News

GatesAir (“GatesAir”), a global leader in wireless, over-the-air content delivery solutions for radio and TV broadcasters, announced that Thomson Broadcast yesterday completed its acquisition of GatesAir from an affiliate of The Gores Group (“Gores”). “The acquisition of GatesAir is an excellent and significant step for Thomson Broadcast to further reinforce its worldwide leadership in the fast-evolving world of broadcast technology,” said Ylias Akbaraly, Chairman of Thomson Broadcast. “Today opens an exciting new era in the rich history of two companies and trusted brands that have each been delighting customers for more than 100 years. Today’s announcement is also exciting for our customers and employees. The combined force of these ideal strategic partners will support each other’s growth and the growth of the industry at large.”

The majority of digital listening still comes from DAB at 40.8% and more than half of those surveyed (65%) said they owned or had access to a DAB radio. In terms of reach, nearly three quarters (72.9%) of the UK population, or 41 million adults aged 15 and over, tuned in to digital radio each week via DAB, DTV, online, app and smart speaker. In an average week, there were 674 million hours of digital listening with DAB taking up 60% of that figure, website/apps 17%, smart speaker 16% and DTV 7%.

Český Rozhlas continues its role as a leader in DAB+ digital broadcasting and this year plans to launch nine new transmitters of its network, which currently covers 95% of the population. The new sites will mainly serve to improve the quality of the existing coverage and to strengthen it. In particular, in already covered areas, the signal inside buildings will therefore improve.

The state-wide DAB+ multiplex in Saxony with eleven stations currently is to go on the air in autumn. Further details are now available: Channel 12A is to be used. According to the Federal Network Agency, the bouquet is to be broadcast from the sites in Leipzig-Messegrund, Geyer, Chemnitz-Reichenhain, Schöneck/Vogtland, Dresden-Wachwitz and Löbau, each with a radiation power of 10 kW. The stations Oldie Antenne, detector.fm Wort, 89.0 RTL, Galaxy Sachsen, Schlager Radio, Radio TEDDY, RundfunkKombinat, SecondRadio, JAM FM Sachsen, FEMOTION Radio and Radio Ostrock are to be broadcast in the bouquet.

Confindustria Radio Televisioni: The very concrete news of the adoption of the DAB+ plan for radio is of great importance for the sector. AGCOM, with great punctuality, concluded the consultation and resolved on the frequency assignment plan for DAB+ digital radio, creating conditions of trust for the digital development of radio, which is also closely linked to a non-secondary part of the innovation of the country. This is a much awaited act by radio operators, destined to improve the quality of broadcasting of radio stations, especially on the move, because it finally guarantees the stability and coordination of the planned resources.

WorldDAB member RedwoodComm recently completed work on a free software tool to help users easily simulate Service (Seamless) Linking. We learn more about RedwoodComm's offer in this interview with Darby Cho, Principal Engineer.

The regional network for DAB+ in the Oberland-Südostoberbayern region is now growing with the addition of the Tegernsee Wallberg transmitter. The site, located in the southern part of Lake Tegernsee, is now the eleventh location in Channel 7A and is optimising digital radio reception, especially in the southern part of the Miesbach district. The municipalities of Rottach-Egern and Tegernsee in particular can look forward to better reception. A total of around 1.26m residents in the region are now being reached with the DAB+ stations of the Oberland-Südostoberbayern regional network.

Listeners in Lancashire are waking up to even more radio choice today (1 August), after a new transmitter in Lancaster was added to the DAB multiplex. The addition provides a number of exciting new services for listeners, as well as improved coverage for existing stations. Radio lovers in Lancaster, Morecambe, Heysham and Carnforth, as well as some in the southern parts of Cumbria, can now enjoy local favourites Rock FM, BBC Radio Lancashire and Greatest Hits Radio Lancashire on their DAB Radio, which is already home to a huge array of choice including Absolute Radio, BBC Radio 2 and Magic Radio. What’s more, the transmitter is also bringing stations previously unavailable in the area, including Hits Radio, Absolute Classic Rock, Absolute Radio Country and Magic Radio spin-off stations Magic Soul and Magic Chilled.

From today (1 August), the radio station Nostalgie can be heard throughout the Netherlands via DAB+. Nostalgie is owned by Mediahuis, which operates various newspapers in the Netherlands, including NRC Handelsblad and De Telegraaf. As of today, the station can be heard throughout the Netherlands via channel 9C, on a new national network that has been operational since May.

Radio is definitely on the way to the digital age on terrestrial frequencies. The path of the RTL 102.5 group began over twenty years ago with the first investments. Now comes the approval by the AGCOM of the DAB+ plan, which has identified and assigned the digital frequency resources to the united sector, defining an organic plan for the future development of DAB+. "On the part of the RTL 102.5 group, which was a forerunner of the DAB+ system, there is great satisfaction and euphoria for the agreement, but the long path that led to this result, which lasted 21 years, is underlined, from the first DAB authorization dated 24 April 2001", declares the president of RTL 102.5 Lorenzo Suraci.