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Switching off VHF seems to have been occupying the radio industry for what feels like an eternity. After some back and forth, it will definitely be over at the end of 2024. From now on, radio stations can only be received digitally – via DAB+ or streaming. A further extension is out of the question, said Bernard Maissen, Director of the Federal Office of Communications (Ofcom), on Thursday morning in the Zurich Kaufleuten, which was filled to capacity, on the 23rd SwissRadioDay.

The Virgin Radio Switzerland image campaign started this week, with the aim of further consolidating the DAB+ station as "Switzerland's rock station". The CH Media radio station received prominent support from Imagine Dragons for the national campaign. The successful US rock band is used as a testimonial for the large-scale campaign. In addition, the Virgin Radio Switzerland cult game "Virgin Radio Stripped Back" is celebrating its comeback this week.

As the market of DAB digital radio services diversifies, use cases for ensemble operators are getting more complex. Deployment of ensembles with increasing service count world-wide has shown that the rules of FIC repetition rates leave room for interpretation. WorldDAB has therefore now produced guidance addressing best practice in FIC scheduling when the number of services in an ensemble is more than 20. Vice Chair of WorldDAB’s Technical Committee and Chair of the ETI Files Task Force, Andreas Gorsak of JVCKENWOOD, said: “I’d like to thank the ETI Files Task Force members who have worked with me to develop these guidelines with the motivation to improve the listener experience. We hope it will assist manufacturers of multiplexing equipment, operators of ensembles with more than 20 services in them, and broadcasters with services in these ensembles.”

Commercial radio achieved another best-ever result in GfK Survey 5, with weekly listeners up 8% year on year to more than 12 million people across the five metro capitals. The result was boosted by increased in-car listening and a surge in younger listeners. Commercial DAB+ stations, which include 80s, 90s, hip hop, country and heavy metal music formats, enjoyed a 41% year on year increase to 2.6 million weekly listeners.

Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) is planning new transmitters and enhancements for digital radio DAB+ in Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. This emerges from the planning documents of the Federal Network Agency.

AirZen, the first “100% positive” radio station dedicated to wellness, and the only new national French radio station licensed by the CSA in 20 years, launched on Oct. 12, 2021. It was the brainchild of Mediameeting Group founders, Anne-Marie de Couvreur, Frédéric Courtine and Jean-Louis Simonet, as an incentive to help French people live better. AirZen set up its main facility in Bordeaux to broadcast on the DAB+ M1 Multiplex that covers the area from Paris to Nice, including Dijon, Lyon, Marseille and Avignon. Towercast and TDF are its broadcast operators, and it also streams via the web. For its DAB+ broadcasting, the encoding starts from the offices in Bordeaux and is sent via optical fiber by Towercast to the Paris headend.

In mid-April, the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) published a list of people wanting to broadcast in DAB+ as part of a nationwide multiplex. There are two contests. In the first one, three Polish broadcasters known for their analogue services could participate. Grupa RMF, which had previously been critical of DAB+, and Redemptoryści, which includes Radio Maryja, chose to apply. Wirtualnemedia asks why the results of the competition are still unknown.

České Radiokomunikace wants to actively participate in the development of DAB+ digital radio next year and offer commercial stations adequate coverage and enable the development of their business. Miloš Mastník, the operator's new general manager, stated this in an interview with Televizníweb. The development of private multiplexes is expected in the next year, thanks to the steps implemented by the ČTÚ. "It would be very unfortunate if the coverage of DAB ČRo and private radios were different. In order for DAB to make sense to listeners, it must be able to receive not only the public broadcasts of CRo, but also private radio stations. As soon as we go full DAB+, we will want to cover the entire territory of the Czech Republic as quickly as possible," stated Mastník.

"Hossa! Party non-stop" is the motto from now on Schlager Radio plus. The offshoot of Schlager Radio broadcasts in Berlin on DAB+ (channel 7B), and via the Internet, via app and Skill. Schlager Radio station director Norms Sträche: "Hossa! Party non-stop" brings happiness and a party atmosphere back to the radio. The hottest party hits run without any time limit, pure Ballermann atmosphere!"

Ofcom has announced the winners of the small-scale DAB multiplex licenses for Bedford, Coventry and Swansea. They go to In2DAB Limited (Bedford), Coventry Community Digital Radio CIC (formerly Spark FM Limited) and Swansea DAB Limited. Simon McAusland, Chief Executive of Radio Plus says “As more and more people are now listening to radio via digital platforms, it’s vital that Community Radio doesn’t get left behind. With the introduction of these new Small Scale DAB Multiplex Licences, Ofcom has shown that they recognise, understand, and are addressing many of the challenges that community radio stations face. If successful, we hope that our new community-owned multiplex model could become a blueprint for future licences.”