News

UK media regulator Ofcom has published the applications received for the small-scale DAB multiplex licences advertised under the fourth round of the rollout. A total of 32 round-four applications for the 29 small-scale DAB radio multiplex licences advertised were received. 16 of the areas have one application, whilst eight received two. The applications are now being assessed against the Ofcom-specific statutory criteria with decisions expected in the coming months.

Radio Potsdam is increasing its terrestrial coverage. From 3 November, the private station will be broadcast via digital radio DAB+ on channel 12D for large parts of Berlin and Brandenburg. Previously, the Berlin mux was broadcast on channel 7B. This can only be received poorly in Potsdam itself, while channel 12D from Berlin's Schäferberg also broadcasts to the capital of Brandenburg.

The private station Schlager Radio wants to start terrestrial broadcasting on DAB+ in another federal state. As the broadcaster announces on its website, digital terrestrial broadcasting is also planned in Lower Saxony from 2023 - in addition to Saxony. Saxony and Lower Saxony would be the 11th and 12th federal states in which the pop station can be received on DAB+.

BR continues to improve DAB+ reception in Bavaria by densifying the state-wide and three regional DAB networks. On 4 November, the sites at Pegnitz (Oberfranken) and Fuchsmühl (Oberpfalz) will begin broadcasting DAB+ signals. On 11 November, the transmitter near Neustadt am Main (Unterfranken) will follow. The commissioning of the DAB+ transmitter for the city of Schweinfurt (Unterfranken) is planned for 18 November.

Jaime Rodríguez Díez, lawyer - partner at Díez & Romeo Abogados, shares the latest news on the state of DAB in Spain. Between September and October 2022, the Constitutional Court has admitted 16 Appeals for Protection (Recursos de Amparo) filed by several radio broadcasters against the refusal to award digital terrestrial sound broadcasting (DAB) licences. This is a step forward with regard to the situation of DAB.

Digital terrestrial radio (DAB+) will be introduced in Angers on Monday 7 November. Radio G! has been preparing for this change for several months, which should mean better sound and a better listening experience. "Radio G! has chosen to be part of this evolution, to enter the world of the future because, in the long term, DAB + will be the only radio broadcasting channel," explains its president Michèle Guillon.

Matt Payton, CEO of the trade body for commercial radio Radiocentre, tells The Media Leader his “feet have not touched the ground” since he started in the role in July this year. Looking at how the market has evolved over the last 10 years, Payton says it has gone from largely local and regional broadcast radio stations, to national brands and brand extensions on DAB and online and increasingly to podcasts and streaming services. Payton explains: “The fact that radio still comes out as the largest part of the overall listening landscape across all age groups is a really strong story, and actually what’s happened is the growth of podcasts and the growth into other types of audio have actually helped grow the cake for everybody, so it’s not been a zero sum game of well, podcasts are undermining radio or music streaming is killing those services. It’s actually just made more listening, and certainly more commercial audio listening that advertisers can use to advertise on.”

From Tuesday, 1 November 2022, listeners of HIT RADIO FFH will also be able to hear the regional news from their region via DAB+ radios. The station has developed a new technical concept for this. In addition to news from all over Hesse, Germany and the world, HIT RADIO FFH has also been broadcasting regional information several times a day since 1989 from the six FFH studios in Darmstadt, Bad Vilbel, Wiesbaden, Fulda, Giessen and Kassel - news specially produced and only to be heard by people directly on the spot. Together with the transmitter network operator Hessen Digital Radio GmbH, HIT RADIO FFH has now developed a concept to reduce the distribution costs and to enable regionalisation on DAB+ as well.

The holiday station Radio Holiday has started digital terrestrial on DAB+ in another federal state. The station was switched on channel 12B in Thuringia. The multiplex can currently only be heard in the Erfurt/Weimar area, but is to be broadcast in large parts of the state in the coming year by up to four additional transmitters.

Local radio station and pioneer Radio Flensburg is planning to broadcast from German soil for the first time. As the provider announces, "a new opportunity has arisen to bring Radio Flensburg to the antenna. We are now taking advantage of this opportunity". This probably means broadcasting via digital radio DAB+. Among other things, a regional mux for the region around Flensburg and the North Frisian islands is to start in 2023.