News

For the 1st DAB+ federal mux, a new transmitter was activated on 15 June in Pfaffenhofen/Ilm in Bavaria, according to the transmitter network operator Media Broadcast. The multiplex's program package includes Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Deutschlandfunk Nova, Deutschlandfunk Documents and Debates as well as nine private radio stations (Absolut Relax, ENERGY, ERF Plus, Klassik Radio, Radio BOB!, Radio Horeb, Radio Schlagerparadies, Schwarzwaldradio, sunshine live). On 16 June, the NDR will activate the Hohegeiss location in the Harz Mountains for its Lower Saxony DAB+ network. It is broadcast on channel 6C (regional coverage of Braunschweig). According to NDR, the new transmitter enables indoor reception in Braunlage, Zorge and Hohegeiss. In addition, the DAB+ coverage on the B27 between Bad Lauterberg and Braunlage and on the B4 between Braunlage and Niedersachswerfen will be optimised. NDR 1 Lower Saxony, NDR 2, NDR Kultur, NDR Info, N-JOY and the digital programs NDR Schlager, NDR Blue and NDR Info Spezial are broadcast.

Ten new organisations have joined WorldDAB since May 2021. They are South Korean solution provider RF2Digital, Indian solution and service provider Jasmin Infotech, network operator digris, Vietnamese electronic vehicle manufacturer VinFast, South Korean test solutions manufacturer RedwoodComm, Romanian network operator RADIOCOM, Croatia's regulator Agency for Electronic Media, US-based electronic vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors, global vehicle manufacturer Ford Motor Company and Swiss network operator Romandie Medias. WorldDAB now has a total of 106 members from 32 countries. Find out more about the companies which have joined the only global industry forum responsible for defining and promoting DAB digital radio and what they get from membership.

Bas Emons, owner of the regional commercial radio station Wild FM Hitradio, starts a second radio station called God Radio. From Friday (17 June 2022) the Christian radio station can be heard on DAB+ via the national DAB+ network 7D (MTVNL). For the start of broadcasts, the radio station will feature a distinctive and inspiring schedule featuring contemporary Gospel & Christian Hits.

Q Music Foute Uur can now be heard nationally on DAB+. The radio station can be heard via the new national DAB+ network on channel 9C. Q Music Foute Uur has been available for several years as a non-stop radio station on the Internet and as a radio program on Q Music itself. As of today, the radio station can also be heard on the digital airwaves.

In May 2022, the Lower Saxony State Media Authority (NLM) tendered ten terrestrial transmission capacities for the first private DAB+ multiplex (Digital Audio Broadcasting plus) in Lower Saxony. At the end of the tender period on June 13, 2022, three companies applied to operate the platform. The Lower Saxony State Media Authority is now examining and evaluating the applications submitted. If necessary, the NLM works towards an agreement with those providers who meet the allocation requirements. The decision on the allocation of DAB+ transmission capacities to one of the providers is expected to be made by the end of 2022.

A new factsheet on DAB+ digital radio in Switzerland has been produced for automotive manufacturers as the country prepares for FM switch-off in 2024. Publication comes ahead of next week’s WorldDAB Automotive 2022, the essential annual event which brings together leading experts from across the digital radio and vehicle manufacturing industries. The conference takes place in-person and online in London on Wednesday 22 June. The new Swiss DAB+ broadcast networks factsheet provides an essential guide for the automotive industry on what to expect to receive via digital radio in-car.

DAB+, today's radio standard and the digital successor to FM, will continue to be the most important driver of digitisation in radio broadcasting in 2022. Figures from the HEMIX (Home Electronics Market Index) show a stable level of more than 2.1 million DAB+ devices sold in 2021. In 2020, the HEMIX sold just over 1.83 million DAB+ receivers. Listeners benefit from the continuously growing variety of DAB+ services: over 300 radio stations are available via DAB+ in different regions; 100 of these will be broadcast exclusively digitally.

According to Deutschlandradio director Stefan Raue, the conversion of German radio stations from FM to DAB+ has become an increasingly urgent issue due to the rise in energy prices. "We will not be able to afford two terrestrial distribution channels in the long run. The signs are clearer than two or three years ago," Raue told the Deutschen Presse-Agentur in Berlin. "FM is an energy guzzler."

Südwestrundfunk is apparently planning two more locations for DAB+ digital radio in Baden-Württemberg, in addition to the known locations. The Federal Network Agency sent the Reutlingen transmitter (1 kW) for the "SWR BW Süd" mux (channel 8D) and the Weinheim transmitter (2 kW) for the mux "SWR BW Nord" (channel 9D). The Herbrechtingen, Konstanz and Waldstetten Gmünd locations are also planned for this year in Baden-Württemberg. The Mudau site is also being coordinated.

On 11 June 2022, around 2pm, the network operator On Air Support put the DAB+ transmitter in Langenburg into operation. The coverage area of ​​the new 10 kW transmitter is north of Aalen up to the Hessian state border. In particular, the Hohenlohe district, the district of Schwäbisch Hall and the southern half are supplied by the Main-Tauber district. Before that, the Aalen transmitter was switched on for the mux of Baden-Württemberg's private radio stations on channel 11B.