News

WorldDAB has, as part of the Radio Days Europe conference in Lausanne, released a new report revealing how the switchover has impacted Norway’s radio listening. Amongst a number of key findings, the report indicates that total radio listening in 2019 is back to similar levels as achieved in 2016 before the digital switchover, and highlights that 86% of daily listeners now use DAB+, compared to only 55% in 2016.

Speaking on the opening day of Radiodays Europe in Lausanne, Radio France CEO Sibyle Veil stated that the deployment of DAB+ technology in Europe was good news, touching on Radio France's investments in terrestrial broadcast, and confirming that all channels of Radio France would soon be available on the network.

On April 2, the DAB + multiplex for the Rhine-Main area and southern Hesse will change from channel 11C to 12C. DAB+ listeners in that region must therefore carry out a rescan.

Antenne Deutschland has revealed its plans to launch the second nationwide DAB+ digital radio multiplex, in the fourth quarter of 2019. A trial is due to to be carried out during the consumer electronics show IFA, taking place at the start of September in Berlin.

As part of a DAB+ event held in Germany in March, automotive manufacturer Audi announced that as of the end of 2020, all its car released in the European Union will be fitted with digital terrestrial capabilities as standard. This initiative is in compliance with the EECC regulation introduced at then end of 2018, which requires all new cars sold in Europe to include built-in digital radio capabilities.

The second national DAB+ multiplex is expected to start in October 2019, with 15 national radio stations set to go on air. The multiplex is due to be tested during the IFA electronics trade show taking place in Berlin in September.

At the start of March, the French regulator CSA announced its decision to grant Radio France with a licence to broadcast its six radio stations nationally on DAB+. This article touches on the potential of DAB+ and the reasons behind Radio France's investment in DAB+ digital radio as communicated by Radio France CEO Syvile Veil in an interview with Les Echos.

WorldDAB has announced it will run a DAB+ information workshop at the annual consumer distribution networks event - MedPi 2019 - taking place in Paris on 2-4 April 2019.The workshop, jointly organised by MedPi and WorldDAB, will take place on Wednesday 3 April at 16:00 CET, and will focus on the accelerated deployment of DAB+ digital radio in France and how retailers can benefit from new business opportunities represented by the growing DAB+ market.

In response to the accelerated rollout of DAB+ across Europe and beyond, WorldDAB has launched the Spectrum and Network Implementation Committee (SNIC) to support the implementation of DAB+ networks. The first seminar of the WorldDAB Spectrum and Network Implementation Committee, titled ‘Best practice for implementation of SFN networks’, will take place in Budapest, on 22 May. Click here to register.

Continental's new DAB/ DAB+ radios include the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus technology for large vehicles. The radios can also accommodate the connection of two smartphones simultaneously that operators can access both business and personal data, or two operators can pair their mobiles. Continental offers a wide range of solutions for digital radio reception, to enable builders and fleet managers to be prepared for future European standards.