News

As Telepro pointed out at the beginning of the year, and in preparation for the upcoming arrival of DAB+ digital radio in Belgium, RTBF is continuing its process of extinction of medium wave (AM) by reducing the daily broadcasting hours of La 1 st and VivaCité from its Wavre transmitter 621 kHz.

Nicolas Curien (Advisor to the CSA, President of the Radio Working Group) said: "The launch of DAB in Lille and in Hauts-de-France is both an opportunity for the region and a promise of success for the ambitious deployment plan 2018-2020."

DEVA Broadcast will begin shipping its DB46 monitor in July. The DB46 DAB monitor is ETSI EN 300 401 DAB standard compliant.

In the north-west of France, 41 radio stations were officially started Tuesday via DAB+. These include Lille, Dunkirk and Calais, where five of the seven multiplexes have been brought into the air.

As part of Belgian French-language RTBF’s strategy to transition toward DAB+, in May the public radio broadcaster reduced daily AM broadcasts of its “VivaCité” and “La Première” stations to 14 hours. “Our plan is to discontinue AM once DAB+ kicks off,” said Laurent Finet, head of production and digital innovation at RTBF radio. “We will however continue our FM broadcasts for a number of years before we eventually put an end to these as well.”

About 25 new stations have been created following the launch of DAB+ in Hauts-de-France, dramatically increasing the radio landscape of the area.

After the launch of DAB+ services in Paris, Marseille and Nice, 51 stations have launched in the digital standard in Lille and the Hauts-de-France region.

New research by Hyundai has found that DAB radio is the sixth most preferred item by British drivers - with the audio quality and choice of stations cited for its preference above AM and FM.

DAB+ digital radio was officially launched Tuesday in Lille and four other cities in the Hauts-de-France, with approximately 50 radio stations launched.

DAB+ digital radio has been launched in Hauts-de-France, with more than 50 stations now having access to the technology. The launch took place at an official celebration event in Lille on Tuesday 19 June.