News

Per Morten Hoff in ICT Norway writes on Kampanje.com that to digitise the radio is "a very unwise decision." That this comes from "digitisation associated" ICT Norway is in itself a curiosity, and as usual Hoffs justifications based on factual errors and factors that are taken out of their original context.

The Government has concluded digitisation of radio in 2017. The Norweigan Government followed up the Storting's decision to digitise the radio sector, as the criteria for the technology shift has been fulfilled.

Each trial will allow new digital radio services to broadcast to a local area and will help explore how groups of radio stations can work together. The trials will also inform Ofcom's work on identifying suitable frequencies for broadcasting smaller digital stations and help understand how these services could be licensed.

Norway has become the first country in the world to announce a closure of FM for national broadcasters. Like the UK, Norway also had a number of criteria to hit to achieve before government would consider switching off. Here are Norway's criteria (from Gunnar Garfors's blog), and how the UK would compare.

It has been confirmed today that Norway will switch off FM radio in 2017, the first country in the world to shut off analogue for all major radio stations. The switchover will take place over a 12 month period starting in January 2017. Norway was the first country in the world to fully switchover to digital TV in 2009.

51 applications to run one of 10 local DAB multiplexes on a nine-month trial have been received by Ofcom.

And it is official. Norway will switch off FM in 2017, as the first country in the world. The government, represented by the Minister of Culture, announced today. That makes today a day of celebration for the broadcasters that have long been working with listeners, the government, retailers, the car industry and each other to achieve five demands set up by the government in 2011.

On 16 April, the Ministry of Culture announced a national FM-switch off, to complete the transition to digital radio. The switchover will begin in the North on 11 January 2017 and will be implemented region by region, concluding 13 December 2017.

Is digital radio in Australia dead? Not according to recent figures, in fact far from it. Digital radio is going strong and getting stronger. The recent news that Digital radio is now reaching 3.2 million listeners in Australia, according to GfK figures released by Commercial Radio Australia (CRA), shows growth of 24% in the past year. If that growth rate continues, digital radio listeners would exceed 10 million in Australia by 2020.

Pure confirmed their investment into the Norwegian receiver market at a press launch this week. "We see the transition to digital radio in Norway as a good opportunity to kick start in Norway. We are going to have more people in the various regions in the future. But cooperation on car radios is the biggest driver." says Jasper Wybrants, Country Manager for Pure in Norway.