News

As digital radio is disseminated in Germany, the government has made an effort to keep distribution costs low for providers, and the restructured transmitter network is intended to reinforce those efforts.

Triple MuxCo Somerset has applied for a change of frequency for its forthcoming DAB digital radio multiplex serving Somerset. Proposed coverage area at launch for Somerset's DAB mux. Under the proposals, the multiplex would be assigned VHF Block 10B instead of 10D from September 2014. Proposed coverage at launch would not be impacted, and as the multiplex isn't yet operational, the change of frequency won't impact listeners retuning.

The radio is inspired by the classic 1970s Rambler radio in style, but beyond the surface, this is every bit a modern piece of kit. Features include DAB / DAB+ radio reception.

The true home of radio in the modern day is in vehicles, where 33m people listen per week. Over 60 per cent of cars still don’t have DAB radios fitted as standard, another key reason why they are yet to become the mainstream option. But change looks to be on the horizon in this department as major car companies such as Volkswagen have announced they will now fit all new cars with DAB radios.

Latest Ofcom Communications Market Report show Wales has experienced the largest increase in DAB radio set ownership over the past year, with 42% of households now owning at least one set, a 15 percentage point increase. This brings Wales into line with the UK average. Read the report in full.

The last remaining MXR regional DAB multiplex is to close in ten months time, Ofcom has confirmed. Four other regional multiplexes operated by MXR have closed over the last couple of years, with no official confirmation on the future of the Yorkshire set-up. But the licence has not been renewed, meaning stations on the multiplex with either have to move to alternative local multiplexes, or fall silent before June 29th 2015.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is to trial ‘visual radio’ at the Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championships. The slideshow can be delivered on platforms including DAB+ Slideshow, available on certain DAB car receivers, on hybrid radio (RadioVIS/RadioDNS) working with FM or digital radio, where receivers automatically download and display images as they are produced, and the web via a Javascript component.

It hasn't exactly been a Rachmaninov v rock'n'roll battle to the death, but last week digital BBC Radio 6 Music snuck past sister analogue station Radio 3 for the first time in the quarterly Rajar audience figures.

The Bayern Digital Radio GmbH has restructured the transmitter network in the channel 12D (Bavaria) and the local network in Ingolstadt. By reducing to 26 locations and simultaneously increasing the performance of 16 selected locations in the channel 12D penetration rate of digital radio in Bavaria has remained almost constant (88% road / 54% home / Source: BLM).

Rohde & Schwarz will give a live demonstration of the R&S Tx9 transmitter generation at IBC 2014. The company says it will show how the Tx9 helps reduce the operating costs of transmitter networks, for FM, DAB and TV. This transmitter generation features energy efficiency, a compact design and redundancy concepts that can reduce costs by more than 70%