Montse Bonet

Keys to the Failure of DAB in Spain

It does not seem too risky or bold—at the start of the new century—to assert that digital radio has an uncertain future. The present article analyzes the causes of the failure of DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) in Spain using particular current and historical features of the Spanish radio industry to do so (note that Spanish radio falls halfway between the North American commercial model and the European public service model). The opinions of different telecommunications experts, comparisons with other European countries, as well as the defining characteristics of the standard chosen, Eureka 147, better known as DAB, are presented.

The Changing Nature of Public Service Radio: A Case Study of iCat fm:

In an openly hostile environment in which public service broadcasting (PSB) has to justify its mere existence, its relationship with new technologies and its transformation into Public Service Media (PSM) have been the subject of controversy in Europe, with respect to the legitimate use of new technologies by a public broadcasting service. Making use of qualitative techniques with a case study, this article illustrates how the Catalan public broadcaster iCat fm uses diverse technological distribution platforms in order to successfully achieve its public service remit proposals and provides an example of a successful public service radio that uses diverse technological distribution platforms.

Radio on the Iberian Peninsula Autarky, revolution and convergence

This article aims to compare Portuguese and Spanish radio broadcasting systems from the mid-1970s to the present, from a political economy approach. It analyses the regulatory framework (communication policies) and the ownership structure. It explains how a highly similar situation has been reached despite having stemmed from a situation defined by different principles, when both political transitions began. To do so, this work also analyses the role of deregulation and its globalising nature. The study focuses on three key periods: the initial period in both transitions, the years following both countries’ admission into the European Community and the start of the new century.

When efficiency meets clientelism: Spectrum management policy and broadcasting model – The Spanish case

According to the predominating discourse, the radio spectrum has been converted into a technological platform of strategic importance for the economic development of countries. Wireless Internet and the promises of access at ‘any time, in any place’ add political and economic pressure to a platform, which has been an almost exclusive monopoly of radio and television for years. The main aim of this article is to study the radio spectrum management in Spanish broadcasting from its origins until the present day. The article also seeks to show the existing relationship between how frequencies are managed and the resulting broadcast model.

The Radio in Spain: European Appearance, Franco’s Legacy

Abstract The democratisation of media depends not only on legal reforms and economic changes introduced into their structure, but also the biasing effect the dominant political culture can exert in this process. As seen in the Spanish radio industry, changes made since the beginning of the political transition period are purely formal because they remain deep traits inherited from the Franco dictatorship such as clientelism and political instrumentalisation. This article analyses the evolution of private radio and relates the survival of typical values of the dictatorship with the persistence of the political culture of Francoism, accepted and internalised by the new democratic regime.

Every Window of Opportunity Needs a Frame to Support It. DAB in Spain: Analog Matters

Radio broadcasting in Spain is still analog and DAB is awaiting its opportunity. Without an audience or receivers, Spanish free-to-air digital radio is inconsequential, merely anecdotal, although the European context is changing and some countries have been investing more in this distribution platform in recent years. This article aims to answer the question why DAB in Spain does not have anyone willing to bring it back to the forefront. To do so, we use the idea of the “window of opportunity” and, along with path-dependence, we place it in the theoretical framework of the main constructivist approaches.