News

Since 3 June, all new cars sold in Sweden with a car radio must be able to receive terrestrial digital radio, in practice DAB+. The rule has been written into the Vehicle Regulation as part of the implementation of the new European Code for Electronic Communications. The rule does not apply to vehicles that have been placed on the market before December 2020. Sweden is one of the last countries in the EU to implement the rule on DAB+ receivers in cars. The EU decided in November 2018 that the rule would be introduced by the member states on 20 December 2020. The government presented a consultation on the issue in September 2019, but the preparation for the Ministry of Infrastructure was not completed until this year.

Are you applying for a content licence for DAB radio? You can now submit the application on My page at the Norwegian Media Authority. To broadcast radio on DAB, a content licence is required. This applies to both nationwide radio and local radio. Before you can apply for a licence, you must enter into an agreement with the operator of the transmitter system you want to send to. Now this can be done easily via My page at the Norwegian Media Authority.

This week, four new cities are seeing the arrival of DAB+: digital terrestrial radio, in their areas. The inhabitants of Orléans , Tours and Poitiers, then those of La Rochelle, will be able to take advantage of the many benefits of this technology. Since May 18, 13 radios have been available in DAB+ in Tours and Poitiers and 11 radios in Orléans. On June 27, 2022, 13 additional radio stations started in these three cities. On June 28, 2022, 13 radios started in DAB+ in La Rochelle and on July 5, 2022, 13 additional radios will arrive in DAB+ in Charente-Maritime.

Digital terrestrial radio in DAB+ continues its deployment and arrives in the Centre-Val de Loire region with Vibration and Oüi FM in Tours , Oüi FM in Orléans but also in Poitou-Charentes with Forum, Oüi FM and Swigg in Poitiers, and since yesterday, Vibration and Forum in Orléans, Montargis and Blois. For Jean-Eric Valli, Chairman of the 1981 Group: “I am happy to develop our offer in the Center Val de Loire and in Poitou-Charentes. DAB+ represents a real revolution in radio, with strong innovations, in particular associated data such as station information or song covers. Today, with this new region, a large part of the French population can access DAB+ radio, this is starting to matter, especially since all new radio sets, including car radios, already incorporate this technology”.

RTI cz s.r.o. has launched a new DAB+ transmitter in Domažlice - Čerchov. The transmitter complements the single-frequency network of transmitters on channel 5B Plzeň - Sylván, Klatovy - Doubrava and Třebouňský vrch. The transmitter significantly increases the coverage in the area of Domažlice, Kdyně, Horšovský Týn and Poběžovice. Here you can tune in to the RTI cz DAB multiplex offering: Czech Radio Karlovy Vary, DAB Plus Top 40, Radio Proglas, Radio 7, Radio BEAT, Radio 1, Signal Radio and Radio Ukraine.

A campaign to safeguard digital terrestrial TV and radio launches today as new research by Ipsos shows that 9 in 10 people (90%) across Great Britain want to see continued support for these services. More than 8 in 10 believe Government or local MPs should actively support the continued provision of these services. A similar proportion believe the BBC should be doing so. Older people, lonely, less well-off and those in rural areas are most reliant on Freeview and radio services – which are universally accessible.

Digitalradio Büro Deutschland provides an overview of DAB+ in Europe outside Germany. More and more countries in Europe are relying on the digital successor to VHF and are starting to roll out new stations. Where DAB+ is already established, the variety of stations has increased significantly in recent months. DAB+ is available to around 64 percent of the population of Europe. For listeners, this means: more variety and clearer, digital reception. There are currently radio broadcasts via DAB and/or DAB+ in 30 European countries, DAB+ has already been tested in others and the start of regular operation is being planned.

Rising Energy Costs Could Spur Digital MigrationAs energy costs rise, Deutschlandradio Director Stefan Raue sees a further reason to hasten an FM switch-off for Germany. “We will not be able to afford two terrestrial distribution channels in the long run. The signs are clearer than two or three years ago,” Raue told German press agency dpa, according to Hadelsblatt. “FM is an energy guzzler.”

A radio service is launching in the UK from the Belgian electronic dance music festival called Tomorrowland. A long term partnership has been agreed between the music festival organisers and Like Media Group to put its station, One World Radio, on DAB in parts of the UK. The DAB rollout begins on the 1st July, and the service will also launch in Malta and Spain.

Fourteen percent of the Czech population currently listens to radio via DAB+. This follows from the latest results of Radioprojekt, which were presented at the meeting of the Czech Radio Council by representatives of the Public Media Research Department. Compared to the first half of the year, there was an increase of three percentage points. The presentation shows that 1.242 million people listened to DAB+ in the first quarter, which is an increase of 242,000 compared to the first half of last year. The popularity of the technology is thus growing and it has already surpassed the popularity of receiving radio broadcasts via television, which is currently at twelve percent, while DAB+ boasts fourteen.