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A record number of stakeholders attended the WorldDAB Automotive Conference (held online on Wednesday, June 23, 2021), making this event a real hub for all the discussions about Digital Radio in the car. More than 500 participants from more than 70 countries signed up to participate in this live event, the only one brought together by the Broadcast Industry and the Automotive Industry to work together to secure the future of Digital Car Radio.

The Office of Electronic Communications informed that the operator of five local DAB+ multiplexes will be DABCOM, and the other two to which the competition announced in April was going to go to PSN Infrastruktura.

Last Thursday the CSA authorised 25 stations to broadcast programmes via DAB+ on the Paris-Lyon-Marseille axis. This first step towards the national deployment of digital radio aims to strengthen radio listening. Last week was the date when broadcast could start at the earliest. Taking into consideration the time to set up the infrastructure, the radio stations should start broadcasting 12 October.

Radio listeners can now listen to NDR programs in better quality thanks to new DAB+ transmitters installed in this hilly, forested region in central Germany. NDR station offers include NDR 1 Niedersachsen, NDR 2, NDR Kultur, NDR Info and N-JOY, which are also broadcast via FM. In addition, NDR Plus, NDR Blue and NDR Info Spezial can be heard exclusively on digital radio.

In 2020, Frontier launched the SmartRadio logo program, which aims to highlight the benefits of SmartRadio devices. At the heart of the program is the SmartRadio logo, which marks products that provide access to radio stations through analog (FM), digital (DAB+) and over the internet (wi-fi). A product must support all three modes of access in order to use the logo. As the program celebrated its one-year anniversary, the company reported the continued success of the initiative, noting that more than 20 new products are now in the market that bear the SmartRadio logo.

"In ten years' time, radio could be completely digital from production to reception. FM will end without any legal constraint," says media lawyer Helmut Bauer. There is a consensus between all relevant key market participants and politicians that there should not be a forced shutdown of FM. In the meantime, Deutschlandradio and some private broadcasters have started to switch off individual FM stations. The new State Media Treaty (Medienstaatsvertrag) has created the possibility of funding by removing the time limit for funding digital infrastructure. There seems to be a fundamental willingness to support media companies with digitization.

Radio Pitchoun is launching on DAB+ in 40 urban areas across France. As part of its national deployment, Radio Pitchoun is now broadcast from 15 transmitters, most recently in Toulon and Calais. Says Laurent Brochet, its founding president: "DAB+ is the innovation that will drive the radio of tomorrow; better listening quality, wider reception, continuity of reception and visual programmes".

The association has announced three new consortium companies set up by local radio stations to broadcast in DAB+ — Radio Digitale Emilia Romagna, Radio Digitale Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia DAB. Aeranti-Corallo represents 631 companies — mainly local radio and TV broadcasters. “While waiting for the new frequency planning to be issued in the coming months by Agcom, following the completion of the television transition to second generation digital terrestrial broadcasts, it’s now absolutely important that the Ministry of Economic Development allows the activation of experimental DAB+ installations, on a non-interference basis, in all regions where local broadcasters have started consortium companies for the activity of network operators.”

A local media company has been awarded a licence to establish a new DAB digital radio transmitter network for Exeter. ExeDab will now begin discussions to finalise its transmission plans to broadcast up to 25 digital radio stations.

Since February, Ofcom has planned the airwaves and awarded small-scale DAB licences in 25 areas across the UK. With the first round of awards now complete, these licences have the potential to allow the launch of over 500 new local radio stations. Some of the hundreds of new stations set to launch on small-scale DAB are existing analogue community and small commercial radio services. Many others will be completely new – ranging from grass-roots community services to boutique specialist music stations, and services aimed at minority groups and other under-served audiences.