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Switch to DAB+ distribution in parts of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Thuringia
13.06.2024 - Deutschlandradio WorldDAB Member - Germany Germany
At a total of nine locations in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Thuringia, the majority of Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandfunk Kultur programmes will be broadcast digitally in future. Together with Deutschlandfunk Nova and the special channel Dokumente und Debatten (Dlf DokDeb), the two programmes can already be received digitally locally via DAB+. In view of the very good regional DAB+ coverage, parallel analogue broadcasting via some smaller FM transmitters with a limited range will end on 30 June 2024. In Bad Tölz, Bavaria, a new DAB+ transmitter will go on air on 19 June; FM broadcasting (87.8 MHz) will also end here on 30 June. Another frequency will be switched off on 17 September, when Deutschlandfunk's FM broadcasting in Pfronten, Bavaria (96.5 MHz) will end.

(Deutschlandradio) Read more


CRA launches full DAB+ network from Zizkov
13.06.2024 - Ceske Radiokomunikace a.s. WorldDAB Member - Czechia Czechia
The first final DAB network for commercial radio was launched on 12 June from the Prague-Zizkov transmitter. The R15 regional network was built following a licensing auction. The signal of this network, which broadcasts 14 radio stations, will cover more than 1.5 million inhabitants of Prague and Central Bohemia. While until the end of May it was possible to tune in to the CRA DAB+ multiplex from the Žižkov transmitter on channel 7A, it is now broadcasting on channel 6B, which was auctioned by the Czech Digital Group (a subsidiary of CRA) as Regional Network 15 in a frequency auction organised by the Czech Telecommunications Office.

(Televizníweb.cz) Read more


Atlantic 252 name to return as DAB digital radio station
12.06.2024 - United Kingdom United Kingdom
A new radio station using the name Atlantic 252 is set to launch on DAB. The station has a modern version of the original Atlantic 252 logo and will commence broadcasting at 8am on June 24th, 2024. Whilst the people behind the revival want to remain anonymous, the station voice-over will be Jim Merkel, who was the voice behind the original station. Atlantic 252 won’t be on 252 LW, but in certain areas of the North West on DAB, including Stockport, Bury, Bolton, Tameside, Rochdale and Oldham with plans to expand across the UK and Ireland as the year rolls on.

(Radio Today UK) Read more


Cumbria.Digital announce plans to apply for small-scale DAB
12.06.2024 - United Kingdom United Kingdom
Cumbria.Digital has announced plans to apply for the small-scale DAB multiplex licence covering Carlisle and Penrith. The company plans to reserve capacity for six community stations, surpassing Ofcom’s minimum requirement of four, to better serve the diverse communities in Carlisle, Penrith, and the surrounding rural areas. “We are looking to provide a platform that gives communities and organizations a voice, opening up the power of radio to all and bringing greater choice to listeners in the area,” said a spokesperson for Cumbria.Digital. “We will support the existing community stations in Carlisle and Penrith, ensuring they have capacity on the multiplex if they wish alongside supporting new stations.”

(Radio Today) Read more


New DAB+ programmes in Austria: 80s90s Megamix tests
12.06.2024 - Austria Austria
80er90er Megamix is a new special-interest channel from Antenne Vorarlberg, which will be broadcast on the regional DAB+ multiplex for Austria's westernmost province from 21 June. The station has already started test operations via the Internet and the live stream can already be found on aggregators such as TuneIn and Airable. According to the notice of approval for 80s90s Megamix, a 24-hour daily programme is planned that is aimed at the target group of over 30-year-olds in Vorarlberg. The music programme in AC format will mainly (but apparently not exclusively) include hits from the 80s and 90s.

