News

The first radio station of the Ukrainian Broadcasting Corporation, Ukrajinske Radio-1, has recently been broadcast via DAB+ in Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate. “Due to the war, the broadcaster's web streams often fail or are heavily overloaded. In order to enable Ukrainians and those interested in the country low-threshold access to the station, we are converting the satellite feed on Astra 4.9°E from Kyiv to digital radio,” explains Milling Broadcast, the platform operator of the Bad Kreuznacher multiplex on its Facebook page.

The latest small-scale DAB multiplex has launched with 20 radio stations signed up to broadcast via DAB+ in Edinburgh. The stations are Edge Radio, 45 Radio, Abacus Radio, Awaz FM, Celtic Music Radio, Chief Radio, ehfm, Gorgeous Radio, Heartsong Live, Like One, London One Radio, Mix 1 Radio, Nation 70s, Nation 80s, Nation 90s, Radio Sangam, Sunoh, TD1 Radio, Timeless Radio and Voice of Islam Radio. Edinburgh is the sixth permanent small-scale DAB service to launch, following Cambridge, Birmingham North, Newcastle & Gateshead, Tynemouth and Salisbury.

Paris-based transmission services provider, TDF has added eight Digidia FlexiDAB multiplexers and more than 50 encoders to its digital transmission headend. According to Digidia, this brings the total number of multiplexers to over 30 with more than 150 encoders in place.

ROCK ANTENNNE starts on August 1st via DAB+ in Zurich. Channel 9D reaches 1.3 million people in the metropolitan area. The leading rock radio network in Germany and Austria is expanding its DAB+ transmission area into Switzerland for the first time. For ROCK ANTENNE Managing Director Guy Fränkel, the Swiss are an important part of the rock community: "The community wanted more, we deliver: crystal-clear and free DAB+ reception throughout the Zurich metropolitan region. We are significantly expanding our range with the new digital radio standard.”

Flemish Minister of Media Benjamin Dalle expects that the final shutdown of the FM frequencies, the so-called 'switch off', will take place between 2028 and 2031. According to him, the VRT must be a forerunner in the digitisation of the radio landscape. For example, if the 'switch off' does not come on January 1, 2028, it may be an option, according to Dalle, to fully digitise one of the VRT channels.

Südwestrundfunk (SWR) is expanding its transmitter network for DAB+ digital radio reception in Baden-Württemberg. The commissioning of the Konstanz site on July 6 2022 will improve DAB+ coverage in Konstanz and along the B33 between Konstanz and Radolfzell, Bodanrück, and along the B31 between Meersburg and Ludwigshafen in frequency block (channel) 8A.

The Tyneside Community Digital multiplex has launched with three local radio stations on board from the start. Pride Radio, Spice FM and Radio Tyneside are all now broadcasting on small-scale DAB in the local area. Richard Finch, operator of the DAB service, said; “This project is the culmination of years of hard work. We’d like to thank all those who have supported us and made this possible. “We know that more and more listeners are choosing to listen to radio via DAB, so this is a welcome move for community broadcasters and the many other stations who will be on the platform very soon creating a truly diverse set of stations that cater to many tastes in the north east.”

DAB+ launched last week in the southwest of France bringing more choice and better sound quality to radio listeners. The emergence of less well known stations such as Capsao, Swigg and Crooner Radio is also one of the advantages of DAB+, particularly given that FM frequencies are saturated.

Großstadtradio is the name of the new radio station from Berlin. As a daily companion to listen through, Großstadtradio relies on hand-picked, current songs from indie rock & pop, guitar pop and extraordinary pop. Großstadtradio reports locally and regionally on Berlin topics and the surrounding area and stands for the diversity of the metropolis and for the different lifestyles of its people.

Commercial radio reached a cumulative weekly audience of 12 million according to the latest GfK survey, the highest figure recorded and a 7.6% jump over the past year. Commercial Radio Australia CEO Ford Ennals said: "Commercial radio growth is being driven by radio’s digital evolution with the number of people listening via digital streaming up 34% year on year and via DAB+ up by 27%. “There was increased listening to commercial radio across all ages with a solid increase in younger listeners with 79% of 18-24s tuning in weekly. One in five of this age group listened to commercial DAB+ stations during the survey period, up 63% compared to a year ago.”