News

The national DAB + network of commercial national radio stations, united in the Commercial Radio Association (VCR), has expanded considerably since 1 January. As a result, the signal from the national commercial radio stations on DAB + is now so good that the programs can be received in almost the entire country (> 97%). With this upgrade, in-house reception will have to improve considerably.

With the "plan of nodes and arcs", the objective is now to make "fast and viable", that is to say to carry out within three years (2018-2020) a first phase of deployment of the DAB +, partial but "economically sound", restricted to the densest areas of the territory, the nodes, and the major highways and roads that connect them, the arches.

Broadcast Partners, the network manager of the national commercial DAB + network, has expanded the DAB + network on behalf of the Commercial Radio Association (VCR) with new channels and, in addition, increased the transmission capabilities of a number of existing channels. In the new situation, the reach of the national commercial radio stations on DAB + is such that in more than 97% of the country reception is possible outside the home.

Imports of radios in the pre-Christmas months have increased by almost 90 percent from the same time last year. Many of the over 350,000 devices are DAB radios.

Thanks to crowdfunding, TOPradio can continue to broadcast on DAB+ for at least another year. As a result, TOPradio loses its advertising revenue, while that money is needed to continue to broadcast digitally, via DAB+.

In Flanders, the 'Digital Switch Over' took place on 1 January, as Club FM, Family Radio, Radio Maria and TOPradio have disappeared from FM and can only be received on DAB + in the air. The four former chain radios have a greater reach via DAB+ than they ever had on FM. An improvement of the DAB+ reception around Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven and parts of Limburg has already been planned in the coming months. After that, the DAB+ network managed by Norkring will be expanded even further so that the commercial stations on DAB+ can be listened to everywhere in Flanders.

The Scottish Sun Radio stations launch online on January 1 at scottishsunhits.co.uk, scottishsun80s.co.uk and scottishsungreatesthits.co.uk.

The radio station Topradio has collected over 100,000 euros through crowdfunding to continue broadcasting on DAB+. "National digital broadcasting via DAB+ will be ensured in the coming year 2018 and even part of 2019," Topradio reports.

The CSA has announced a new strategy to accelerate the deployment of DAB +, which is struggling for the moment to develop in the Hexagon. Three major calls for applications are now planned: the first two, in July 2018 and at the latest in July 2019, will each focus on "fifteen zones centered on agglomerations of more than 175,000 inhabitants" and with a small number of local areas. The third call, envisaged mid-2018 this time will concern frequencies at the national level. The less populated areas will be covered in a second phase, after 2020.

A gigantic successful crowdfunding campaign yielded no less than 100,160 euros so that the channel can provide digital broadcast on DAB+ next year. As a result, the station can certainly be broadcast on DAB+ in 2018 and part of 2019.