It's not for want of choice. Four of the city's 13 radio stations still broadcast primarily in English, though all but one are restricted to the AM dial, where they are overpowered by static in much of the SAR.

The English-language stations are kept alive largely by legal obligations imposed on the city's three radio broadcasters and their programming is a pale shadow of what it was pre-handover. Not surprisingly, none of the channels are to be found among the city's seven most popular stations, as tracked by Nielsen Media Research.

What hope there is for a revival of English-language radio and any expansion into other European and Asian tongues lies with digital radio, an evolving technology that offers the promise of refreshing radio in the same way that cable and satellite television transformed TV: Improving reception and ushering in dozens of new channels.

And digital radio's day has arrived in Hong Kong. Sort of.

Since February, Radio Television Hong Kong has been rebroadcasting its two English and five Chinese channels using digital audio broadcasting (DAB) technology, but there are a few catches.

First off, though more than a million DAB radios have been sold worldwide and many are built in Guangdong factories, no retailer in Hong Kong is selling them. RTHK has borrowed a few dozen radio sets from a local manufacturer to circulate for trial use and demonstrate on weekends in shopping malls.

Second, RTHK is using just two of its nine transmitter sites for DAB, restricting the reach to Sha Tin and the bulk of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

Third, the broadcasts are officially operating on a test basis. RTHK is in the midst of its second consecutive six-month test and officials say they may ask for another extension, but the government-owned broadcaster doesn't have permission for permanent transmission.

Lastly, RTHK isn't offering any unique content on its DAB radio broadcasts. More on that in a moment.

I recently got a hold of one of RTHK's sets - a Goodmans GSR 75 portable that sells for 60 (HK$850) or so in the United Kingdom - and put it through its paces head-to-head with a venerable, battle-scarred Sony AM/FM portable with a broken handle and damaged antenna.

The Goodmans' range proved no better than promised. At home in the eastern New Territories, the set picked up nothing at all. Out there, most RTHK channels come in with some degree of interference so clarity would be much welcomed.

The Goodmans lived up to its billing at the Kowloon harborside campus of The Standard. Once switched on, the radio automatically makes a quick scan of available channels. Pushing "prev/next'' or "up/down'' buttons then switches the radio directly from channel to channel and a small text window displays the available channels by name; no need to turn knobs as on the Sony. Score one for DAB.

Tuning into RTHK channels carried on FM and their DAB counterparts, there's little difference in sound quality. Both the Sony and the Goodmans sound tinny but clear, reflecting the low-quality speakers included with both sets.

The Goodmans comes with sockets for stereo cables that can be used to make it a receiver for a better sound system, where its sounds might really shine. Half a mark for flexibility.

The Sony lost its way on the AM dial. RTHK3 couldn't be located at all. Voices on RTHK6, which carries BBC World news and other programming, were drowned out by a static drone. RTHK's Putonghua channel came in marginally better. On RTHK5, at least, music and voices came in about even with the white noise.

The Goodmans, by contrast, played the four AM-based channels as clearly as it did the FM-based ones. London calling, indeed. Point with flourish for the DAB.

I mentioned earlier that RTHK isn't offering additional radio content on DAB. But each of its channels are running text messages that jog across one line of a small monotone screen on the Goodmans.

Recently one channel used the window to show the weather and another closing stock information while others promoted an upcoming shopping mall DAB demonstration. Another time, one channel had information about road closures.

Mildly useful stuff, but more attractive might be the approach of some foreign DAB stations which do what Internet radio already does - show the title and singer of the current song or news and sports headlines. The set also comes with a Nicam-like function for switching between primary and secondary radio feeds on the same channel, but RTHK isn't exploiting this.

RTHK officials previously said they would prepare some special programs to show off the full multimedia possibilities of DAB, but spokeswoman Clara Li says this part of the test has been postponed.

A more expensive but impressive test would show off the high capacity of DAB technology with new radio content. With DAB, the equivalent of a traditional single-channel transmitter can broadcast six high-quality radio channels. The real payoff for Hong Kong is the potential for new channels as the city has far fewer radio stations than comparably sized cities elsewhere.

The prospects for DAB in Hong Kong are brightening, if only because of discomforting comparisons with our neighbors. Singapore has had regular DAB broadcasts since 1999 and Taiwan, South Korea and even China have moved more quickly than Hong Kong, where the government has repeatedly said in recent years that it would take a "market-led'' approach on digital radio, whatever that means, even though it is compelling TV broadcasters to go digital.

International DAB promotion groups report that Radio Beijing began DAB trials last month with plans for regular broadcasts later this year. Singapore last month licensed its second DAB broadcaster, this time a company offering programs by subscription.

A paper recently posted to the website of the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) reports that the agency has conducted a preliminary study which "found that some frequency channels could be made available for DAB'' and that the agency is coordinating with mainland authorities with an eye towards issuing a new frequency plan next year.

Don't touch that dial.