News

The first 14 new radio stations have been revealed for Tyneside’s new small-scale DAB radio multiplex. The new stations confirmed include local community broadcasters, specialist music and programming services, football fan stations as well as several national radio companies.

The use of FM in The Netherlands is declining. As soon as the number of listeners via analogue FM has decreased to 30% of the Dutch population, the parties will agree on a date on which FM will be switched off.

The new transmitter operated by Bavarian public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) is launching in Gemünden on Thursday 25 March.

Public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk has increased the transmission power in Lower Saxony, improving DAB+ reception for listeners in the region.

French public TV broadcaster France Télévisions announced that Radio Ô will soon be available to DAB+ listeners in mainland France.

According to Herve Godechot who heads the French regulator's radio and audio working group, DAB+ is "radio's passport to the 21st century". There are now 353 services on DAB+ in France - 20 public 330 - and around 30% of the population is now covered by DAB+ reception, while 1 out of every 5 commercial stations is only available on DAB+.

The new radio station, which will be available to listeners on DAB+ from 21 March, aims to become the first radio offering local content with a national structure.

SCA was the first Australian broadcaster to effectively commercialise DAB across mainland capital cities and select regional geographies, creating 10 new and incremental digital radio stations, broadening their reach and scale while competing with their peers in key economic regions.

Looking toward the expansion of digital radio to regional Australia, the regulator - ACMA - has published principles for licence area deeming, aimed at ensuring the efficient use of the radiofrequency spectrum by maximising the utilisation of digital radio multiplex transmitter capacity, as well as promoting the availability of a diverse range of radio services throughout Australia.

Francis Goffin, chairman of the European Digital Radio Alliance (EDRA) outlines EDRA’s key priorities and highlights the importance of digital radio - and DAB+ in particular - in promoting a radio distribution strategy based on a secure, direct route to reach audiences.