News

New consumer research commissioned by Frontier Smart Technologies shows how the coronavirus shifted broadcast radio listening across the United Kingdom and how those developments could influence that country’s move toward DAB, DAB+ and IP streaming and multimedia technologies.

German public broadcaster Südwestrundfunk has launched a new DAB+ transmitter near Germany's border with Luxembourg, bringing nine stations to DAB+ listeners in the region.

The public broadcaster has equipped two motorway tunnels with DAB+ reception in the southern part of the country.

The station, which launched on February 14 both online and on DAB in select UK cities, reports having attracted 100,000 listeners in less than one month and has been inundated with thousands of enquiries from listeners looking to tune in on DAB in areas not yet covered. To meet this demand, from Friday morning, listeners from across the UK will be able to tune in on DAB+.

Frontier Smart Technologies has released a new white paper that explores the impact digitisation is having on the radio listening experience. A significant number of people (40%) reported that a standalone radio was their main source of audio entertainment, compared to their mobile phone (19%), Smart Speaker (18%), Laptop/PC (8%), Tablet (5%), CD/Record player (4%) or ‘Other’ (6%).

Yesterday, WorldDAB and the EBU brought together experts from the broadcast and automotive industries to discuss the future of radio in the car and how hybrid radio - with DAB+ at the heart of it - allows radio to stay relevant in the competitive entertainment world inside the connected car.

The Department of Electronic Communications launched a tender for the development of a study on the operation of DAB+ in Cyprus, with a view to develop the regulatory and technical framework, which will be used for the subsequent authorisation of the individual right of use of radiofrequencies.

Tens of thousands more people in northern Germany will have access to DAB+ services with the newly launched transmitter in Neumünster, located north of Hamburg towards the border with Denmark.

At the beginning of March, five local radio stations in Belgium began broadcasting in DAB+ to serve the Picardy Wallonia region and the North of France. The transition from FM to DAB+ grows the listening area from 150,000 to 5 million people.

The full rollout of small-scale DAB in the United Kingdom has moved a step closer with regulator Ofcom receiving 45 applications for new multiplex licenses.