News

The Media Council of the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting (BLM) decided in its meeting on 26 October 2022 to standardise the capacities in the DAB network Upper Franconia 10B. The capacities will be increased by six capacity units (CU) for this purpose. This is the result of an agreement with Bayerischer Rundfunk in the course of a pilot project to adjust error protection and data rates.

The latest U.K. radio audience research shows that 66% of weekly listening hours are consumed digitally. Listening via DAB has a 39% share of listening, Online has a 24% share and DTV is 4%. AM/FM listening hours are just over a third with a share of 34%. The new figures from RAJAR, covering the third quarter of 2022 reveal that in an average week, digital listening accounts for 674 million hours; DAB has a 59% share of digital listening hours, DTV 5%, Website/Apps 15%, Smart Speaker 20%. In terms of reach, 41 million adults aged 15+ are now tuning in to radio via a digitally enabled platform (DAB, DTV, Online, App, Smart Speaker) each week. 66% of the population claim to own or have access to a DAB radio.

Media Broadcast has further expanded the transmitter network of the first national digital radio multiplex (channel 5C) in Germany. With the connection of the site in Hennstedt, reception of the 13 DAB+ programmes is now improved in the Steinburg district between Itzehoe and Neumuenster, as the company already announced via Twitter at the beginning of October.

Progress is actually being made on a DAB+ of its own for the German-speaking community in eastern Belgium. RadioVisie heard from a very good source that the government of the German-speaking community gave the final green light on Tuesday evening. If everything goes smoothly, a digital ensemble with two transmitters may already start in Block 8A at the end of November, in Amel and Petergensfeld.

It's almost a tradition at the end of the year in Germany: a major promotional campaign for DAB+. For three weeks from 14 November to 4 December, ARD, Deutschlandradio, private programme providers, manufacturers and other members of the Digitalradio Deutschland association will be promoting this digital radio technology.

The team behind a popular Suffolk online radio station is ready to bring its sound to digital audiences after getting its broadcasting licence. GenX Radio Suffolk has been given the go-ahead by Ofcom and will go digital on DAB from Monday, October 31. The radio station launched less than a year ago as the county’s only local commercial radio station. The news comes days after the station's breakfast presenter Tim Gough, suddenly died during his show. James Hazell, the managing director of GenX Radio Suffolk, said it is the extraordinary response from an online audience and local advertisers that triggered them to apply to Ofcom. "Launching GenX Radio Suffolk on DAB provides the county with a more ‘traditional’ way of receiving our programmes both in the home and on the road. I am delighted we can now offer our unique service via Digital Radio to Suffolk’s listeners and advertisers."

Next year, the Czech Republic should see a greater expansion of digital radio networks using the DAB+ standard. At the recent Radiokomunikace 2022 conference, Jiří Duchač, director of the Frequency Spectrum Management Department of the Czech Telecommunications Office, said that it had not set the pricing conditions and was prepared to negotiate with individual operators. Duchač pointed out that the CTO’s responsibility was to ensure frequencies were used efficiently. “We aim to encourage competition, not have one entity buy up frequencies in the first phase of the tender so there is limited participation.”

In a move heralded as “the rebirth of local radio,” around 450,000 people on Tyneside can now tune into more local stations than ever before following the roll-out of new digital technology. Thanks to the award of one of the first new UK licences for small-scale DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) radio, Newcastle based Tyneside Community Digital (TCD), is now hosting 19 radio stations on the DAB platform with more joining in the coming weeks, and is inviting applications from further local broadcasters seeking to reach a wider listenership.

The digital radio offering in Bremen is being expanded: as the Bremische Landesmedienanstalt announced on 25 October, Femotion Radio can now be received on the regional DAB+ multiplex in Bremen. Femotion Radio wants to design its programme by women for women. Under the claim "My life, my style, my music", the station was initially launched in May 2021 on the 2nd national DAB+ multiplex as well as via the internet. Since 12 May 2022, the station no longer broadcasts via the 2nd national DAB+ multiplex, but instead in the state-wide DAB+ package in NRW. From now on, the channel will be broadcast in the regional DAB+ multiplex in Bremen on DAB+ channel 6A.

Something could be happening with digital radio DAB+ in eastern Belgium. A network on channel 8A has now been put into coordination for the German-speaking Community (DG). So far, the German-language stations Radio 700, Radio Contact, Rdaio Sunshine and 100'5 - Das Hitradio cannot yet be heard on digital terrestrial. There has already been a temporary test with the programmes in Eupen. The public Belgian Broadcasting Corporation (BRF) cannot yet be heard flawlessly on DAB+ in the entire DG.