(SatelliFax) Read more


Youngest ever radio station manager runs Fun Kids spin-off on DAB
12.06.2024 - United Kingdom United Kingdom
Fun Kids has launched a new spin-off pop-up service and hired 10-year-old Martha Sheehan to run it. Martha is managing Fun Kids Space Station, which launched on the morning of June 8, 2024, during a special sleepover event held by Fun Kids at the National Space Centre in Leicester. It will air on DAB Digital Radio in Leicester and the Fun Kids app for the next month and focuses on space and space exploration, aimed at kids between 6 and 12 years old. Fun Kids Content Controller James Lloyd said: “We like to put young people in the driving seat. They have the most creative ideas. So when we thought about launching a space radio station just for kids, we needed someone who knew what our audience wanted to hear, and we couldn’t have been more pleased with the job Martha has done.”

(Radio Today UK) Read more


Life Radio launches "Flash90s", a new DAB+ radio station for the whole of Austria
11.06.2024 - Austria Austria
Life Radio is expanding its range of radio programmes: with the launch of the new station "Flash90s", which is being launched as a nationwide DAB+ service, listeners throughout Austria can look forward to a musical journey back in time to the 90s. Under the motto "The cool sound of the 90s - every hit flashes!", Flash90s will be launched as a new digital audio brand in Austria from 21 June 2024, focusing on the lifestyle of the 90s. With its own programme team and morning show, the best hits from this unique decade will be celebrated around the clock. "Our aim is to revive the lifestyle of the 90s and to offer our listeners a unique music programme that is currently unparalleled in Austria," says Christian Stögmüller, Managing Director of Life Radio and the newly founded LR Digital Audio GmbH.

(radioWOCHE.de) Read more


AIMC puts DAB on the audience map for the first time
10.06.2024 - Spain Spain
2.6% of Internet users acknowledge tuning in to Digital Terrestrial Radio. This is a milestone in the history of radio audiences in Spain, although the figure is more testimonial than representative. Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), in its DAB/DAB+ standards, is included for the first time in a study carried out by the AIMC. It was in the 2024 Q-Panel, exactly a quarter of a century after the approval in our country of the National Technical Plan for Digital Terrestrial Sound Broadcasting, which developed this new technology. This reality has nothing to do with the one experienced twenty-five years ago: right now there are around 3,200,000 DAB/DAB+ receivers on wheels, circulating on Spanish roads. RNE has switched on its DAB+ broadcasts in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao, Murcia, Santiago de Compostela, Pamplona and will soon do so in other Spanish cities, until it reaches 50% of the country's population coverage by 2024.

(Gorka Zumeta) Read more


Cridland: Capital - Taylor's Version
10.06.2024 - United Kingdom United Kingdom
In the UK, national CHR station Capital has launched an additional channel, Capital (Taylor’s Version). It’s available on broadcast radio (DAB), and online via the Global Player. It ties in with Taylor’s tour of the UK (Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London) which are going on over the next few weeks. I tuned in and listened for a few hours (thanks to having a daughter squarely in the target group); she was thrilled that there was an entire radio station dedicated to Taylor Swift, and enjoyed listening in the car. Excellently programmed, it encapsulates what every young girl loves about Taylor Swift; and once more shows the power of a flexible transmission platform like DAB, which can ably cope with pop-up, temporary stations like this. It also means that Capital will own Taylor Swift’s fans this summer: a perfect piece of marketing for the station, and an on-ramp for new listeners. Most impressive.

(James Cridland) Read more


Test broadcasts started for Friuli Venezia Giulia DAB
07.06.2024 - Italy Italy
The consortium company Friuli Venezia Giulia DAB, a local DAB+ network operator that is part of the Aeranti-Corallo association system, has started experimenting with DAB+ broadcasting from the facility located in Col Gaiardin, in the province of Pordenone, on Block 9B. With this activation, a further installation is added to the many already activated by the consortium companies that are part of the Aeranti-Corallo association system. Friuli Venezia Giulia DAB is currently owned by the following local radio stations: Radio Spazio 103; Radio Punto Zero 3 Venezie; Radio Company; Stereo Radio; Radio 80; Radio Padova; Easy Rock; Radio Wow 1; Radio Gelosa; Radio Birikina; Vibra Fm; Radio Marilù; Radio Piterpan; Radio Bellla & Monella; Radio Sorrriso.

(AERANTI-CORALLO) Read more