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The UK continues its effective switch-off of the AM waveband. The station I knew as “Virgin 1215”, more latterly “Absolute Radio”, comes off AM this month in the UK. After working for Virgin for a number of years, it’s sad to see the AM signal go. In the same press release - the first station I worked behind a mixing desk for - the station I knew as Classic Gold West Yorkshire on 1278 and 1530, will also be turned off. No wonder, really: according to a government official, AM radio in the UK has about 2% of UK radio’s listening hours, yet costs 35% in electricity costs. It’s eye-wateringly expensive to be on AM if you look at the power costs.

Carsten Zorger has been head of the Digital Radio Office Germany, based at Deutschlandradio in Berlin, for over six years. The time under his aegis has certainly been a formative one for the new DAB+ radio standard. In an interview with Digital Fernsehen, however, he looks to the future of radio. "We expect many more stations to be launched in 2023, especially in the north. And because every new car is now delivered with DAB+ radio on board, we are counting on car drivers who want to discover new stations or listen to their favourite programmes in digital quality while driving," said Zorger.

Radio, one of the oldest mass media, is still alive and kicking, Media Minister Benjamin Dalle (CD&V) told Business AM Radio. Yet the medium is not standing still. "I am convinced that the future of radio is exclusively digital," he echoed. In the news: More and more radio stations are choosing to go fully digital. Still, it will be some time before the obsolete FM technology is completely abandoned, Dalle thinks. In the coming years, more and more people will listen digitally. According to the minister, this will be a combination of internet and DAB+.

NDR radio stations in the north-east of the island of Rügen can be received even better via digital radio DAB+ from 17 January. With the commissioning of another transmitter near Sagard, DAB+ coverage of NDR stations has improved for radio listeners on the Jasmund and Wittow peninsulas. For the most part, they can now also be received there indoors via digital radio, on Block 8B (197.648 MHz). The Baltic resort of Binz and other towns along the Prorer Wiek also benefit from the NDR's new DAB+ transmitter.

The local DAB+ pilot projects will be extended for a period of three years. This was decided by the Flemish Media Regulator, the independent regulator of the Flemish audiovisual media. In addition, under certain conditions, a limited number of relay stations will also be allowed. Flemish Media Minister Benjamin Dalle met with local radio stations to give them the news. The first year of local DAB+ broadcasting provided useful insights into how DAB+ broadcasting is realised in a semi-provincial transmission area, what coverage is achieved for it and how cooperation takes place within the pilot projects.

The existing licences for DAB+ digital radio transmitters operated by Towercom expired at the end of 2022. "The operator of digital terrestrial radio broadcasting has applied to the Office for the Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RÚ) for an extension of the validity period of 10 individual licences for the use of frequencies," Adriana Volfová, head of the press and information department at the RÚ, told SatelitnáTV.sk. "In November 2022, the Office decided to extend the validity period of these individual authorisations." All new licences are valid until the end of 2023.

On Wednesday 25 January, at 10 a.m., the Senate Committee on Culture, Education and Communication is organising a meeting of the Committee in the Salle Médicis of the Senate. This round table will focus on "the future of radio in the DAB+ era". This round table will bring together Roch-Olivier Maistre (president of Arcom), Constance Benqué (president of the Bureau de la radio), Sibyle Veil (president and CEO of Radio France), Christophe Schalk (president of the Syndicat des radios indépendantes) and Emmanuel Boutterin (president of the Syndicat national des radios libres).

As reported, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) is planning a second DAB+ digital radio multiplex. In response to a SatellliFax enquiry, the ARD broadcaster confirmed the plan and has now announced further details: "The second DAB+ multiplex will cover part of NRW as a conurbation multiplex and supplement the existing first (state-wide) multiplex," it says. "In this way, the regionalisation of WDR 4 can be reflected and the audio quality of the content offered can be increased at the same time". According to WDR, the transmission of private stations is not planned on the second mux.

Štajerské val welcomed the launch of digital broadcasting via DAB+. You can find us on the R2 East DAB+ network, which means we can be heard across the whole of eastern Slovenia, without interruption. "We at Štajerski val are very excited about the transition to digital broadcasting via DAB+, which we have been working towards for a long time," said Greta Kokot Rajković, Programme Director. Last year we were successful in the tender and now you can listen to us on digital DAB+! For us, this means a great gain, an extended coverage area and, above all, coverage of grey spots where we could not be heard at the moment due to the geographical limitations of FM transmitters. At the same time, the launch of the new digital DAB+ format is the first and most beautiful gift to our radio for its upcoming 70th birthday."

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