* DAB Award. Ofcom announced today the award of the second national DAB licence to 4 Digital, a group controlled by state-owned Channel 4 broadcasting. Funny how Ofcom often say it’s a new era in radio spectrum management — no spectrum comes free anymore — then award a national DAB licence using a non market-based selection mechanism. Blame Parliament. But it’s nevertheless not joined-up policymaking when some spectrum users avoid auctions.

* I finally plowed through most of Ofcom’s research on news. I thought it was top-notch work, a real step-up from some of Ofcom’s more recent work. Most observers have focused on the impartiality issue (eg, Stewart Purvis) and predictably, there was some talk about Fox News (people never mention Peter Oborne). Most of the talk around news seems to take a binary approach - left wing outlets versus right wing outlets. But reality is so much more complex. News is also about how we perceive religion, business affairs, and our communities. Boiling it down to a left/right take on politics and diplomacy is just too simplistic.

* Our poll on ‘what’s wrong with radio’ has closed. The results:

Ofcom failing to act with the market - 50%

The statutory scheme is out of date - 16%

Poor management at radio firms - 23%

Too many BBC stations - 11%

As always our poll results are certified by the Belorussian Centre for Public Integrity. Our new poll asks about impartiality in the news. Have your say, folks…

* Praise where praise is due. I often poke fun at Ofcom’s attempts to try to simplify data by putting it in a colourful chart of some type that ends up obscuring the otherwise straightforward information. I think New News, Future News does a much better job in a few places. Check out Figures 3.9 and 4.5, for example. That’s the way it should be done. Figure 4.7, by contrast, takes up a lot of space just for 2 numbers that are actually nowhere precisely revealed. And Figure 3.12? Who thought-up that gem?