I wouldn't be too sure. DAB+ may have a more-modern
codec etc, but isn't compatible with the present system.
I think consumer resistance will make it a dead duck.
There is little demand for high-quality radio...

In the US, digital radio is transmitted in-band, on both the FM (VHF) _and_
AM (MW) bands. I don't much care for the sound of it -- even at 96kbps, it
sounds rather flat, squashed, and airless -- but it works without requiring
a new band. And the sound quality of the BBC and other auxiliary "talk"
channels is acceptable.

Sony has an HD digital tuner (XDR-F1HD) using Philips chips that has simply
incredible performance. In terms of sensitivity, separation, and distortion,
it blows away (by a wide margin) the best conventional tuners costing
thousands of dollars -- and it retails for $100. (That's not a mistype.) I
got mine for $50, using an iBiquity.rebate. (iBiquity is the company that
developed this system. It's called "HD", which is supposed to mean "hybrid
digital" (as the digital data are transmitted along with the analog), but
the name conveniently suggests "high definition", which the sound
most-definitely is not.)

You can see my review ("HD is lossy compression -- what did you expect?") --
and others -- he

http://www.amazon.com/review/product...DateDescending

There has been talk about opening a VHF band with truly uncompromised
digital transmission. But it's unlikely this will ever occur, as people will
not be willing to replace existing tuners and receivers.