News

In the new measures announced at the end of last week, the UK government wants to facilitate the broadcasting of community radio stations and smaller commercial radio stations on small-scale digital radio multiplexes which broadcast today only FM.

Ofcom will be creating a new category of licence for community radio stations – the C-DSP, (Community – Digital Sound Programme) which will help them go live on a SSDAB multiplex. Companies who win an SSDAB licence in the upcoming rounds will have to make a certain proportion of capacity available to C-DSP licence holders.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media, Sport (DCMS) has announced that there will be a new category of small-scale DAB multiplex licence for community radio stations - the C-DSP (Community - Digital Sound Programme) licence - this will work on the same non-commercial terms as a community radio station's FM licence.

Overall there was strong support from respondents for the government’s proposals for allowing Ofcom to reserve capacity on small scale multiplexes to guarantee access for community radio stations, creating a new C-DSP category of digital sound programme licence for community stations broadcasting on digital, and allowing both commercial and not for profit entities to hold a small scale multiplex licence. The government now intends to move forward with specific proposals as set out in the response document and develop the detailed secondary legislation.

In new measures announced today, the Government will make it easier for smaller community and commercial radio stations to broadcast on small scale digital radio multiplexes. With more than 50% of all radio listening in the UK now on digital, the new lighter touch licensing regime means these small stations won’t be left behind by the growing shift from FM and AM to digital radio and will give more choice to millions of radio listeners across the UK.

In new measures announced today, the Government will make it easier for smaller community and commercial radio stations to broadcast on small scale digital radio multiplexes. With more than 50% of all radio listening in the UK now on digital, the new lighter touch licensing regime means these small stations won’t be left behind by the growing shift from FM and AM to digital radio and will give more choice to millions of radio listeners across the UK.

Government representatives joined the broadcasting sector of Vietnam to learn more about DAB+ international progress, the latest technical developments, and how DAB+ can be further developed in Vietnam. Hosted by public broadcaster the Voice of Vietnam (VoV) in Hanoi this week, more than 30 high-level delegates were in attendance, including VoV President Nguyễn Thế Kỷ.

In the southern Tyrolean village of Pfelders (Plan) in northern Italy, a new DAB+ digital radio transceiver has been launched, broadcasting more German-speaking programmes across the region.

Swedish broadcaster NENT has announced to the country's Press, Radio and TV Authority that it will begin DAB+ broadcasts from 1 January. A total of 15 radio stations will begin sending January 1 next year. According to the terms of delivery, valid until 20 September 2022, 35 percent of the population will be reached by 1 April 2019 and one year later 50 percent will be reached.

After filing for digital radio calls in Bordeaux, Toulouse and Arcachon, the NRJ group has confirmed its desire to embark on DAB+.