Summary
They were all at it. Governments all over the world were auctioning off radio spectrum to the highest bidders. Make no mistake about it, the bids were high. So high in fact that only now we may hear about the true cost. Of course there are some 'secrets' behind this which the broadcasters and government would prefer not to be broadcast! These are DAB, DVB-T and HD, and DRM... all of which are changing the use of spectrum, although not quite as you might first think. All this means the small guys who didn't buy overpriced spectrum are on to a winner., see commentary for more details.
Analysis
The first, and perhaps worst kept secret is that of DAB. The much touted digital-radio-as-good-as-your-cd-player is actually not so good for the mobile listener. The problem has been a phenomenon known as "the digital cliff edge". The sound is great to a point where suddenly it vanishes, rather than fades like a regular AM or FM signal. The broadcasters cannot get enough coverage to prevent signal drops, so DAB at the part of the broadcast spectrum it works on, is almost useless in your car.
Joe Public of course, with the uptake of MP3 has proven that CD quality is not necessarily that important compared to portability. Following that trait, Joe is not going to rush out and buy DAB if his old FM radio does a better job at a lower cost.
The next big secret is Digital TV - the format of DVB-T is changing to DVB-T2 to be able to support HD, so your old set top box won't receive HD-TV over digital terrestrial without an upgrade... Joe Public has to pay out again.
The last is that the old AM radio bands are quietly being transformed to a decent digital format Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM). So what? So, the old shortwave bands can cover huge amounts of territory using just one transmitter. A broadcaster can cover a very wide area at a low cost, and it won't fade out in your car. A win for Joe Public and the smaller broadcaster - cheap spectrum too!
