News

DAB + is clearly increasing in new cars: Compared to 2016, where only around 21 percent of vehicles with digital radio rolled off the assembly line, this value has almost doubled within a year to just under 40 percent, according to Deutsche AutomobilTreuhand (DAT).

The latest HEMIX results report that a record 1.3m DAB+ devices were sold in Germany in 2017, and DAB+ was also a success story in the automotive, with almost 40% of new cars being rolled off the line with the digital standard.

A new report has confirmed 1.3 million DAB+ receivers were sold in 2017, according to a new report from the Home Electronics Market Index Germany 2017 (HEMIX).

At ABU DBS this year, WorldDAB will be hosting a DAB+ Pavilion with key supply-chain companies working in the region. Ahead of the exhibition, we speak to the exhibitors from Factum Radioscape, GatesAir, Paneda and RadioDNS to find out what delegates can expect.

Arqiva grew its terrestrial broadcast business by seven per cent in the second half of 2017. Revenues of £239.4 million were buoyed partly by the rollout of DAB digital radio services in the UK.

The future of DAB in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia will become clearer this summer after the regional NRW Media Commission receives analysis on the status of DAB alongside the current FM and 5G streaming services.

Digital radio is experiencing significant audience growth in Australia, with research from Commercial Radio Australia revealing that 3.6 million people listened to DAB+ each week in 2017 in the five metropolitan capitals.

DAB+ coverage in the Flanders region of Belgium is looking at ongoing improvements, with reports that Walloon broadcaster RTBP looking to roll out DAB+ in April. This follows on from earlier progress from DAB+ Flanders on channel 11A, which has added three new support channels, and installed a minimum bitrate of 80 kbps to their music channels.

Radio listeners with visual impairments will learn about Czech station dRadio1, which has enabled voice outputs in its broadcast that converts all menus including station names into audio formats. dRadio1's benefits will be highlighted during April's INSPO Conference in Prague.

A new initiative of KRRiT wants to make the digital radio even cheaper for private channels. If KRRiT's new price offensive takes effect, the price will only increase by 4.6% from PLN 6.2 million to PLN 6.4 million due to inflation.