News

Network operator DABCOM has launched another digital radio multiplex. This time in Katowice. Earlier multiplex launches have taken place in Tarnów, Częstochowa, Warsaw and Poznań. Network operator PSN Infrastruktura has launched local multiplexes in Rzeszów and Toruń. The Katowice multiplex will consist of nine radio stations.

DAB+ and the internet account for three quarters of total radio usage. FM is still losing ground, while the use of the two digital broadcast modes is increasing. DAB+ and internet broadcasting now each account for a third of total radio use. The Swiss radio industry has agreed to switch from FM to digital DAB+ broadcasting by the end of 2024. Virtually all new vehicles are equipped with a DAB+ set as standard. OFCOM will publish new figures in the first quarter of 2022.

The demand for digital radio is increasing. Last year, almost 40 percent of all radios sold were equipped with DAB+. The number of radio receivers without DAB+, on the other hand, fell by 16 percent, pure analogue receivers only accounted for a third of the radio market (35 percent). Almost half of the sales in the radio segment of consumer electronics are now generated via DAB+ devices (47 percent). A total of around 13 million DAB+ devices have been sold in Germany since 2010.

Deutschlandradio continues its commitment to terrestrial digital broadcasting in 2022 and the network expansion of the DAB+ transmitters will start soon. After the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court on the broadcasting fee, the construction was commissioned again last summer, meaning six more locations can go into operation in 2022. As a result of the expansion, the transmitter network of the first national program platform has grown to a total of 155 locations. Distribution via DAB+ is around a third more economical than via FM due to the significantly lower power consumption per radio program.

Market share of digital radio in Flanders, currently at 41 percent, will not exceed 50 percent until the end of 2024. At the end of 2027, when existing FM licenses will expire, digital share will probably fluctuate around 60 percent, compared to still 40 percent for FM. It is crucial that by 2025, when negotiations will take place, the share of digital radio exceeds 50 percent. This evolution is of course highly dependent on how actively Flanders further promotes DAB+.

Pure has launched an innovative suite of new products for the iconic Evoke range that are built on Frontier’s leading Venice X platform, offering the benefits of SmartRadio to their customers. Every model of the new reimagined line is a SmartRadio device and therefore combines the reliability of FM and DAB+ with the choice and flexibility of streaming Internet Radio, Podcasts and Spotify Connect.

The association Digitalradio Österreich has a new managing director. Thomas Pöcheim, founding chairman of the platform in the past, took over the agenda of the operational management at the beginning of February. Together with the Management Board, he wants to continue on the path of increasing programme variety and market acceptance of DAB+ and the growing number of listeners.

In the German state of Saarland, the second transmitter for the state-wide DAB+ multiplex has gone into operation, with 16 private radio programmes. 70% of residents in Saarland can receive DAB+ programmes at home, and 80% have mobile reception.

The Council for Electronic Media (VEM) has awarded the first concessions for DAB+ digital radio in Croatia. The national concession was awarded to Nacional News Corporation and the concessions for northwestern Croatia and the City of Zagreb to Radio Tvornica and My Power Station. Nacional News Corporation is one of the most influential political weeklies in Croatia and they have six months from signing the contract to start broadcasting.

Bauer Media Audio is expanding its presence to Portugal. The UK-based company has acquired Media Capital Radios, the radio assets of Lisbon-based Media Capital Group. The move is part of Bauer's strategy to consolidate its authority as Europe's strongest commercial radio group, and in addition to a presence in the U.K., the group is also expanding into Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, as well as Slovakia, Ireland and Finland.