Good news for Gaels - BBC Alba coming to Freeview!

The BBC Trust has just announced their approval of the plan to make space for BBC Alba on Freeview by giving them the bandwidth used by the BBC digital radio stations of Freeview.  Unsurprisingly, MG Alba are pleased as punch.

Now this will be a right bugger for all those Scots who supported the "save 6music" campaign, because I know that some of them relied on their Freeview boxes.  Expect to see 1001 vitriolic rants on the comments sections of the news websites in the morning.

The big question mark hanging over this is how it will affect plans for FM switchoff.  Current figures used to support the introduction of all-DAB radio use the figures for all digital listening as justification for DAB, while most listeners prefer Freeview for digital radio because it's of a higher quality, even if it does offer less choice.  Does this move help or hinder the campaign to keep FM broadcasts on the air?