News

South Africa is currently trialling DAB+, with Magic 828 featuring amongst the channels available to listeners within range of the test signal. The Cape Town trials are to the delight of many owners of cars fitted with DAB+. This article outlines how DAB+ functions and the benefits it offers.

At Monday’s WorldDAB technical consultation in Kuala Lumpur, a range of speakers discussed digital radio and compared it with new technologies such as 5G. With this session, WorldDAB’s technical team offered an opportunity to have a one on one discussion about 5G, AI, Voice control and what these new systems will offer broadcasters, along with a chance to discuss spectrum planning, system design, build and operation for a DAB+ trial or full rollout.

At the ABU Digital Broadcasting Summit, Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner highlighted the ongoing work being done in Australia to expand the offerings of digital radio, and announced that Gold Coast will be the next city in Australia to introduce DAB+ broadcasts.

France's popular radio station aimed at children is now available in Paris and Marseille, the two most populated cities in the country. Radio Pitchoun is already available in Nice and the Côte d'Azur, Lyon, Mâcon, Strasbourg, Nantes, La Roche-sur-Yon and Rouen, with launches planned in more cities in the coming months.

Dutch spectrum regulator Agentschap Telecom said local public or commercial broadcasters will be able to apply for local DAB+ licences starting from 10 March. Local public or commercial broadcasters can apply for a license for 22 allotments, which together cover a part of the Netherlands.

With three national and several local DAB+ multiplexes on air today in Italy, about 83% of the Italian population can receive digital radio broadcasts. The March issue of Radio World International takes a look at how one of the national consortiums, DAB Italia, is working to expand the country’s digital services.

The German audio manufacturer Sonoro will be honored with the Plus X 2020 Award for "Retailer of the Year" in the "Consumer Electronics Audio" field, having previously picked up the award in 2016, 2018 and 2019.

ARD, Deutschlandradio, private broadcasters and other key members of the Digital Radio Germany association are launching a campaign to promote DAB+. The campaign will run across TV and radio from between 14-26 April.

Africa Radio has started broadcasting on DAB+ technology in Marseille and the surrounding region. The station, which is already available on DAB+ in Paris, Lyon, Lille, Strasbourg, Nantes, Rouen, Le Havre and Saint-Nazaire, is also set to launch in Nice, Toulouse and Bordeaux in coming years.

Antenne Deutschland's launch of Germany's second national multiplex - the first exclusively dedicated to commercial radio stations - will take place in September 2019 during IFA Berlin. Antenne Deutschland has commissioned National German Radio to launch a call for tenders for the capacity allocation on the multiplex - more details set to be published in early March.