The Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) standard is in crisis, says an columnist at Radio Netherlands. The standard is based on 20-year-old technology and didn’t start rolling out until a few years ago. Adoption is still quite spotty by both broadcasters and listeners. Audio quality is poor because of the tradeoffs of frequency versus compression, so there’s no audiophile advantage here. The UK is the one spot of bright light in which 1.2 million DAB receivers have been sold to date.

There are newer proposals that the commentators doesn’t mention, such as iBiquity’s IBOC (in-band on-channel) used for high-definition (HD) radio in the U.S. and DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale), an in-progress standard for creating a harmonized worldwide modern specification.

iBiquity would like IBOC to spread further as they own a number of key patents, but I would strongly state they’re not asking for ruinous fees to judge by what radio stations pay to install HD and the upcoming expectations of sub-$300 HD radio receivers this year.