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The Radio Maria England broadcasting service is now available on DAB+ Digital Radio in England’s Greater Manchester and Stockport areas. To celebrate the development, and to pray for the success of the Catholic radio station’s mission to spread the Gospel, Radio Maria England has organised a blessing of the new antenna facilitating the new digital service, accompanied by praying the Rosary, on Saturday 20 July. Earlier this month, Radio Maria England established a DAB+ Digital Radio service in Norwich. Next month, it plans to start broadcasting digitally in Peterborough and King’s Lynn, a port and market town located 36 miles (58 km) north-east of Peterborough. Its DAB+ digital service is also available in parts of London, Cambridge, Bristol and South Birmingham. “As we grow, and our community of supporters grows too, we are trying to expand further and further in England,” Helena Judd, Radio Maria England’s promotions, events and fundraising manager, tells the Catholic Herald.

With the publication of ma 2024 Audio II, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analyse presented the latest results on radio and audio usage in Germany. The audio offerings are very popular: almost 53 million of the German-speaking population aged 14 and over use at least one audio offering from Monday to Friday, regardless of how they receive it. And they do so for more than four hours a day (dwell time: 248 minutes). Broadcasting via DAB+ continues to be on an upward trend: DAB+ is listened to by 29.1 per cent in the WHK (ma 2024 Audio I: 28.5 per cent) and is used disproportionately, particularly in the target group of 30 to 59-year-olds (WHK: 34.4 per cent - ma 2024 Audio I: 34.0 per cent). Listeners use a variety of devices to consume audio content. On average, listeners have more than three radio devices, including car radios (average 3.25 devices). A DAB+ radio device is already available in 34 per cent of German households.

UlsterMUX has launched a small scale DAB Service across Newry, Armagh, and Down Newry in Northern Ireland using ten transmitters. Operating on DAB Block 9c, UlsterMUX has constructed a network of transmission sites to deliver coverage from Dromore to Banbridge and extending to the City of Newry and beyond to the border at Dundalk. The service will also encompass Castlewellan, Kilkeel, Warrenpoint, Crossmaglen, and Forkhill, making it the largest small scale DAB network in operation across the UK to date. “We are thrilled to bring this innovative DAB service to the region, enhancing radio accessibility and diversity for our communities,” said John Gartlan, CTO of UlsterMUX. “Our extensive network ensures excellent coverage and provides a new platform for stations to connect with audiences in Newry, Armagh, Down, and beyond.”

Walsall community station Ambur Radio is leading an application for the small-scale DAB multiplex in Walsall. Walsall DAB Ltd has been established by Ambur Radio station director Priya Singh with the help of Niocast Digital, West Midlands community radio station WCR fm, and long standing senior radio executive Chris Hurst. The collaboration brings together a unique combination of skills, local knowledge, radio experience and a real passion for Walsall. “Ambur Radio launched in 2009 and has been a very popular multicultural station ever since broadcasting in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujrati amongst other” says Priya. “And we’ve been planning the move to DAB for some time now. We’re looking forward to the quality that DAB will deliver and being able to reach lots more listeners.”

Hospital station WWL Radio is re-applying for the Wigan small-scale DAB licence. A licence for the town was awarded by Ofcom to Wigan & St Helens Community Media CIC, but was revoked after it failed to launch within 18 months. Now, Wigan DAB, which was the ‘runner up’ for the original licence, is applying again under the consortium made up of Kevin Riley of WWL (previously known as Wrightington Hospital Radio) with the help of Niocast Digital, local broadcasters Darren Ofsarnie and Phil England plus long-standing senior radio executives Chris Hurst and Ron Smith. Kevin Riley, station secretary says: “Small-scale DAB gives us a great opportunity to broadcast to that wider community and develop our service not least in the provision of positive health messaging we already hold the necessary CDSP licence.”

Gaydio has been added to the small-scale DAB multiplex in Liverpool. The station, which is based in Manchester and broadcasts up-beat dance and pop and speech from an LGBTQ+ perspective, can now be heard via DAB+ across the city. To celebrate the launch, Gaydio is partnering with LCR Pride for this year’s celebration of the LGBTQ+ community across the Liverpool City Region. Speaking of the launch, Kriss Herbert-Noble, Network Content Director and mid-morning presenter said: “It’s great Gaydio will be on DAB+ across Liverpool and more queer people can now tune in for the best in LGBTQ+ entertainment, news and of course music. We look forward to doing more with the LGBTQ+ community in Liverpool!”

Two new locations improve DAB+ radio reception in Bavaria in July. As the network operator of the regional and local networks, Bayern Digital Radio is successfully continuing the expansion of DAB+. The Jenner transmitter in Berchtesgadener Land is the latest addition to the Upper Bavaria South regional network on channel 7A and is already the 13th location for this network. The Nuremberg local network (channel 10C) is also growing from 15 July with a third location for DAB+. The Hersbruck transmitter expands the transmitter network and complements the existing transmitters on the Nuremberg TV tower and Dillberg.

Eirewave, the Northern Ireland pop and rock radio station, is thrilled to announce the expansion of its broadcasting reach with the launch of a new small-scale DAB service across Newry, Armagh, and Down. Starting on 15 July 2024, listeners from Belfast to Newry and beyond will enjoy uninterrupted Eirewave broadcasts, thanks to a network of 10 transmitters providing exceptional coverage. Olivier Mauxion, owner of Eirewave, expressed his excitement: “This new coverage is a pivotal step for Eirewave as we continue to grow in Northern Ireland. Our enhanced reach on DAB+ will enable more listeners to enjoy our programmes without interruption. We are committed to engaging with all the multiplexes that will open in Northern Ireland in the future.”

A pioneering step into the future of radio: At its meeting today, the Media Council of the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for New Media (BLM) extended 48 FM capacities of local, regional and state-wide providers initially until 30 June 2030. All extensions are based on the phased approach set out in the Audio Strategy 2025 for the planned switchover from FM to DAB+. BLM President Dr Thorsten Schmiege: "With these unique, flexible FM extensions for Bavaria, the regional authority is actively shaping the necessary transformation to digital and staying on course for DAB+. At the same time, we are creating reliable framework conditions for a professional, diverse and supportive radio industry. Because one thing is clear: the future of radio is digital."

On 12 July 2024, the DGTEL of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy (MIMIT) published, on the Ministry's website, the list of expressions of interest received by the same Ministry of consortium companies admitted to the procedures for the assignment of rights of use of frequencies for the terrestrial digital radio broadcasting service, as per the PNAF-DAB, in relation to the following catchment areas: no. 04B - Autonomous Province of Bolzano; 05 - Veneto; 06 - Friuli Venezia Giulia; 14 - Molise.