Germany - Current situation - History
20.04.2015
Prof. Dr. Karola Wille, Intendant of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk and Head of ARD’s digital radio project, and Jacqueline Kraege, State Secretary General of Rheinland-Pfalz, on behalf of the German Federal State Broadcasting Commission have both emphasized that a switch from analogue to digital radio in Germany is necessary and inevitable. Future proofing radio means introducing a hybrid approach to radio, combining terrestrial DAB+ and IP, particularly in smartphones.
Parliamentary State Secretary, Dorothee Baer, from the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) announced at an event organised by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure that her Ministry is to launch a high-level Digital Radio Board for Germany, established by both the BMVI and the Bundeslaender. This board’s task will be to create the framework for a DSO roadmap starting June 2015, when the first meeting of high-level representatives from all of the respective German stakeholder bodies is expected to take place.
Read more about these announcements at http://www.bmvi.de/SharedDocs/DE/Artikel/DG/hoerfunk-studie-vorgestellt.html.
Over 91% of the German population can listen to at least one digital radio ensemble. GfK receiver sales data show 50% growth year on year. By the end of 2014 more than 120 national, regional and local programmes will be broadcast in Germany. Regulation for a second national multiplex is pending.
A new platform operator has applied for invitation to tender for second national DAB+ multiplex
- business plan outlined for four years from the start in the end of 2015, pending funding
- DAB+ only
- services to fill an entire MUX
- starting in several German agglomerations
- sales of 10-15m domestic receivers is targeted
- new kind of journalistic approach (to address the audience lifestyle is key rather than music)
08.09.2014
Over 91% of the German population can listen to at least one digital radio ensemble. GfK receiver sales data show 50% growth year on year. By the end of 2014 more than 120 national, regional and local programmes will be broadcast in Germany. Regulation for a second national multiplex is pending.
A new platform operator has applied for invitation to tender for second national DAB+ multiplex
- business plan outlined for four years from the start in the end of 2015, pending funding
- DAB+ only
- services to fill an entire MUX
- starting in several German agglomerations
- sales of 10-15m domestic receivers is targeted
- new kind of journalistic approach (to address the audience lifestyle is key rather than music)
11.09.2013
Digital radio – the future of radio – made another jump ahead as more and more people are listening to radio digitally. By the end of 2013 more than 120 national, regional and local programmes will be broadcast in Germany. Also more than 90% of the German population can listen to at least one digital radio ensemble. This is considered to be a respectable success two years after the launch.
Despite some changes in the national multiplex, the prospect for both commercial and public broadcasters is very positive as receiver sales are increasing. Furthermore a stable ecosystem of private digital radio stations could be established in metropolitan areas such as Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich.
The current focus of broadcasters and network operators is to continue their marketing efforts in all media. For this reason the initiative ‘Digitalradio Deutschland’ was founded by the commercial broadcasters on the national multiplex (represented by DRD GmbH), the
ARD group, Deutschlandradio and the network operator Media Broadcast. The goal is to coordinate the b2b and b2c marketing initiatives of all stakeholders to foster the evolution of digital radio in Germany by obtaining a reasonable market penetration by end of 2014.
Coordination with the device industry is carried out via the initiative ‘Digitalradio Deutschland’, organised by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). Five working groups were created to guide all areas of digital radio development and roll out, such as receiver/devices, data and traffic services, networks or advertisements.
The initiative hired consumer electronics market professionals which significantly improved the communication with the retailers. Many stores are now equipped with in-house-coverage solutions. The German car manufacturers offer DAB+ receivers for nearly all models either as an option or line fit. Two commercial telematics service providers use data capacity on the national mux to transmit TPEG based traffic information via DAB. The impressive coverage of Germany’s highways over the last two years was secured through market collaboration and support for the technology.