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Classic FM is turning up the broadcast quality of its signal across the UK for a richer, higher definition audio experience. From January 2024, Classic FM will be upgrading from DAB to DAB+ across the UK. DAB+ provides superior sound quality, giving the best possible experience for those listening on DAB. This change will only affect those with a DAB radio that does not have DAB+, which is a small minority of legacy DAB radio devices.

The Wendelstein site in the eastern foothills of the Alps goes on the air for the 2nd national DAB+ ensemble on channel 12D. On 13 July, the transmitter in Oberammergau in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen will follow, announced the platform operator Antenne Deutschland. In the course of the second half of the year, the Raichberg transmitter site in Baden-Württemberg will be switched on. By the end of the year, the network of the 2nd DAB+ Bundesmux will comprise 82 locations.

On Wednesday 5 July, TDF is making official the extensive roll-out of digital radio in Lorraine, at its Nancy-Malzéville broadcasting site, in the presence of Gaëlle Kaminsky, Deputy Director of TDF's Audiovisual and Networks activities, representatives of the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), partner radio stations and local representatives. TDF is now broadcasting DAB+ from its sites in Nancy-Malzéville, Commercy-Lérouville, Scy-Chazelles, Thionville-Beuvange, Saint-Dié-L'Ormont, Forbach and Epinal. Broadcasts from the TDF sites in Sarreguemines, Bar-le-Duc-Saint-Roch, Hambach and Ludres-Branly will begin in the coming weeks

“It has to be one of the most exciting station launches in Australia.” That was the verdict from Disrupt Radio Founder and CEO Benjamin Roberts after its first week on air. The digital start-up burst out of the blocks, with Libbi Gorr presenting Enterprise Breakfast alongside guest host Sir Bob Geldof, and the legendary George Donikian reading half-hourly news updates. Radio Today caught up with Roberts, who says launch week was nothing short of incredible: “The response has been overwhelmingly positive and the national publicity, largely driven by Sir Bob co-hosting Breakfast with Libbi, was unprecedented.”

How can local radio and local television position themselves wisely in challenging times to stay relevant? This question is the focus of this year's Local Radio Days. Dr Thorsten Schmiege, President of the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting (BLM), has just opened it in Nuremberg: "Thinking ahead instead of carrying on like this must be the motto for the future. In concrete terms, this means that without a clear strategy, local radio will have a hard time in the future. And this future is primarily digital. How can local radio make its proven strengths even more visible? How can it position itself even more digitally in the digital world? The State Broadcasting Authority is doing everything it can: we want to set the necessary course with long-term strategies for audio and moving images together with the local providers."

MDR is expanding its DAB+ transmitter network in Saxony with the new Zwickau location. DAB+ coverage in these regions will be further improved and stabilised with immediate effect. "We are already very well positioned with digital radio reception in Central Germany. The task now is to close individual gaps in coverage and to optimise reception of all MDR radio programmes via DAB+ as a whole," says Niels Schulze, Head of Programme Distribution at MDR. The commissioning of the transmitter by MDR at the new transmitter mast erected by Deutsche Funkturm GmbH will enable better DAB+ coverage in the Zwickau region for approximately 140,000 inhabitants.

While DAB+ was in the spotlight at the Fête de la Radio, the technology is continuing to be rolled out in the regions, and will pass the symbolic milestone of covering 50% of the French population by the summer. Following on from Besançon, listeners in Metz will now be able to tune in to DAB+ radio and discover Ado "the legendary hip-hop and R&B radio station" and OÜI FM "the only French rock radio station".

Since 29 June, Phare FM has been broadcasting on DAB+ in the Moselle region. This opportunity to broadcast from the Moselle prefecture to the gateway to Luxembourg represents a potential additional 548,000 people who will now be able to listen to Phare FM. Previously comprising affiliated local stations on FM and/or DAB+ in Basel-Mulhouse, Grenoble, Nord-Alsace (formerly Haguenau), Haute-Normandie, Lyon-Dauphiné, Montauban and Mons (Belgium), Phare FM has seen historic growth in its national coverage area since 2016.

The "Upper Bavaria South" regional network gains a new location with Inntal Ebbs, and therefore an expansion of the DAB+ transmission area. The transmitter is already the twelfth location in channel 7A and improves digital radio reception, especially in the southern part of the Rosenheim district. The transmitter operates with a power of 3.9 kW ERP. The network operator of the regional network is Bayern Digital Radio GmbH. The Inntal Ebbs transmitter closes the last coverage gap on motorways in the Oberland and south-eastern Upper Bavaria regions.

As of today, coloRadio, DRESDEN EINS, egoFM, MEGARADIOmix, PELI ONE Urban Music Radio, Radio Dresden 2 and Radio Holiday are seven more stations receivable via DAB+ in the Dresden area. The start of the DAB+ Lokalmux for Dresden was carried out by the platform operator DIVICON MEDIA promptly at 10 am. Via the powerful antennas on the Dresden television tower, the programmes now potentially reach around 800,000 people in and around the Saxon state capital. The commissioning of the mux is part of the successful implementation of a DAB+ initiative throughout Saxony driven by the broadcasters, the Saxon State Authority for Private Broadcasting and New Media (SLM) and DIVICON MEDIA.