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"Digital is better," was the conclusion of the discussion forum on digital radio held on Wednesday at MediaDays Munich. Deutschlandradio director Stefan Raue: "DAB+ offers us three advantages: it is more economical compared to FM, secondly, our high-quality programmes sound much better and, thirdly, it can be received anywhere without Internet connection." BLM deputy managing director Reiner Müller said that 5G technology was not a reliable method to transmit radio while many parts of the company did not have the technology available.

At Media Days Munich, Bavarian Centre for New Media (BLM) President Siegfried Schneider has confirmed while FM currently works well in Germany, the future of radio is digital, as it is cheaper to broadcast, and offers more variety.

According to the RAJAR results for Q3 2018, the strength of digital radio has continued to grow - now encompassing 52.4% of all radio listening. That represents an increase of 3.6 percentage points quarter-on-quarter and a 5% growth year-on-year.

Digital listening share has remained above the important halfway mark and increased from 48.8% to 52.4% in the last 12 months. Total digital listening hours grew by 5.4% year on year, or 27.5 million hours. DAB listening in cars accounted for 11 million hours (or 40%) of all digital listening growth, while listening in home via online/Apps accounted for 13.5 million hours (or 49%) of all digital listening growth. The surge in digital listening was supported by growth in national digital listening which exceeded 60% for the first time at 60.9%.

Digital listening surged beyond the 50% threshold to reach a new record share of 52.4%, up from 48.8% in Q3 2017, according to RAJAR Q3 2018 data released today. Total digital listening hours grew by 5.4% year on year, or 27.5 million hours. DAB listening in cars accounted for 11 million hours (or 40%) of all digital listening growth, while listening in home via online/Apps accounted for 13.5 million hours (or 49%) of all digital listening growth.

Norkring may operate the new Flemish DAB+ network in the next 15 years. The Flemish Regulator for the Media (VRM) announced this on Wednesday. Other parties that applied were Broadcast Partners and TVV Digital CVBA.

Users of Amazon’s Alexa home pod will soon be able to play nearly 300 Australian AM, FM and DAB+ digital radio stations. Users will be able to ask Alexa to “play Triple M” or Radio Newcastle, for instance. And there’s hope that users outside the big city centres will for the first time be able to tune in to DAB+ digital stations.

Norkring has received approval to operate a new DAB+ network in Flanders for a period of 15 years. This has been announced by the Flemish Regulator for the Media (VRM).

Representatives of regulatory authorities from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro are exploring the introduction of DAB+ services following a conference in Sarajevo in order to exchange experiences and discuss the challenges for the future. While DAB+ in Slovenia is the only former Yugoslav republic already in regular operation, Croatia have been testing for the last year. The other Balkan states have expressed interest.

Representatives of regulatory authorities from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro are exploring the introduction of DAB+ services following a conference in Sarajevo in order to exchange experiences and discuss the challenges for the future. While DAB+ in Slovenia is the only former Yugoslav republic already in regular operation, Croatia have been testing for the last year. The other Balkan states have expressed interest.