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DAB+ coverage is set to improve with a new transmitter going live on 12 October in Lower Saxony. All NDR programmes can be received on DAB+ including NDR 1 Niedersachsen, NDR 2, NDR Kultur, NDR Info and N-JOY, which can still be received on FM. Additionally, and exclusively on DAB+, radio listeners can tune in to NDR Schlager, NDR Blue and NDR Info Spezial.

Media Broadcast has successfully completed the expansion programme of the nationwide transmitter network for the first national DAB+ programme package for 2023. Four new transmitter sites were added in three federal states in September and October, which now provide even better reception of the 13 public and private programmes in the respective reception areas. The Zwickau transmitter site in Saxony was already switched on at the beginning of July.

Bahrain recently inaugurated a brand-new futuristic radio facility intended to house private radio stations. Eng Abdulla Ahmed Al Balooshi, Assistant Undersecretary of Technical at Bahrain’s Ministry of Information, takes Vijaya Cherian on an exclusive tour of the facility. One of the facility’s standout features is its state-of-the-art equipment. Al Balooshi elaborates: “We have also constructed a DAB+ platform, propelling Bahrain into the digital era of radio. What we have assembled is a comprehensive package exclusively for the private sector. Already we have received requests from clients for the DAB+ platform, and that is an indication of its immense potential.”

According to Joe D’Angelo, Xperi’s senior vice president of global radio and digital audio, the car will be the platform for future innovation in audio, and Xperi is taking the lead. "2022 was an amazing year for radio innovation, and 2023 promises to bring more change and innovation. We’ve seen broadcasters take control of their digital presence with investment, enthusiasm and innovative programming," said D’Angelo. "Radio owners and managers should continue to invest in modern digital infrastructure with DAB+ and HD Radio and embrace the opportunities of the connected car to enhance broadcast and understand radio audiences like never before through automotive analytics."

Ofcom has announced which areas will be advertised in the next round of small-scale DAB licensing. There are 27 locations on the list, ranging from the Isle of Wight to Carlisle, and Lanarkshire in Scotland to Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland. Round Six will be advertised next year.

There are new sounds on digital radio DAB+ in northern Germany. The local station Radio Mittelweser, which was previously only audible locally in the Nienburg area, has significantly expanded its broadcasting area and can be heard via DAB+ in the Lower Saxony bouquets of Hanover and Weserbergland. There will also be completely new sounds in Schleswig-Holstein: The private broadcaster Radio Wellenrausch has announced that it will start broadcasting on October 29th.

North Derbyshire Radio are pleased to announce we are now broadcasting live across the High Peak on DAB. Station Controller Naz Premji said “North Derbyshire Radio continues to grow and we are delighted to be on DAB across the High Peak." Craig Pattison from High Peak One Digital said: "After two years the wait is over. Until now the High Peak has had very little in the way of radio choice in the area. This has now all changed with the introduction of small-scale DAB from High Peak One Digital."

There is no longer any doubt. The RTVE Corporation maintains that "the future of radio broadcasting in Spain depends on the implementation of DAB+" and, in line with this statement, has joined, as a full member, the WorldDAB, the international organisation that brings together all the players involved in the extension and implementation of Digital Terrestrial Radio throughout the world. The decision changes from the outset the prevailing status quo: the standstill in which we found ourselves, submerged by the pressure and interests of the private operators, who do not want to open up the advertising pie or the sector to other players.

Tindle’s local DAB multiplex in the Channel Islands has welcomed its 20th radio station. Boom Radio has gone live to an additional 160,000 potential listeners across Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney, broadcasting in DAB+. Boom is headed by radio industry veterans Phil Riley and David Lloyd and is aimed at baby boomers, the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, and is the first radio station in the UK to specifically target this age demographic.

AFTER a lengthy wait community radio station Radio Warrington is at last available on DAB in cars and on radios in the Warrington area. Local radio fans are encouraged to scan the DAB band to tune in. Station manager Steve Lewis said: “We have been providing a community radio service exclusively for Warrington online since 2007. We campaigned for an FM licence but were told there was no room on the FM band so we were awarded a frequency on 1332AM in 2014. Medium Wave is old and unpopular so we applied to broadcast on DAB. Digital Audio Broadcasting has been around for over 20 years but the advent of DAB+ has allowed a lot more stations on to the air.”