News

In the German state of Saarland, the second transmitter for the state-wide DAB+ multiplex has gone into operation, with 16 private radio programmes. 70% of residents in Saarland can receive DAB+ programmes at home, and 80% have mobile reception.

The Council for Electronic Media (VEM) has awarded the first concessions for DAB+ digital radio in Croatia. The national concession was awarded to Nacional News Corporation and the concessions for northwestern Croatia and the City of Zagreb to Radio Tvornica and My Power Station. Nacional News Corporation is one of the most influential political weeklies in Croatia and they have six months from signing the contract to start broadcasting.

Bauer Media Audio is expanding its presence to Portugal. The UK-based company has acquired Media Capital Radios, the radio assets of Lisbon-based Media Capital Group. The move is part of Bauer's strategy to consolidate its authority as Europe's strongest commercial radio group, and in addition to a presence in the U.K., the group is also expanding into Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, as well as Slovakia, Ireland and Finland.

Radio is the most used medium in Germany, with almost 75 percent of daily use. The daily reach from Monday to Friday is more than 53 million people and the daily length of stay is more than four hours at 260 minutes. 92 percent of all households in Germany have at least one reception option. Digitisation is progressing steadily and 45 percent of German households already have a radio with digital reception and more than 46 million people in Germany also receive their radio programmes digitally.

TWR live has published detailed information on its website regarding the costs associated with access to the DAB+ platform. "The current time seems to us to be optimal for entering DAB. On the one hand, this platform is already widespread in the Czech Republic, on the other hand, it is still relatively easy to access (easy to obtain a license, free capacity on transmitters). We want to take advantage of the current opportunity, which may not be permanent."

The Slovak regulator has granted frequency allocations to Towercom for two new DAB+ transmitters. Public broadcaster Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) aims to achieve similar coverage when medium wave is switched off. RTVS switched off a medium-wave transmitter in Rimavská Sobota at the end of January, with transmission from Nitra and Čižatice still in operation. "These are contractually bound until the end of 2022. We are considering their shutdown and partial replacement of DAB+ networks. For this reason, we are tentatively counting on investment in the DAB+ radio network", confirmed Stanislav Čačko, PR manager of RTVS.

Belgian regional radio station RBS started as an event radio around the music festival "Lokerse Feesten", and is now taking a new step in its growth, and since 1 February can also be heard via DAB+.

Digital radio reception via DAB+ and the internet now accounts for three quarters of all radio listening. FM use continues to decline, while both DAB+ and online radio are gaining in popularity. Radio reception via DAB+ and the internet are now equally popular, each accounting for around a third of radio use. The radio industry has decided to switch off FM in favour of DAB+ digital broadcasting by the end of 2024.

Network operator DABCOM has launched digital radio multiplexes in Warsaw and Poznań. The Poznań multiplex consists of ten radio stations. At the end of December, the National Broadcasting Council adopted a resolution on allocating the resources for a nationwide DAB+ multiplex, able to carry 12 stations, three of which would be for Polish Radio.

Car buyers from across the globe said that broadcast radio is their most preferred source of in-car entertainment and it’s important therefore that car makers fully understand their customers’ attitudes to broadcast radio in the car dash. Tom Webster SVP, Edison Research, presented the findings emphasizing the survey was about broadcast over the air radio, not streamed radio.