Future of digital radio lies in choice.

New commercial digital licences should be used to increase variety, not conformity

When Bruce Springsteen sang about "57 channels and nothing on" back in the early Nineties he was pouring scorn on the endless stream of uninspiring TV stations. For some, he could have equally been discussing UK commercial radio, which is often criticised for tightly formatted playlisting within such a narrow musical field that it is sometimes impossible to distinguish one station from the other.

Anyone, though, in possession of a digital radio - especially those living in a metropolitan area like London - will know that, while commercial radio programmers frequently still go for the safe option, the choice available these days is immense compared to a so-called golden era of the past when all that existed were the BBC stations and a tiny scattering of ILR.

That increased choice has most recently been driven by digital and it is about to enter another exciting new phase, with Ofcom last week unveiling plans for another 13 new licences. Among them will be a second commercial national multiplex, which is likely to take the development of already-existing specialist music radio services several stages further.

The early declaration by Channel 4 that it plans to apply for this licence can ...