News

While the last two years have been difficult for radio, the last few months have also seen many achievements in the radio sector. In 2021, Arcom kicked off the start of the metropolitan DAB+ offer. And in 2022, new radio stations were launched on DAB+. And it's not over yet: "FM, DAB, podcast... At Arcom, 2023 is shaping up to be a busy and promising time", as pointed out in an exclusive interview with Hervé Godechot, chairman of the "Radio and Digital Audio" working group at the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication, which officially came into being on 1 January 2022.

From Tuesday 31 January, TDF is starting to broadcast DAB+ digital radio from its Saint-Contest (Calvados) transmission site. The population of the Caen conurbation in Calvados can now receive thirteen radio stations broadcast in DAB+ digital quality: Chante France, Clazz, Crooner Radio, France Bleu Normandie, Générations, Hello Normandie, Jazz Radio, Oüi FM, Radio Bonheur 100% Chansons françaises, Radio FG, Radio Nova, RCF Normandie and Sud Radio.

New WorldDAB member Sumatronic has brought DAB+ to Martinique and hopes to support other regions of the world where the population has few or no DAB+ receivers. In our first ‘member focus’ article of 2023, we learn how Sumatronic recently launched its "DAB4all" campaign, in our interview with CEO Peter Matter.

Finland joins its Nordic neighbours, Norway, Sweden and Denmark as a member of the Radioplayer family which now covers nearly all of western Europe. The “Radioplayer Finland” collaboration will join the existing broadcasters in Radioplayer, ensuring that the international radio sector can speak to all car manufacturers with one voice, to keep radio strong in the dashboards of the future. Radioplayer Finland will be co-ordinated by Radiosoitin Suomi Oy which is a collaboration between the public service media company Yle and RadioMedia, the umbrella group for Finnish commercial radio. Stations in Radioplayer Finland will add their official metadata (station information, logos, high-quality streams, podcasts etc.) to the international Radioplayer data feed which powers ‘hybrid’ radio interfaces in millions of cars, including Audis, VWs, Porsches, and BMWs.

38 local radio and regional television licences will be put out to tender by the end of April 2023. Whoever is awarded the licence will fulfil a regional public service mandate from 1 January 2025 and receive money from the radio and television levy in return. Licences for 15 commercial local radio stations, 10 complementary non-profit local radio stations and 13 regional television stations with a performance mandate and fee share will be put out to tender. The broadcaster licences for local radio and regional television include a binding performance mandate. In return, the broadcasters receive the right to broadcast their programmes in their coverage area via DAB+ (radio) or via cable (television).

SBS Arabic24, a dedicated DAB+ digital radio station broadcasting and streaming Australian and global news and current affairs, entertainment and music 24/7 in Arabic, has announced a new 2023 programming line-up commencing today. A new weekend morning show Best of SBS Arabic24 – Week in Review will air on Saturdays and Sundays from 6am to 8am, while the Bayt Al Mazzika music show timeslot will be expanded to 9am to 3pm on weekdays with live hosting between noon and 1pm. These programming updates complement SBS Arabic24’s flagship Good Morning Australia live breakfast show and Australia Alyaom live afternoon show. These schedule changes are timed with BBC Arabic radio ceasing its linear transmission to develop digital audio content.

Polskie Radio Koszalin, the public regional radio station for the eastern part of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, launched another sub-regional programme on 2 January. Since then, Studio Kołobrzeg can be heard in the city of the same name on the Baltic Sea from Mondays to Fridays from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the FM city frequency 91.0 MHz. In addition, the new regional window is also on air in Koszalin (Köslin) and Kołobrzeg (Kolberg) via DAB+ (channel 11B).

French communications regulator Autorité de Régulation de la Communication Audiovisuelle et Numérique (ARCOM) has authorized the first DAB+ multiplex in Martinique. A ten-station multiplex launched on Channel 5B from three sites on the Caribbean island and is authorised to operate as a trial service through the end of September 2023. As part of the agency’s 2022–2024 roadmap for digital radio, ARCOM called for interest in launching trial DAB+ services in the “Outre-Mer,” those portions France outside of the Europe. Several islands in the Caribbean, North Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean, as well as French Guiana in South America, are regions, collectivities, or territories of France, and broadcasting in these areas is overseen by ARCOM.

"The possible disappearance of DTT in 2030 could lead to the ostracisation of radio," says Javier Sánchez Pérez, a member of the Radio Committee of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Pérez reflects on the major challenges facing the broadcasting of audiovisual content. "Furthermore, in an adverse scenario, it could be questioned in Spain whether it is profitable to maintain FM services in a network initially designed to offer television services and without having undertaken the migration to DAB+. Because, so far, no one has demonstrated that there is a more efficient way of transmitting linear radio services to large audiences than with DAB+. Think of countries like Switzerland, whose DTT never had a high penetration rate and switched off in June 2019; but where DAB+ is profitable and overtook FM consumption already in 2019."

One operator could own more than two licences for terrestrial radio broadcasting and the radio network should not have any limitations in terms of its coverage, MP Marek Novák (ANO) has proposed. The government's amendment to the Electronic Communications Act could, after all, address the issue of radio licences for final DAB+ networks by way of an addendum. Instead of the Ministry of Culture, it was submitted to the Chamber of Deputies by opposition MP Marek Novák (ANO). In his proposal, Novák asks that the Broadcasting Act abolish the restriction that one operator may not hold more than two licences for full terrestrial radio broadcasting and that the radio network should not be limited to the maximum permitted coverage of 80% of the Czech population. The Chamber of Deputies is scheduled to consider the government's amendment and the amendment at its session on 7 February.