News

BBC Director of Radio Helen Boaden has resigned from her post, retiring after 34 years. Helen will step down in March 2017 as James Purnell, who already has responsibility for education, will bring together network Radio, Arts, Music, Learning and Children’s as Director, Radio & Education.

With their retro designs and simple lines Pure digital radios have been a fixture in many British households for more than a decade. Now the company that initially designed them as a platform for its DAB decoding chip has sold the business to an Austrian company for £2.6 million.

Imagination Technologies has sold digital radio manufacturer Pure to an Austrian investment company, AVenture GmbH. Commenting on the deal, Pure’s general manager, Paul Smith said: “We have an ambition to grow, and under the umbrella of AVenture, we can achieve that. The future for DAB+ across Europe is extremely exciting and Pure is a leading brand in a rapidly growing market, driven by geographical adoption and digital switch over. We have a strong vision for the future with innovation at the heart of this, giving Pure a unique opportunity within the market.”

Media Broadcast has launched its 100th transmitter in Kreuzberg in Bavaria. The end of 2016 will be a total of 110 transmitter sites in operation

At an event held by the regulator AGCOM at the Italian Parliament in Rome on 27 September, AGCOM called for more support and further investment from public broadcaster RAI in the continued rollout of DAB digital radio. Citing the leading role taken by public broadcasters in Norway, Germany and UK in the rollout of DAB digital radio in those countries, RAI was urged to do more in terms of investment, to ensure adequate DAB signal coverage on motorways, tunnels, and indoors, and by offering new programmes and services to ensure a digital future for radio in Italy.

Data in the most recent WorldDAB infographic includes sales performance, current status and the number of DAB/DAB+ stations compared with FM/AM station.

As he explained at in a session at IBC, Graham Dixon,Head of Radio at EBU said digital broadcasting meets the needs of listeners and industry for terrestrial radio; it is important to incorporate DAB + receivers in mobile devices.

An opportunity to watch the presentations from the event 'Digital radio in Italy: an opportunity for citizens, the market and business’, which took place on 27th September. Please note the presentations are in Italian, except Patrick Hannon in English at 33min 40 sec.

The Sangean WFR-3, is a tabletop internet/DAB+ radio with trustworthy sound. The wooden cabinet gives it a great and warm sound. Its black color gives the radio a timeless design and fits in almost every interior.

The EBU’s Head of Radio, Graham Dixon, has emphasised the importance of maintaining a robust, reliable and contemporary platform for radio transmission at a seminar on digital broadcasting in Rome. At the event organised by Italian regulator AGCOM at the Italian Parliament, Dixon noted sadly, “we have seen during the past year's emergency situations and attacks in major European centres of population – Paris, Nice, Brussels and Munich. These are the times when people most need reliable information, and when any IP solution is most likely to fail due to overload, or even the necessity to curtail service to protect the public.”