Why is Radio 7 transmitted in mono on DAB?
Whilst Radio 7 is transmitted in stereo on digital TV and the internet, Radio 7 has to share the DAB multiplex with all the other national BBC radio stations. Whilst we may think that our station deserves preferential treatment, our bosses try to be fair to all the stations in their allocation of space on that multiplex. The space we have allows us to broadcast in mono or stereo at 80 kbps (kilobits per second). However to broadcast in stereo would mean having to split the 80 kbps between the left and right channels. At that bit rate the quality of the transmission would be less than optimal. In addition many of our programmes were made in mono. In an ideal world every station would broadcast with at least 192 kbps in stereo, but to do that the BBC couldn’t provide the wide range of stations and programming that it should. That would mean no Radio 7. Given this situation, we took the view that we would broadcast in reasonable quality mono.
Whilst Radio 7 is transmitted in stereo on digital TV and the internet, Radio 7 has to share the DAB multiplex with all the other national BBC radio stations. Whilst we may think that our station deserves preferential treatment, our bosses try to be fair to all the stations in their allocation of space on that multiplex. The space we have allows us to broadcast in mono or stereo at 80 kbps (kilobits per second). However to broadcast in stereo would mean having to split the 80 kbps between the left and right channels. At that bit rate the quality of the transmission would be less than optimal. In addition many of our programmes were made in mono. In an ideal world every station would broadcast with at least 192 kbps in stereo, but to do that the BBC couldn’t provide the wide range of stations and programming that it should. That would mean no Radio 7. Given this situation, we took the view that we would broadcast in reasonable quality mono. Help links • Help homepage • How to listen to
