News

The first meeting of the Italian Media DAB consortium was held over the weekend of 20 to 22 January 2023 at the Relais Franciacorta in Corte Franca (Brescia - Italy). The 110 radio stations of the consortium from eight Italian regions participated. Speakers for Media DAB were Vincenzo Dolce (President), Ettore Vantaggiato (Technical Director), Gianluigi Petruccio (Communication) and Monica Ponti (Marketing). For the technical aspects Francesco Berti and Alessandro Tomassini from Itel, Alessandro Sponchioni from GatesAir and Gianluca Busi from 22HBG. For the strategic and legal aspects, lawyers Massimo Lualdi and Stefano Cionini of Consultmedia. For the accounting aspects Franco Depasquale (Auditor). Following the speeches there was a 'questions and answers' session with the consortium radio stations and speakers.

Let's review the changes in digital radio broadcasting in Slovakia in 2023. In total, three new DAB+ transmitters were put into operation, namely Považská Bystrica - Rozkvet (8A/ 195.936 MHz), Košice - Dubník (10C/213.360 MHz) and Borský Mikuláš - Dubník (6D/187.072 MHz). On the contrary, the transmitter in Dunajská Streda was switched off. Subsequently, the whole technology was moved to Bojnice (TVP Prievidza), where the operator could launch a low-power transmitter for Bojnice itself, as well as for Prievidza and its surroundings. Dunajská Streda did not lose its DAB+ signal, it is sufficiently covered by Bratislava's Kamzík and partly also by Nitra's Zobor. Three of these transmitters are operated directly by Towercom and one by its subsidiary AVIS.

During a round table organised by the Senate's Culture, Education and Communication Committee on the theme "The future of radio in the age of DAB+", the union of independent radio stations (SIRTI) highlighted the essential role of the digital terrestrial radio broadcasting standard in the development of the medium and the importance of providing financial support for its deployment, particularly at local level. The SIRTI supported the white paper proposal made by ARCOM. The independent radio stations wish to join the proposal to draft a white paper on DAB+ made by the President of ARCOM during the round table to make their voice heard and to accelerate the expected development of DAB+. Indeed, independent radio stations are massively involved in the deployment of DAB+ in France, with 75% of them now broadcasting via this radio broadcasting standard, while this technology now covers 50% of the country.

The French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication, Arcom, has authorised an experiment involving the broadcasting of a multiplex of ten services from three sites in Martinique, from 1 January to 30 September 2023. In its 2022-2024 roadmap for the continued deployment of DAB+, Arcom indicated that it would give priority to authorising trials in the overseas territories so that the stakeholders and the public in the overseas territories can familiarise themselves with DAB+ broadcasting, while declaring its readiness to continue the planning work prior to any calls for applications in these territories in the light of the results of the trials. Services scheduled to be broadcast from the start of the DAB+ trial in overseas France: Radio Fusion, Fusion 100%, Fusion Compass, Fusion Gold, Fusion salsa kl@moson.

The President of Arcom, Roch-Olivier Maistre has presented the Authority's 2023-2025 strategic project. Arcom wants to "promote the competitiveness and pluralism of audiovisual and digital players" in particular by supporting the deployment of DAB+. "With digital technology, radio has entered a new technological, economic and media era, which means that it must embrace new uses without abandoning what has made it a success for a hundred years: it is now essential for Arcom to accompany the sector in this revolution," said Hervé Godechot, chair of the "Radio and Digital Audio" working group.

Radio Parada from Lodz has joined the DABCAST experimental multiplex, which is operated by BCAST, a company owned by Cyfrowy Polsat. The station can be listened to by receivers with tuners supporting DAB+. Currently, listeners from the capital can listen to eight stations broadcast on the DABCAST multiplex. In addition to Radio Parada, these include Muzo.FM, Muzyczne Radio from Jelenia Góra, Pop Radio from Pruszków, Radio 7 from Mlawa, Radio Bezpieczna Podróż, Radio Maryja and Radio Jasna Góra from Częstochowa. The broadcast is carried on channel 11B and the bitrate of each station is 136 kbps.

In the next two years, Antenne Deutschland will significantly expand the nationwide transmitter network for reception of the 16 private radio stations via its DAB+ platform. By the end of 2024, the platform operator plans to set up a total of 18 new transmitter locations, so that a total of around 59 million inhabitants in Germany will be able to receive the stations at home. "We are pleased to be able to offer our digital terrestrial radio station services to more than 7 million new listeners for reception at home with the expansion that has now been decided. Mobile reception in the car will also be possible in significantly more areas. Stations of almost all genres are represented in the programme package. The extensive network expansion, which has now been determined together with the broadcasters, is at the same time proof of the increasing importance of DAB+ in their distribution and marketing mix," said Mirko Drenger, CEO of Antenne Deutschland.

The Czech Telecommunications Office presented its plan for this year's activities. It would like to launch a tender for commercial digital radio networks. "To support the development of terrestrial digital radio broadcasting, the CTU will conduct a tender in 2023. Its aim will be to award radio frequency allocations necessary for the nationwide and regional T-DAB terrestrial digital broadcasting networks," reads another priority. The Authority informed about the 2023 action plan in its regular monitoring report, which is available on the CTU website.

The planned DAB+ multiplex in the German-speaking Community (DG) in eastern Belgium can start. As a list from the German Federal Network Agency shows, the five transmitter sites for the mux in channel 8A have now been coordinated. According to earlier information, the multiplex will initially go into operation via the two higher-power transmitters in Amel-Wallerode and Raeren-Petergensfeld. If necessary, filler transmitters in Eupen, Steffeshausen and Recht can supplement the network later. It is still open when the mux will start and which programme providers will participate. The two stations of the public Belgian Broadcasting Corporation (BRF) and the private station 100,5 - Das Hitradio are considered to be set.

Spanish audio media company Emisoras Musicales has announced that its radio stations are now available on DAB+. The company launched the DAB+ offering with 17 stations, and since added three more from third parties. The company says the digital signal covers the entire Mediterranean coast of Spain and inland areas of the Valencian Community, where its analogue FM signal previously couldn’t reach. The company’s stations include Activa FM, MuyBuena, Bikini FM, La Flamenca, Esencia FM, La Mega, RockStar, Gold FM, La Indie and Corazón FM, which are now available on the digital radio channel in the peninsula — DAB+ channel 8D via wireless communications provider TelTower.