News

Ash Elford of UK DAB Networks recently launched the small-scale DAB multiplex in Basingstoke – but it didn’t all go to plan. Here’s what happened in his own words. “There’s nothing like a deadline to focus the mind. When I took control of the Basingstoke and Winchester DAB licences in July 2022 from Nation Broadcasting (having divested my initial shareholding to Nation in December 2021), I had a lot of work to do. Ofcom is very firm that small-scale multiplexes must be launched within 18 months of licence award... ”

The Exeter small-scale DAB multiplex has officially launched in the city with eight services now live. It is operated by ExeDab, led by Radio Exe and Exeter’s community station Phonic FM. The ExeDab network is broadcast from three transmitter sites: the Exeter College tower in the city centre, Hilltop Riding School in the Pennsylvania area, and at Cranbrook Education Centre.

A new survey in key UK constituencies finds 75% of voters want their MP to actively support the continued provision of digital terrestrial TV (Freeview) and broadcast radio. As the cost of living continues to rise, 8 in 10 people value traditional TV and radio as an affordable form of entertainment for their families. The coalition behind the Broadcast 2040+ campaign has written to Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to urge the Government to protect traditional TV and radio services to 2040 and beyond. In the letter, Arqiva CEO Shuja Khan said: "Broadcast TV and radio are part of the daily routine of tens of millions of people across the UK – nine out of ten adults listen to radio at least once a week and nearly half the households in the UK regularly access television through an aerial. These services bind us together as a people, whether it is through national moments that matter like the Queen’s State Funeral and Jubilee or celebrating national success like the Women’s Euro Final."

The next nationwide warning day is on 8 December 2022. The aim is to alert the population to warnings in crisis situations. On the joint action day of the federal government, the federal states and the municipalities, all available warning means are to be tested at 11 am. These include radio and television, warning apps, digital boards, loudspeaker trucks and sirens. Radio broadcasters Radio Brocken and radio SAW will repeatedly use the nationwide warning day to trigger an EWF test alarm on DAB+ channel 11C. In cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits and the Media Authority Saxony-Anhalt, a test announcement will be heard on 08.12.2022 at 11:00 and text information will be shown on the radio display.

On 5 December, during a live broadcast from Bristol Beacon, community radio stations in the Greater Bristol area will start broadcasting on DAB Digital Radio. This is a landmark moment, making it easier for more local people to find and listen to their community radio stations. Bristol and Severnside Digital Radio were founded as community interest companies to apply for and run digital radio services for community radio stations in Bristol and South Gloucestershire. They have been awarded licences by Ofcom and have worked with local organisations to create a digital radio network which covers over 530,000 people. The surplus from operating the network provides a new source of funding for community-based media. All of the stations will now have much wider and more consistent coverage than they currently have on FM, and will be listed on digital radios alongside other national and regional radio stations. In Bristol, where over 70% of listeners listen to DAB Digital Radio alongside a continuing decline in FM radio listening, making the move to digital is important so that people can continue to find their local and community stations.

The non-commercial station FSK (Freies Sender Kombinat) can now be heard again in the greater Hamburg area via digital radio DAB+. It is broadcasting in the second private radio ensemble on channel 12C. This means that the FM landscape from Hamburg is now completely mapped on DAB+. All analogue FM radio stations from the Hanseatic city can now also be heard digitally terrestrially.

On 1 December, two DAB+ channel 11B transmitters in Brandenkopf and Alpirsbach were put into operation by digital radio operator On Air Support for the state-wide, private DAB+ multiplex in Baden-Württemberg. Large parts of the central Black Forest will now be covered. "We are pleased that the 16 radio stations we broadcast can now finally be received digitally in the entire Kinzig valley, from Freudenstadt to Offenburg," ON AIR support said.

The small scale DAB trial between Heilbronn and Stuttgart can continue. As founder Dana Diezemann from the consortium "Regionalradio BW" told SateliFax, the trial on channel 12B was approved on 1 December for an extension until 30 June 2023. Furthermore, a second location for the ensemble at the Güglingen telecommunications tower is to go on the air before the end of December. Regionalradio BW wants to offer smaller private radio stations or non-commercial radio projects a cheaper alternative in digital radio DAB+ in the medium term.

The Radio Ink webinar is set for 12PM Eastern Monday, December 5th. Xperi will unveil new benefits to broadcasters with their DTS AutoStage global hybrid radio solution that now gives access to radio analytics and audience insights. The webinar will be hosted by Radio Ink Editor Ed Ryan. Joining Ed on will beXperi’s Joe D’Angelo, SVP of Global Radio and Broadcast Audio and Westwood One Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard.

Experts explain the new possibilities for Croatian broadcasters and listeners brought by broadcasting through a digital platform that was put into commercial operation a year ago. At the end of last year, the test transmission of the DAB + platform was completed in Croatia, which operates as a medium that, due to its nature, still has a strong role in the public, offering a number of new possibilities. We talked about the possibilities of DAB+ for broadcasters and listeners, digital signal coverage of our country and how DAB+ fits into the green European agenda, with Damir Bučević, member of the Council of the Agency for Electronic Media, Danijelo Vidaković, head of the RF spectrum management department of HAKOM and Bruno Cigrovski, head of the Department for Radio Networks, Transmitters and Communications.