News

Eighteen months after the launch of the first commercial state-wide DAB+ multiplex in North Rhine-Westphalia, the State Media Authority has reached a conclusion. In autumn or winter, a maximum of 96 places in DAB+ multiplexes are to be put out to tender. Many interested parties expressed a need for a total of 118 places. For thirty years, the most densely populated radio market was closed off, with access only possible for new providers within the framework of temporary DAB+ trials. Interest in the NRW radio market continues.

A new music radio will start broadcasting in the Czech Republic. The station called Rádio Energic has received a licence for digital radio broadcasting in the DAB+ system. It plans to start broadcasting in the first half of the year, according to its Facebook profile. It wants to focus on the music format CHR (contemporary hit radio, i.e. the latest hits). The studio is in Mladá Boleslav, owned by businessman Tomáš Veselý.

More and more people in Austria are familiar with DAB+. In the coverage area, 54% have heard of digital radio. This is an increase of 11% compared to 2020 and percentage increase of 7 points compared to 2022. Most of the study participants were first informed of DAB+ on the Internet, many also heard about it on the radio or car radio. Many have found information on social media, at electronics retailers or on television. An increasing number of interviewees (21%) know the DAB+ logo. A quarter (24%) of people in Austria have heard radio via DAB+. This is a slight increase compared to the study results from 2022. In the age group of 30- to 39-year-olds, even 48% have gained experience with DAB+. The number of regular DAB+ listeners has also continued to rise. 18% of the people in Austria, i.e., around 960,000, use digital radio several times a month! That means a doubling of regular listeners since 2020.

Laurent Lafon, the centrist chairman of the Senate's culture committee, detailed on Tuesday a bill on "the reform of public broadcasting and audiovisual sovereignty". Article 15 is concerned with making it compulsory for radio sets to receive digital terrestrial radio using the DAB+ standard, and with providing that all new vehicles must also be able to receive digital terrestrial radio using the same standard. The text supported by the Senate majority should be put on the Senate agenda for first reading in the week of 12 June, said Mr Lafon.

Laurent Lafon, Senator and President of the Senate's Committee on Culture, Education and Communication, has tabled a bill on the reform of public broadcasting and audiovisual sovereignty. SIRTI welcomes the integration of measures that it has long supported concerning terrestrial radio, whether analogue or digital, which is recognised as an essential factor of sovereignty. Article 15 of the bill requires the integration of the DAB+ standard alongside FM in all radios marketed within 12 months of the law's promulgation. The bill also makes it compulsory for new cars to have an FM/DAB+ radio receiver. This is an important step forward, as almost half of all radio listening is done in the car.

A new community-led local radio group has been created to apply for the small-scale DAB multiplex in North East London and South West Essex. East London and Essex Digital is a collaboration from Phoenix FM and Gateway 97.8, which have 30 years of broadcasting on FM between them. Phoenix FM Chairman, Paul Golder said: “This is a community-led application aiming to give a louder voice to small community radio stations throughout our area. At least 7 community radio stations will be carried on the new service, each reaching nearly a million new listeners."

Germany's radio station for the cool sound of the 90s has launched a second live radio programme - 90s90s DANCE RADIO - in addition to its existing national station. It can be received digitally via the 90s90s App, website, Skill as well as on all radio aggregators and via DAB+ in Saxony. "The sound has many fans, especially in Saxony - so it's all the nicer that we can also be heard here via DAB+," says Sebastian Voigt, Programme Director Digital REGIOCAST.

Only four years after the national launch, the term DAB+ digital radio or its logo is already known to more than half of the population aged 15 and over (54 %) in the nationwide coverage area of digital radio. Already 30% of all households in Austria have at least one DAB+-capable receiver and almost a quarter of the population has already listened to a radio programme via DAB+. 18% of the total population, that is 960,000 Austrians, even use digital terrestrial radio DAB+ at least several times a month, several times a week or almost daily. These are the key findings of the study "DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich 2023", which was published by the Media Division of Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH (RTR Media) on 2 May 2023.

A project funded by Germany’s Bavarian State Chancellery is testing a novel approach to digital radio: Using technical clustering to combine different channels into a single, bespoke broadcast experience for a listener. The project, titled ART [Announcement Radio Toolbox] is a collaboration between the Bayerische Medien Technik, the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for new media, Mediaschool Bayern, Bayerische Lokal-Radioprogramme and Bayern Digital Radio. In the project, different music genres, such as electro, country and jazz, are broadcast parallel to an information channel via DAB+ in Bavaria.

Triple M has today announced the launch of new DAB+ station, Triple M Tradie Radio, with XXXX beer and Mitsubishi Triton signing on as partners. The new DAB+ station has been built specifically for tradies, aiming to be sure that when the job isn’t running smoothly, the music is. SCA Head of Client Services and Partnerships, Trevor Crook, said, “Triple M is already a much-loved brand in Australia, and this brand extension allows us to further deliver a bespoke offering across DAB+ radio and the LiSTNR app.”