Mixed message

No, it's not another Newsnight photoshop, with Bob 'Red' Shennan superimposed against a backdrop from Les Miserables.

It's one half of the BBC Radio management team trying to avoid a Norwegian solution, in a key note speech at Radio Days Europe in Vienna. At the end of last year, Norway switched off its national FM transmitters, leaving listeners to find their way to programmes via DAB and the internet - local stations are still on FM. Most national stations lost 10% of their audience; the big public broadcaster, NRK, lost 21%.

The BBC has been easing its foot off the DAB accelerator pedal for some time, exhorting listeners to "download the BBC Sport app", "catch-up via the Radio iPlayer", "download from the Radio 4 website", and is in the midst of a podcast frenzy. In theory the DCMS can push for a switch-off of radio on FM when 50% of listening is 'digital'.  The latest figures say that 62% of the UK population tune in to radio digitally each week - either via DAB, DTV, online or an app. The digital share of radio listening stands at 49.9%.  Within that, DAB, which was to be the future of radio, stands at 36.3%.

The DAB conundrum is in cars. It was supposed to be the perfect solution for motorists, getting rid of the ssshh and crackle as drivers moved between FM transmitters. On long drives, DAB has become more of a pain, with the switch between digital multiplexes often requiring too many touchscreen presses if you're on your own in the car. And now there are multiple devices in the front seat; instead of cassettes, phones drive motoring music - either from their music libraries or connected to streaming services.

So Bob has called for a continuation of the current mixed market, a review in years to come, a 're-invention' of radio on 5g smartphones, and more industry wide collaboration.

Collaboration is the buzzword. Except that he's also announced the impending arrival of a new BBC-only Radio App later this year; and the impending arrival of a new Commissioner for Podcasts, a massive BBC growth industry, apparently funded without pain from radio network budgets which are supposed to be cut to the bone. Anne Bulford will, I expect, be asking questions about this economic miracle. I expect commercial rivals to wake up soon and ask sleepy Sir David Clementi for a market impact assessment.