MediaCorp's move to terminate DAB a wise decision: media industry

Jeff Cheong, head of TribalDDB Singapore, noted that Singapore was now a mature smartphone market with good infrastructure that provides easy accessibility to radio via online streaming and mobile phone apps.

“This move may signal a focus to innovate and create new forms of engagement to catch up with new technologies,” he told Campaign.

MediaCorp earlier issued a statement that it would discontinue its DAB service, with effect from 1 December, the company noting that the service had not been financially viable due to the small market size in Singapore.

Dinesh Sandhu, business development director, Southeast Asia, at Media Contacts, agreed that the move was the right one. He noted that listeners can now access radio services in different ways easily, without the need to purchase a designated device.

Launched in November 1999, DBA was one of Asia’s first digital radio services. Audiences received radio transmissions via a DAB set, which gave listeners access to details such as the song title, artists’ name and even traffic reports. This information was available in the form of scrolling text displays on the LCD screen.

Once seen as the “replacement technology” for FM radio, the effectiveness and reach of DAB nevertheless has diminished over time with advances in technology for online streaming and mobile phone apps.

MediaCorp said the growth in listenership on MediaCorp’s DAB service has remained stagnant since the launch of the service some 12 years ago. “On the other hand, the rapid growth in the number of listeners through online streaming and phone app MeRadio has shown that these platforms are serving the listeners more effectively than the DAB platform,” the company said.

MediaCorp plans to redeploy its DAB staff to other operations.