It's official, digital radio's not that good: Minister overseeing switch from analogue says sound quality often poor

It was meant to bring reliable radio listening into the 21st century.
Now even the Government minister overseeing the switch-over to digital radio has admitted what listeners have been saying for years: the new service is often marred by poor sound quality.
Culture minister Ed Vaizey also conceded that there were 'elements of truth' in claims that digital radio coverage is not as good as analogue.

His admission potentially deals another blow to the switchover project, which has faced opposition from FM loyalists who cannot see the point of moving the major stations off the analogue service.
Speaking at the Drive To Digital conference, hosted at the BBC this week, Mr Vaizey said: 'You will no doubt have heard the negatives of digital radio, there has certainly been no shortage of column inches devoted to the subject.

'They often suggest that DAB is an out-of-date technology, that coverage and sound quality are inferior to analogue and listeners are already happy with what they've got, so why change? There are of course elements of truth in all these statements.' 
Despite this admission, Mr Vaizey added: 'However, it is all too often presented as a one-sided argument,' before saying: 'There are also many positives.' 
His comments come after a leaked government document revealed earlier this year that radio switchover will be delayed by another two years to 2017.

That memo showed the 'aspirational' 2015 target date had been abandoned as the radio industry would be unlikely to be able to meet the infrastructure costs.
Last night critics used the minister's comments to renew calls for the Government to abandon any target dates for switchover.
William Rogers, chief executive of the UKRD radio group, said it was 'frustrating' to hear Mr Vaizey acknowledge the problem but then 'not take any notice of it'.
He added: 'Most people can't tell the difference [between analogue and digital] in any event.'
At the event this week Mr Vaizey claimed the UK, which has 14million digital sets, 'leads the world' in digital radio. About a quarter of all radio listening is through digital and one in five cars are fitted with DAB as standard.
And the BBC has said it will pay for the expansion of its national DAB platform to 97 per cent of the population, from the current figure at just over 90 per cent, even though the corporation is facing huge cuts.
But earlier this year Ofcom research showed that three analogue sets are still being sold for every one which has the new technology.
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: 'The Government is committed to securing a digital future for radio, but has always been clear that switchover cannot be imposed on an unwilling public.'