News

EU Member States have until 21 December 2020 to transpose the EECC into national legislation. Article 113, Annex XI states that “Any car radio receiver integrated in a new vehicle of category M which is made available on the market for sale or rent in the Union from 21 December 2020 shall comprise a receiver capable of receiving and reproducing at least radio services provided via digital terrestrial radio broadcasting.”

The WorldDAB Technical Committee's work ensures that receiver equipment and broadcast technologies are compatible, and its various Task Forces work continuously to upgrade and advance the DAB standards, keeping them in line with other technical developments, and future proofing DAB equipment.

The new proposed law put forward by political party Compromís - which aims to enable the development of DAB+ digital radio in Spain in line with the rest of Europe - did not gather any objections following its consultation. The proposal will now be debated at a Plenary sitting.

Luxembourg's Media and Communications Authority is working towards the launch of DAB+ digital radio. A new study has now been launched to determine the various requirements for DAB+ in Luxembourg, while regular DAB+ services may launch as early as in spring 2021.

The development of DAB+ in Czech Republic continues to progress as Czech Radio has announced the DAB+ network in the country has now reached 95% following the launch of 10 new transmitters. The public broadcaster has also revealed its plans to switch off AM services at the end of 2021.

Radiodays Europe has announced that due to the on-going COVID 19 crisis, the event originally scheduled for December has now been moved to 2021 on the following dates: 2-4 May 2021.

Speaking as part of the second edition of the #RadioTour, the president of the French regulator reiterated the continued growth of DAB+ as the CSA's priority for 2020. He also highlighted the broadcasters' continued support for the development of DAB+, and touched on the upcoming launches of (national and regional) DAB+ services across France, including Toulouse and Bordeaux.

The WorldDAB General Assembly 2020 is being held online this year and the date is set for November 3between 9am and 4pm GMT. The event brings together WorldDAB members and experts from across the digital radio industry for one day and is free to watch.

DAB+ reception is set to improve in Germany's western state of Rhineland-Palatinate with the launch of a new transmitter. Public broadcaster SWR is planning to further expand DAB+ coverage in the region in 2020 and 2021.

Listeners can now find more Australian radio stations than ever on Google Nest devices, thanks to the new integration of RadioApp, the Australian radio industry’s official aggregator radio app, further expanding Australian radio’s accessibility across digital devices. Now, more than 350 Australian AM, FM and DAB+ digital radio stations, including all commercial radio, ABC and SBS stations, are available via voice command on Google Nest speakers and displays.