News

From 19 January, TDF is starting to broadcast thirteen radio stations in DAB+ digital quality from its broadcasting sites in La Flèche (Sarthe) and Ceton (Orne): Alouette, Chante France, Clazz, Crooner Radio, Forever, France Bleu Maine, Radio FG, Radio Nova, Radio Orient, RCF Sarthe, Sud Radio, TSF Jazz and Vibration. These sites cover the population of Nogent-le-Rotrou (Eure-et-Loir), La Flèche and La Ferté-Bernard (Sarthe) as well as the A11 motorway for motorists equipped with DAB+ receivers. "I am delighted with the arrival of DAB+ on the extended Le Mans allotment, which is broadcast from the TDF sites in La Flèche and Ceton. TDF has had a strong local presence in the region for many years," said Karim El Naggar, Managing Director of TDF's Audiovisual BU.

WorldDAB’s spectrum and network implementation committee is hosting a seminar on signal distribution on March 9 in Geneva and online. There are many ways to transport the signal from the multiplex to the transmitter and different strategies to achieve reliability and redundancy. Each network operator tackles signal distribution differently. This seminar will look at the various methods used in several advanced DAB markets and should be particularly interesting to broadcasters, regulators, policymakers and professional equipment manufacturers. The March 9 seminar is from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. CET (8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. GMT) at the Genève meeting room at the EBU, Grand Saconnex, Geneva, Switzerland and virtually on Zoom.

To celebrate the start of its DAB+ broadcasting in Amiens, French Christian radio station RCF Hauts-de-France is relocating its studios to the Maison Saint Jean-Baptiste, in the heart of the city, on Tuesday, Jan. 24 for a radio day, open to the public between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thanks to the opening of new DAB+ transmitters at the beginning of December, RCF Hauts-de-France now covers a population base of nearly 3 million inhabitants in the Hauts-de-France region. The inhabitants of the Somme and Saint-Quentin can now listen to a new regional radio station that broadcasts a programme covering political, economic, cultural, associative and religious news.

The general chamber of the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (VRM), the independent regulator of the Flemish audiovisual media, decided on 9 January 2023 to extend the local DAB+ pilot projects for a period of 3 years. Also, under certain conditions, a limited number of relay stations will also be allowed. On 1 February 2022, a local DAB+ pilot project started in each of the 5 Flemish provinces for a period of 1 year. 59 local radio broadcasters participated in these pilot projects, which is half of the Flemish local radio sector. The first year of local DAB+ broadcasting provided useful insights into how DAB+ broadcasting is realised in a semi-provincial transmission area, what coverage is achieved for it and how cooperation takes place within the pilot projects.

No Name Radio, the new channel 'powered by Rai' dedicated to a target audience of the young and very young, launched on air on 18 December. The station broadcasts on the DAB+ Rai multiplex and online. "The No Name Radio project was launched last spring with the aim of offering a digital radio to young people aged between 15 and 24 - a complex and challenging target," explains Roberto Sergio, director of Rai Radio. "Today we are ready to go. Our radio will be a digital environment in which we want young people to recognise themselves and help to grow."

Regiocast has taken over the slot previously operated by Sportradio Deutschland on the second DAB+ Bundesmux. The previous offering will be replaced by 90s90s Radio. Since its launch in 2016, 90s90s has been there for everyone who loves the music of the 90s and wants to rediscover it in the here and now: From 90s house to rock to boy bands. The station complements Regiocast's existing national DAB+ portfolio with brands such as Radio Bob! Deutschlands Rockradio, 80s80s Radio and Sunshine Live.

The UK continues its effective switch-off of the AM waveband. The station I knew as “Virgin 1215”, more latterly “Absolute Radio”, comes off AM this month in the UK. After working for Virgin for a number of years, it’s sad to see the AM signal go. In the same press release - the first station I worked behind a mixing desk for - the station I knew as Classic Gold West Yorkshire on 1278 and 1530, will also be turned off. No wonder, really: according to a government official, AM radio in the UK has about 2% of UK radio’s listening hours, yet costs 35% in electricity costs. It’s eye-wateringly expensive to be on AM if you look at the power costs.

Carsten Zorger has been head of the Digital Radio Office Germany, based at Deutschlandradio in Berlin, for over six years. The time under his aegis has certainly been a formative one for the new DAB+ radio standard. In an interview with Digital Fernsehen, however, he looks to the future of radio. "We expect many more stations to be launched in 2023, especially in the north. And because every new car is now delivered with DAB+ radio on board, we are counting on car drivers who want to discover new stations or listen to their favourite programmes in digital quality while driving," said Zorger.

Radio, one of the oldest mass media, is still alive and kicking, Media Minister Benjamin Dalle (CD&V) told Business AM Radio. Yet the medium is not standing still. "I am convinced that the future of radio is exclusively digital," he echoed. In the news: More and more radio stations are choosing to go fully digital. Still, it will be some time before the obsolete FM technology is completely abandoned, Dalle thinks. In the coming years, more and more people will listen digitally. According to the minister, this will be a combination of internet and DAB+.

NDR radio stations in the north-east of the island of Rügen can be received even better via digital radio DAB+ from 17 January. With the commissioning of another transmitter near Sagard, DAB+ coverage of NDR stations has improved for radio listeners on the Jasmund and Wittow peninsulas. For the most part, they can now also be received there indoors via digital radio, on Block 8B (197.648 MHz). The Baltic resort of Binz and other towns along the Prorer Wiek also benefit from the NDR's new DAB+ transmitter.