News

Digital terrestrial radio makes its debut in Brittany. In Rennes and its surroundings, 13 radio stations are now available in DAB+. Radio Laser was looking forward to it. It is now a reality. Since 28 March the small radio station, based in Guichen, 25 km from Rennes, has been using DAB+ technology to broadcast its programmes. "We're in the short news cycle, so it's important for us to make ourselves known, and DAB+ is a new way for people to listen to us," says Sylvain Delfau, the director of Radio Laser.

Mimit's Directorate-General for Electronic Communication, Broadcasting and Postal Services [Direzione generale per i servizi di comunicazione elettronica, di radiodiffusione e postali / DGscerp] published today the final guidelines on procedures for assigning rights of use for DAB+ local area networks. Aeranti-Corallo coordinator Marco Rossignoli stated that "this is a very important step for the orderly development of digital radio broadcasting, which enhances the role of local radio publishers." "Finally," said Rossignoli, "local broadcasters will be able to move from the experimental phase in a few limited geographical areas to full-scale broadcasting throughout the country, thus achieving a presence in the digital radio market similar to that of the analogue market, where local radio has over 19 million listeners on an average day, with five regions where the most listened to radio station is a local radio station" (Radio Ter average day data 2022).

The final Guidelines for the procedures for the allocation of usage rights to DAB+ consortia owned by licensees for local radio broadcasting have been published by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. In addition to the Final Guidelines on the criteria and methods that will be adopted to proceed with the allocation of rights of use to local network operators for the DAB+ service, the document containing the summary of the contributions of the participants in the national public consultation, carried out on the version of the guidelines published on 13 December 2022, with the Ministry's evaluations was also published.

ROCK ANTENNE Hamburg is expanding its transmission area via DAB+ to include the whole of Schleswig-Holstein from April in order to reach more listeners. Managing Director Matthias Schneekloth explains: “ROCK ANTENNE Hamburg has always been firmly connected to the “True North” and its neighbors in Schleswig-Holstein. We are already reporting in our news and in the service sections such as weather or event tips for Schleswig-Holstein. We will continue to expand this reporting and expand our broadcasting range for the entire federal state with the digital radio standard DAB+.”

On Thursday 30 March, Évasion announced its arrival in the city of Troyes in Aube. Thanks to DAB+ technology, Évasion promises to broadcast a varied programme made up of news, service info and games. Évasion is already propelling its DAB+ broadcasts in Aisne (in Saint-Quentin), in Île-de-France (in Paris), in Seine-Maritime (in Le Havre and Rouen) and in the Somme (in Abbeville and Amiens).

DIVICON MEDIA, a nationwide service provider and operator of numerous radio networks in the private and public sector, will be putting three new DAB+ regions around the most populous cities in Saxony, Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig, into operation from 3 April, from 10 a.m. This means that more than 30 additional stations can be received in Saxony via the growing DAB+ distribution channel (see ma 2023 Audio I).

General Motors plans to phase out widely-used Apple CarPlay and Android Auto technologies that allow drivers to bypass a vehicle's infotainment systems, shifting instead to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google for future electric vehicles. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto systems allow users to mirror their smartphone screens in a vehicle's dashboard display. GM's decision to stop offering those systems in future electric vehicles, starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer, could help the automaker capture more data on how consumers drive and charge EVs.

The Czech Telecommunications Authority received comments on the planned auction of frequencies for nationwide and regional digital radio networks. It acknowledged part of the objections and will adjust the procurement documentation accordingly. One of the objections concerned the requirement to cover at least 80 percent of the population of the given territory with a regional network signal within two years. The authority partially acknowledged that it was too strict. "For regional allocations, the plan is to loosen the required coverage over time," it said.

Digital radio is a success in Europe and the EU now mandates that all cars sold in the common market must have a DAB+ receiver to receive free to air broadcast radio. But it has not always been an easy road to achieve success. The Radiodays Europe conference has heard that in Germany radio only has 4.1% of the advertising market because it is divided up into state licence areas and no analog broadcaster has been able to operate nation wide. That puts German commercial radio at a disadvantage compared with the top European countries that get 10% or more of their country’s ad revenue. This situation is now being rectified because Germany’s DAB+ licences enable nationwide broadcasting and new players, according to Erwin Linnenbach from Teutocast.

RTÉ has announced that it is ceasing the long wave 252 service for Radio 1 from next month. The move was originally announced in 2014 but was postponed because of protests from Irish organisations in Britain. RTÉ said in a statement that the LW 252 is no longer sustainable as the transmitter in Summerhill, Co Meath uses up 2.5% of the organisation's energy use. The current cost is €250,000 a year and this could rise to £400,000 next year, it says.