News

Dutch spectrum authority Agentschap Telecom has granted layer 7 licences for the the national broadcasting of digital radio. The licences were awarded to Talpa, Qmusic, Kink, Sublime, Radio Maria and Terrestrial. These can now broadcast commercial digital radio throughout the Netherlands for the coming 12 years.

Talpa, Q-Music, Kink, Sublime, Radio Maria and Terrestrial are the winners of the national auction for commercial digital radio over the air. They will be allowed to broadcast commercial digital radio throughout the Netherlands for the next twelve years. With the completion of the auction, more spectrum will become available for digital radio. This is an important next step in the further digitisation of commercial radio.

WorldDAB member Glovane recently completed work on the implementation of Arabic and Thai characters for DAB receivers. We learn more about Glovane's offer in this interview with Louis Ryu, Marketing Director.

WorldDAB member Hama is a leading accessories company specialising in a number of areas including photo, video, audio, multimedia, computer and telecommunications. We hear more about Hama's latest products in this interview with Saskia Scheller, Product Portfolio Management Audio.

Germany's national public broadcaster Deutschlandradio presses ahead with digitising broadcast radio. The majority of Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandfunk Kultur radio programmes will broadcast on DAB+ only in selected regions. On 30 June the parallel analogue FM broadcasts will be switched off.

Responding to high demand from listeners, the new DAB+ station Joe Lage Landen launched on 14 June. "We see that we reach a separate audience with digital stations, from audiences who would rather hear more of a certain genre of music." The first two weeks will see programmes hosted by famous Flemish or Dutch-speaking artists.

Radio broadcast organisations are taking steps to make sure radio is appropriately represented as automobile OEMs expand their use of Android Automotive. The goal of the Android Automotive pilot project is to make sure broadcast radio is properly supported in the open source system and help broadcast radio benefit from its rollout.

GB News is planning to launch in July and will be available on DAB across the UK. CEO Angelos Frangopoulos said: “GB News is a digital start-up designed to bring greater plurality of voices to UK media so we’re passionate about delivering our programmes on every platform we can, including live DAB digital radio.”

During the second half of 2020 and in the first months of 2021, DAB Italia gave strong impetus to the development of its DAB+ network. Recent transmitter activations have taken place in Brescia, Valtrompia, Gardone, Lumezzane, Veneto, and Cortina D'Ampezzo. DAB+ coverage in Sicily has also been significantly increased.

11 of the 17 independent Brussels radio stations authorised to broadcast on DAB+ have joined together to form an association called "dab.brussels". Their priorities are to obtain optimised broadcasting conditions and financial support for costs associated with operating on DAB+.