD has published a number of reports on the future of DAB in Europe, all of which are particularly tailored to the automotive industry. If you would like to receive more information, please contact Juanita Appleby on jappleby@sbd.co.uk