News

The second of three podcasts from the WorldDAB General Assembly is now available for people to hear. Led by Sam Bonham, this vehicle industry podcast focuses on DAB adoption in cars and the evolution of in-car entertainment and features Andreas Gorsak from JVCKenwood, Roger Lanctot from Strategy Analytics, and Ron Schiffelers from NXP Semiconductors.

The radio has a retro look with the large speaker and single control on the front. Don’t worry, there are more on the top. Beyond the looks, the functionality includes DAB and FM reception, 10 presets for each and the option to use as an alarm, either with the radio or as a buzzer. An LCD display too, along with snooze and sleep functions.

In January 2017, Norway becomes the first country to start switching off FM transmissions in favor of terrestrial digital broadcasting via DAB+. Any switchoff of FM transmissions needs to consider all radio users, even those in fishing boats off the coast. So, throughout the Norwegian summer, three NRK engineers packed a variety of radio monitoring equipment, a few portable DAB+ sets and took to the waves.

Myanmar Radio and TV (MRTV) will start a DAB trial, following a public tender which was won by Hong Kong based system integrator BTL. Paneda will provide DAB Head-End Equipment and support.

The VQ Hepburn and Retro Mk II devices offer a comfortable and easy upgrade for radio lovers, allowing owners to experiment with the world of streaming without losing the radio programmmes they enjoy. 

Industry body Commercial Radio Australia has released some new data about radio in the car. Unsurprisingly for radio, it’s good news: radio accounts for 80% of all audio listened-to in the car. Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music total just 3% of time spent listening, and “other audio”, which contains podcasting and internet radio, is 5%

The list of radio stations that have responded (and are validated) to the call for applications published on 1 June 2016 for DAB+ licences in Lille, Strasbourg and Lyon has been published. Of note is the application by Radio Classique, alongside several local and regional radio stations, as well as most of the radio stations already on air with DAB+ in Paris, Nice and Marseille.

DAB+ is the technical standard on which industry and regulators across Europe agree on, it offers many benefits for broadcasters and listeners. A trial of DAB+ has been on air in Vienna since May.

The international radio industry gathered in Vienna for the WorldDAB General Assembly. More than 200 participants, including political decision-makers, broadcasters and representatives of the industry, discussed the growth in the introduction of DAB+ as a digital radio standard throughout Europe and beyond.

The digital switchover is fast approaching in Norway, with the first FM switch off taking place in Nordland on 11 November. The rest of the digital switchover will be carried out throughout the rest of 2017, on a region by region basis.