Last push to save radio mics

Union members across the entertainment industry are being urged to lobby MPs on the future of wireless devices.

The Federation of Entertainment Union, which includes BECTU, Equity, and the Musicians' Union, has joined a campaign to prevent the sell-off of airspace currently used for radio microphones, in-ear monitoring devices, and talkback sets. Debate on the issue is due to close on March 20, only a week away.

Sound operators throughout the film, broadcasting, and live entertainment sector have become increasingly reliant on wireless devices as producers and directors aim for ever-greater spectacle and drama in their productions.

News and sports broadcasters also make extensive use of radio mics, and in the world of entertainment BECTU sound operators have warned that shows like Comic Relief and Live8 would be impossible to produce if airwave regulator Ofcom goes ahead with plans to auction off the frequencies.

Ofcom is currently running a consultation on the future of radio bands that are used for analogue TV broadcasts at present, but will be free for other uses once the old transmitters give way to fully-digital services in 2012.

At the moment, the network that broadcasts BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4, and Five, works on the principle that adjacent areas of the country must use different frequencies in order to avoid interference.

This arrangement creates dead areas of bandwidth called "interleave" between the main TV channels which licenced professionals can use for low-power devices like radio mics without any risk of interference.

Ofcom's plan for the airspace freed up by the analogue TV switch-off is to auction it off to the highest bidders, likely to be telecoms companies, leaving only one 8Mhz channel, number 69, for radio devices.

Because radio mics need to be spaced out on frequencies distant from each other - again to avoid interference with each other - only 8 of them will be useable in a given area if operators are limited to channel 69.

Major stage musicals like the Sound of Music and Spamalot need to use dozens of radio devices, while a TV show like Strictly Come Dancing uses over 100, and a limit of only 8 radio mics will make it impossible to stage these events in their current form.

Ofcom's solution to the problem is a recommendation that sound operators should switch from analogue to digital microphones, which can be crowded together more densely in the available airspace.

However, experienced sound operators say that this won't help if their current frequencies are banned, because digital mic technology is in its infancy, and the present generation of equipment introduces audio delay that cannot be tolerated at live events, or in situations where radio mics are being mixed alongside normal cabled devices.

BECTU is predicting that US film producers might be tempted to avoid the UK if the radio mic changes go ahead, taking millions of pounds out of the industry, and some big stage and TV shows might not happen at all.

Members are being urged to write to their MPs, asking them to sign an Early Day Motion on the issue which has been tabled in the House of Commons. There is also an online petition running on the Number 10 website, wick members are being encouraged to support.

Consultation on the radio mic plan closes on March 20, and along with other unions whose members are affected, BECTU will be making a submission which strongly calls for sound operators to retain their airwaves.