News

Switchdigital (London) Limited, the operator of London’s largest digital radio multiplex (also known as London 2), is seeking applications from broadcasters interested in acquiring DAB or DAB+ capacity. The London 2 multiplex covers 5.3 million households across London and the South East of England. Parties interested in applying for the available capacity should contact Piers Collins by 12 April 2019.

The automobile manufacturer has announced that all new Volkswagen and Skoda cars released in Italy will now include DAB+ digital radio as standard at no extra cost. As of 1 January 2020, all new cars sold in Italy are required to be equipped with DAB+ digital radio capabilities.

ICASA said that even though analogue medium wave (AM) frequencies are ample, the sound quality is generally poor, with higher transmission costs. ICASA said that even though FM still offers good quality sound, spectrum scarcity and high transmission costs necessitate consideration for digital sound broadcasting services

EBU Members gathered in Polish Radio’s headquarters in Warsaw for a regional workshop on Digital Transformation on April 4th and 5th. Topics that were discussed included digitizing archives, exploring digital innovation (such as DAB+, podcasts, and live streams), restructuring their organizations to be more adept to change, and much more.

ICASA has published the findings of its inquiry into the deployment of digital radio in South Africa, stating that spectrum scarcity and high transmission costs necessitate the consideration of digital radio. ICASA will develop draft regulation on implementation during the current financial year (2019/20).

Speaking on SCA choosing not to sell DAB capacity separately from FM, Grant Blackley highlighted that providing advertising space across both DAB and FM stations was appealing to advertisers.

In this podcast, Radioinfo's Wayne Stamm speaks to Norsk Radio CEO Ole Jorgen Torvmark about the lessons learnt in the first year following the digital switchover.

Speaking at SIRTI's annual event, president Alain Liberty touched on the progress DAB+ has made over the past year in France, the invaluable support of independent radio stations - 71 of which currently broadcast in DAB+ - in helping drive DAB+ adoption, and how DAB+ is key to keeping the traditional broadcasting model alive.

Speaking at the annual independent radio union (SIRTI) meeting, Nicolas Curien welcomed the progress made by DAB+ in France over the past year, highlighting that the next priority for the CSA and its “nodes and arcs” strategy would be to make DAB+ available in smaller regions across France.

Norway opened the second day of the Radiodays Europe with a presentation titled: ‘Beyond FM – the new normal’, where Ole Jorgen Torvmark, who discussed Norway's successful transition to digital radio, was joined on stage by Arqiva’s Head of New Technology Simon Mason and Iso Reichsteiner, Project Manager of the DSO process in Switzerland.