News

SWR3 is accompanying its New Pop Festival (15 to 17 September) in Baden-Baden again this year with an event channel on DAB+. The New Pop event channel is on air in the SWR muxes in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg. Event radio has a long tradition at SWR - among other things, the broadcaster regularly hosts an event radio from the Mannheim Maimarkt, which can be received via DAB+ and a local FM frequency during the event period.

At the weekend's panel, WorldDAB Vice President and Digital Radio Netherlands Project Director Jacqueline Bierhorst reviewed the positive position of DAB+ radio in some countries and mentioned the important fact that the technology has already become standard equipment in new cars in EU countries. Radio remains the most natural choice for audio consumption in cars.

Following a soft launch in July, the new Edinburgh DAB multiplex operated by Edinburgh DAB Ltd has now fully launched. It has recently completed a successful upgrade at its Braids Hill transmitter site and is currently carrying 17 radio services, with several others waiting on Ofcom for final licence confirmation. Broadcasting in DAB+ from two transmission sites at Braid Hills golf course and Corstorphine Hill it is audible to over 789,000 adults.

At IBC2022 in Amsterdam, WorldDAB hosted a key session on the opportunities of DAB+ digital radio. Jacqueline Bierhorst, Project Director - Digital Radio NL - explained how audiences are responding to DAB+, the new features of the technology and the opportunities and threats for DAB+ in the future.

The network of the second, national DAB+ multiplex is to be expanded. According to information from SatelliFax, the broadcasters have agreed to the network expansion, and there is talk of up to ten additional transmitter locations that may be connected to the network by the end of 2023. Along important motorways such as the A1, A2, A3, A6, A7 and A8, there are currently still gaps in reception in places.

The development of electronics is constantly moving forward and DAB+ radio manufacturers are not lagging behind. German company TechniSat is one of the first manufacturers to respond and has started adding BestTune functionality to these receivers. The latter places DAB+ and FM stations in one list without the listener being able to tell. The first model is the Digitradio 307 BT receiver.

From 11 September 2022, the public service leaves AM. Viale Mazzini [RAI headquarters] will close the last 12 installations that broadcast this type of signal (in AM). The kilowatt power used on these antennas was high (100kW in Pisa Coltano and 50kW in Turin Volpiano, for example). And the power plants that fed the antennas were inefficient. Closing the plants and power stations would result in savings of hundreds of thousands of euros every year. Paying the electricity bill was Rai Way, the RAI company that owned the antennas.

Isle of Man broadcaster Manx Radio has continued its persistence in calling for a digital service (known as DAB or digital audio broadcasting) in the island, with managing director Chris Sully saying: ‘There is a danger that the Isle of Man community is being left behind as the rest of the British Isles moves to DAB.’ He added: ‘The BBC has switched off nearly all their local radio AM transmitters in favour of FM and DAB. The Channel Islands have their own DAB multiplex offering 26 different audio services via a DAB radio to listeners. ‘Therefore, it is still the intention of Manx Radio to move toward offering a DAB platform as a listening alternative on the island.'

Metadata is crucially important for radio broadcasters who want to make their content discoverable for car drivers at a time of a “true revolution” in the automotive industry. Lindsay Cornell, Chairman, WorldDAB Technical Committee, said metadata – the text and images that enhance the audio experience – is a “dry topic” but is “really rather marvellous”. This point was underlined by Gereon Joachim, Vice President Automotive Sales & Strategy, EMEA at Xperi, who noted that the car industry is undergoing an electrification and automation revolution that is impacting on radio broadcasters. “If someone tells you today that the station logo on its own is good enough, that is wrong. If someone tells you that radio is the only entertainment source in the car, that is wrong,” said Joachim.

Today, at the WorldDAB information session at this year's International Broadcast Convention, a new website was launched to aid organisations aiming to go on air with small scale DAB transmissions. The site, called 'LocalDAB.org', was created by DAB enthusiasts from Flanders and the Netherlands, to share practical information based on experience gained in creating local DAB ensembles and extensive tests with hard- and software used for digital transmissions.