As another Hong Kong broadcaster gives up on digital radio, when will the trigger finally be pulled on this idea?
A former RTHK veteran explains the plentiful reasons behind a failed media experiment
Metro Radio announced on Monday it would like to return its digital broadcasting licence to the government, ending years of trying in vain to open up a new market – one that nobody really wanted – with little success.
The audience was small; advertising revenue was even smaller. The writing was on the wall for Metro Radio’s digital broadcasting well before the station’s announcement – it became a matter of when rather than if after Digital Broadcasting Corporation (DBC) earlier decided to return its licence and wind up.
I am not sure if digital broadcasting should ever have started in Hong Kong at all. When I was working for RTHK in the 1990s, I attended an international conference on digital broadcasting in Europe.
Having gathered the latest information globally and analysed the trends, I came to the conclusion that it was not worth wasting resources to research digital broadcasting, and made this recommendation to management.
The reasons were plentiful. I don’t think there is any example of a success, while failures are everywhere, and for many reasons. Hardly any consumer would be prepared to spend up to HK$1,000 to listen to a new station, so there is simply no mass market. The rise of internet radio eliminates any advantage digital broadcasting might have, and it costs a fortune to build new radio transmitting towers to broadcast. In fact, the radio market in Hong Kong is already saturated by the three existing stations. Fortunately, management agreed with my view.