News

None of the comments sent by DAB+ network operators on the proposed update of the Radio Spectrum Utilisation Plan (RUP) for the frequency band 174-380 MHz passed the Czech Telecommunications Office (CTU). The draft revision of the part of the broadcasting spectrum related to terrestrial digital radio broadcasting DAB+ remains unchanged. In a public consultation announced in mid-March, the telecoms authority did not accept any of the arguments from operators of DAB+ networks for commercial radio.

Virgin Radio Pride UK is returning for a fourth summer season of amazing shows. Another roster of incredible LGBTQ+ talent features on the 2024 Virgin Radio Pride lineup, with some of the best broadcasters, comedians and DJs in the country ready to go air from 1st June to 31st August. There will also be a wealth of must-listen regular speech based shows that will aim to move the dial on the LGBTQ conversation over the next three months on Virgin Radio Pride, with honest and raw conversations about the issues impacting the broader LGBTQ+ community in 2024. Virgin Radio Pride UK will be broadcast from 1st June to 31st August 2024 on DAB Digital radio in Greater London and Scotland.

Flemish Media Minister Benjamin Dalle has revealed the results of the Radiostudie (Radio survey), setting a horizon for the transition from analog to digital radio, the transitory process and the timing for an FM switch-off in the primarily Dutch-speaking Flanders region of Belgium. In 2023, Dalle assigned a consortium of sustainable transformation management consulting firm BrightWolves and Ghent University research group imec-mict-UGent to conduct a new survey, investigating the tools to set up a viable digital radioscape. The consortium analyzed scenarios for the transition from analog to digital radio and optional timing for the FM switch-off.

Czech Digital Group wants to copy the multiplex of Czech Radio, whose multiplex is technologically provided by Czech Radiokomunikace. In June, the operator will launch its regional network for Prague on channel 6B and switch off the programme offer on channel 7A. Plans for the construction of DAB+ multiplexes were presented by representatives of Czech Radio at today's Innovation Day conference. Czech Radiokomunikace, or its subsidiary Czech Digital Group, expects to start construction of its national multiplex B in July. Broadcasting from the first sites will start this September. Marcel Procházka, director of the operator's legal and regulatory department, made the announcement at the Innovation Day conference. By the end of this year, namely in December, the operator wants to reach 50% coverage of the population, and by March 2025 it will reach more than 80%.

Czech Radio wants commercial radio to successfully start radio digitalisation and DAB+ broadcasting to become widely known to the general public, Karel Zýka, Director of Technology and Administration of the public broadcaster, said at the Innovation Day conference on Tuesday, which was organised by the operator České Radiokomunikace. The actual development of DAB+ digital radio broadcasting will necessarily require the participation of private radio stations, which will be able to fully enter the process in the months following the launch of the new multiplexes. "We are keeping our fingers crossed for the commercial radio stations, because the more successful they are, the better it will be for us," Zýka said. It will be essential that listeners know when they buy a receiver that it will work without any problems. This is what the DAB+ verified certification is intended to do.

On 24 April 2024, Arcom selected Radio Orient for the Morlaix area on DAB+ as part of call 9 launched on 27 July 2022. ‘This is a further vote of confidence and a real source of satisfaction for the station, which is thus continuing to develop its network,’ explains the radio station. In 2024, other areas will be served by Radio Orient and other radio broadcasters, who will significantly increase the diversity of content on offer in many towns and cities. ‘DAB+ technology is an extended, free and unlimited radio offering. It delivers unprecedented sound quality, guarantees more stable broadcasting and means that certain radio stations can be listened to on the move without having to worry about frequencies,’ points out the Radio Orient team.

On 21 May, the Italian Ministry of Enterprise and Industry published the results of the assignment procedure for the right of use of the national DAB+ No. 3 network, pursuant to AGCOM Resolution 286/22/CONS. The assignee is the current exerciser of the previously granted right of use, Eurodab Italia. The ball is in the middle, therefore, as we return to the first assignments of last year: to DAB Italia the DAB+ n.2 network, to Eurodab Italia the DAB+ n.3 network and to RAI the DAB+ n.1 network. This is in any case an interesting precedent for future competitive local calls for tenders, considering that the one concluded is the first beauty contest of its kind.

The Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid hosted the 5th edition of the forum ‘A world of digital fusion’ on Monday. The event, organised by the Observatorio Humanidades y Tecnología (OHT), was entitled ‘100 years more of radio’. Ángel García Castillejo, Director of Audiovisual Policies, Public Service and International at RTVE, pointed out that RNE, as a public service, must ensure that in the future it continues to offer free, universal broadcasting, which is only offered by broadcast radio, through the DAB+ standard, ‘which is much more energy efficient, between 75 and 90 percent cheaper than FM’, he said. The Internet does not guarantee universal coverage or free coverage, unlike over-the-air broadcasting, a model that Digital Terrestrial Radio continues to follow. If we do not defend our own channel, ‘radio will end up being diluted like a drop in a vast ocean of million-dollar offerings on the internet,’ he warned.

James Cridland writes: "The latest RAJAR figures came out in the UK. For the first time, online radio listening has overtaken FM and AM radio listening. This is undoubtedly an important milestone in UK radio; but let’s put it into context. Broadcast radio is still much larger than online. The predominant way that people listen to the radio in the UK is to DAB Digital Radio, which is broadcast radio just like you know it - free to receive, using nothing more than a (DAB) radio receiver with an antenna and a speaker. DAB is much larger than online streaming. (I gather that the same is the case in Australia, incidentally.) The UK has been turning off AM services for a long time. Not just that, but radio receivers generally don’t include AM, even if they still include FM alongside DAB. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that when you turn off AM transmissions, digital (DAB or online) will increase in share. The future of radio is multi-platform, not just online. Broadcast radio continues to offer the majority of radio listening in the UK, whatever the headlines say."

Emitel has launched a transmitter of the Polish Radio DAB+ multiplex in Żelaźnie near Choczew. This is the last of the announced broadcasts as part of the coverage expansion. The broadcast in the Choczew area is carried on channel 5B. The multiplex includes: Jedynka, Dwójka, Trójka, Czwórka, Polskie Radio 24, Polskie Radio Chopin, Polskie Radio Dzieciom, Polskie Radio Kierowców, Radio Radio for Ukraine, Radio Poland, Radio Gdańsk and Radio Gdańsk Regions. Thanks to the new facility, trouble-free reception of the multiplex should be possible in such places as Władysławowo, Jastrzębia Góra, Dębki, Lubiatowo, Sasino and Łeba in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Polskie Radio now estimates that the population coverage of the multiplex will be around 93 per cent, while the area coverage will be around 90 per cent.