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The spotlight is on as the finalists for the 35th Australian Commercial Radio & Audio (ACRA) Awards are revealed, with the winners to be crowned at a night of celebration at The Star in Sydney on Saturday, 12 October. Nominees for Most Innovative DAB Format are: amplifyCBR | Club Lime Radio; Canberra, ACT, ARN/SCA; iHeartTrivia; iHeartRadio Team, National, NSW, ARN; NIGE!; amplifyCBR Team, Canberra, NSW, ARN/SCA; TikTok Trending; iHeartRadio Team, National, NSW, ARN; and Triple M Country; SCA DAB+ Team, Triple M Country, Sydney, NSW, SCA. “With 1159 entries this year, 361 finalists, and only 71 awards up for grabs the competition is fiercer than ever. The talent on display is truly special, and we are thrilled to see such a diverse array of voices ready to shine as showtime approaches,” said Jo Dick, Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) chief commercial officer.

NDR wants you to have fun at work! That's why Schorse is giving away brand new DAB+ radios on Thursdays. Whether office, building site or bakery - whether Emsland, Weserbergland or Wendland: Schorse will bring the radio to you personally! You don't have a radio at your workplace yet, your radio has broken down or you want to experience Schorse live? Then apply! In the photo gallery: On 25 July, Schorse travels to the island of Borkum. Stefan Kuhl delivers orders to the islanders.

Dumbarton based Lomond Radio is expanding its coverage on DAB with new transmitters in Langbank, Dunoon and Gourock. Initially broadcasting online, Lomond Radio began broadcasting on DAB across Glasgow last March. The new DAB transmitters go on air from this Thursday, 1st August to extend coverage across Dumbarton, Vale of Leven, Helensburgh, Greenock and Dunoon. Director and Chairman, Alan Caldwell commented: “We’ve been working to bring Lomond Radio on DAB Digital Radio to the local area for some time now and delighted to be able to confirm that as from Thursday 1st August, you’ll be able to hear us on DAB Digital Radio across the local area and stay listening as you travel across Glasgow.”

To enjoy your favourite radio programmes in digital quality, get a receiver compatible with the latest DAB+ broadcasting standard. Le Figaro's selection in all price ranges. In its new DAB+ version, digital terrestrial radio has gone beyond the experimental stage, and is now in service in most regions (list of areas covered: tinyurl.com/LPVP-RNT). However, the FM band is not due to be phased out at this stage. They should therefore coexist for many years to come. The six sets selected for this comparison receive both DAB+ and FM stations. They range in price from under €70 to almost €250 for the most advanced.

This month's BLM extension of 48 local, regional and state-wide FM extensions until June 2030 is based on the phased approach set out in the Audio Strategy 2025 for the planned switchover from FM to DAB+. BLM President Dr Thorsten Schmiege: "With these unique, flexible FM extensions for Bavaria, the regional authority is actively shaping the necessary transformation to digital and staying on course for DAB+. At the same time, we are creating reliable framework conditions for a professional, diverse and supportive radio industry. Because one thing is clear: the future of radio is digital."

In 2025, Polskie Radio will spend more than PLN 11.4 million on modernising its production and broadcasting stations, expanding its systems and rebuilding its digital sound network. The financial and programming plans accessed by Wirtualnemedia.pl also show that the public broadcaster will further seek to expand the reach of its DAB+ multiplex. The plans for 2025 include the item Development of DAB+. After achieving signal coverage of 90 per cent of the country's area in 2024, work on increasing coverage will continue in 2025, announces Polskie Radio. The financial and programme plan shows that the costs of DAB+ broadcasting in 2025 will amount to PLN 24.7 million (analogue FM broadcasting is PLN 65.3 million).

The EBU has long recommended its members look to digitize their radio services due to the benefits it can bring to both broadcasters and listeners. Over the years that I have been involved with digital radio, the landscape of user device support has gone through many changes. Back in the mid-2000s, options for listening to DAB (the original MP2-encoded version, and not its more modern DAB+ variant) relied on tabletop radio devices valued in the 100s of euros. Now, I can easily find an equivalent at a fraction of this, and more than 125 million devices have been sold globally, according to industry figures as of 2023.

Digital broadcast radio continues to grow dynamically in Germany the first half of the year. Established and new DAB+ programmes are achieving record reach. The first federal state has announced that it will make the switch from analogue to digital. In neighbouring country Switzerland, public broadcaster has announced that it will phase out cost-intensive FM at the end of this year.

Ofcom has awarded 25 small-scale DAB radio multiplex licences in London and the South East, meaning nearly 11 million listeners from Harlow to Hastings will soon be able to tune into a wider choice of ultra-local digital radio stations. Each multiplex will allow several local stations to take to the digital airwaves, including grass-roots community services, specialist music stations, and services aimed at minority groups and other under-served audiences. The roll-out of small-scale DAB has already enabled the launch of multiplexes across all four UK nations. Today's awards bring the number of multiplex licences awarded so far to 112 (excluding re-awards), with 58 of those already broadcasting.

The Office of Electronic Communications has published a new list of DAB+ broadcasting permits. Over the past month, it has extended the permissions for the experimental multiplexes DABCOM, PSN Infrastruktura and Radio Express FM by one year. Information from Wirtualnemedia.pl shows that similar permits for BCAST should soon be added to the list.