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Licences for small-scale DAB multiplexes have been awarded in Banbury & Bicester, North Buckinghamshire, North Pembrokeshire and South Pembrokeshire. The awards this week take the total awards in Round Four to 19, with five more to go in this round – Bath, Berwickshire, Boston, Derby and East Fife.

Marco Rossignoli and Luigi Bardelli in the new TeleRadioMagazine talk about DAB+ digital radio, the transition to DVB-T2/HEVC, prominence in TV and radio reception devices, and much more. Marco Rossignoli: "The very recent guidelines on the procedures for assigning rights of use for local DAB+ networks represent a very important step for an orderly development of digital radio broadcasting, which enhances the role of local radio publishers. With the assignment of these rights of use, local radio broadcasters will be able to place DAB+ digital transmissions alongside analogue FM transmissions and IP transmissions in a multi-platform broadcasting logic."

DAB digital radio retains by far the largest share of live radio listening by device, the latest RAJAR Audio MIDAS Survey from the UK has found. DAB digital radio has a 42% share, with AM/FM Radio (analogue not digital) on 28% and Voice Activated Speaker at 13%. The RAJAR Audio MIDAS Survey is designed to provide context and insight into how, when and where audio content is being consumed within this liberated environment; including device usage, activities, location, who listened with. The spring 2023 fieldwork was carried out over two weeks in March with a sample of 1,886 former RAJAR respondents adults aged 15 plus, completing a 7 day online diary

Radio Excellent can now also be heard in the Amstelveen, Haarlemmermeer and Ouder Amstel region via DAB+. Radio Excellent was Ouder Amstel's local broadcaster until 2011. "With the return on DAB+ the new standard for radio, we can reach a larger audience and ensure that our broadcasts can be heard anytime and anywhere. We are proud that we can now be heard not only in Ouder Amstel and the surrounding area, but also in the rest of the Randstad," the radio station said in a press release.

On Monday, 8 May, Radio RU was discontinued on the Austrian metropolitan DAB+ multiplex CityMUX Wien II. Since Tuesday, its programme position has been replaced by the new Alpha programme. The station broadcasts in the multiplex with *ALPHA* identification, the audio stream is still 72 kbps with HE-AAC audio encoding, version 1. Fifteen channels are currently available on the multiplex.

Community radio stations are coming together around North East Essex to back an application for small-scale DAB for the Colchester and Clacton area. A new company has been set up to apply for the licence, and is managed by Martin Steers who comes from Colchester originally. He told RadioToday: “It’s great that the area has the opportunity to have it’s own local DAB transmitters, and I’m really excited to hear new and existing stations start broadcasting across the area.” Partnering on the North East Essex Digital Radio bid is local community radio station Colne Radio which currently serves Colchester, Wivenhoe, and the Tendring area on 106.6FM

FRAP (Fédération des radios associatives en Pays de la Loire) is offering a two-day training course to understand the technical and strategic challenges of DAB+ on 15 and 16 June 2023 in Nantes. At the end of the course, trainees will be able to define a development strategy for their radio station using digital broadcasting tools. Pierre Boucard is the founder and director of SUN, an association radio station operating on six FM/DAB+ frequencies in the Pays de la Loire region. Pierre has spent the last twenty years developing DAB+ in France.

Since the end of last year, digital radio has been broadcast in Harju County, Järva County and Lääne-Viru County, and now Duo Media Networks has added transmitters in Tartu County and Pärnu County. This means that more than 70% of Estonia's population can now listen to the new generation of radio. Risto Rosimannus, CEO of Duo Media Networks, said: "The digitalisation of radio offers a lot of opportunities for listeners. "Firstly, the sound quality will improve, secondly, the coverage will improve significantly and thirdly, the choice of radio stations will increase," said Rosimannus. In addition to the launch of two transmitters in Tartu and Pärnu, Duo Media also launched three new digital radio stations in cooperation with the Swedish company RAZ Media: Elmari Tantsuõhtu, Duo Greatest Hits and Duo Gold.

DAB+, the radio standard of today and digital successor to FM, will continue to be an important driver of the digitisation of radio in 2023. Figures from the HEMIX (Home Electronics Market Index) show around 1.9 million DAB+ radios sold in 2022. DAB+ is also one of the clear winners of the last radio audience study ma 2023 Audio I. Distribution via DAB+ continues to grow in importance, while online audio loses slightly. DAB+ is listened to by 28.5 per cent of the population (ma 2022 Audio II: 27.0 per cent) in the so-called widest listener group (WHK) and is used disproportionately in the target group of 30 to 59 year olds in particular (WHK: 32.0 per cent - ma 2022 Audio II: 30.1 per cent).

Jules Lund, former primetime radio host and founder of influencer agency Tribe, has become the latest new media kid on the block. Lund will join Disrupt Radio, which alongside news outfit Scire has voiced a challenge to traditional media structures. Scire is set to cover business, technology, politics and power, while Disrupt Radio will similarly target a business and entrepreneurship audience. “We’re DAB+ radio first,” says Benjamin Roberts, founder and CEO of Disrupt Radio. “With a niche format like Disrupt, we’re uniquely positioned to bring some ownership back to the medium. Live radio and real conversation are very much centre stage for us.” So, it appears Disrupt will be expecting consumers to come to them, as Roberts adds: “Yes, we’ll be available on other audio platforms, but only selectively.”