News

Since 1 June 2023, a DAB+ test operation for the Heilbronn region as far as Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart has been broadcast from the "Brackenheim 1" telecommunications tower on channel 12B. 580,000 residents will be covered. Dana Diezemann is the initiator of this innovative project. Thomas Kircher from FM Kompakt spoke with Dana Diezemann about the idea, the implementation, but also the hurdles and why broadcasting had to be temporarily stopped again on 30 June 2023.

South London stations Select Radio, Rainbow Radio and Croydon FM have confirmed they are applying for the South London small-scale DAB multiplex. South London DAB CIC has been established by the stations with the help of Niocast Digital, South London station Colourful Radio and radio executive Chris Hurst. “Select Radio has been around since 2003 in one form or another” says Director Tom Marley, “and we’ve been planning the move to DAB for some time now. “We’re looking forward to the quality that DAB will deliver and being able to reach lots more listeners. It will also be great to give access to broadcast for so many radio services who haven’t had the opportunity in the past ”

Two community radio stations in South Hertfordshire have joined forces to apply for the South Herts SSDAB multiplex licence. Mix 92.6 based in St Albans and Vibe 107.6 in Watford have set up South Herts DAB Ltd with the help of Niocast Digital and long standing senior radio executive Chris Hurst. Station Manager at Mix 92.6, Nick Hazell, said: “Bringing an affordable way for radio stations to reach South Hertfordshire listeners is an exciting new venture for us. We’re looking forward to enabling local groups and national stations to hit the airwaves.” Vibe 107.6 Managing Director Howard Groves, added: “We are really excited about the potential for DAB in the South Herts area. “Not only will we be providing our listeners with a further way of engaging with Vibe 107.6FM, but DAB will open up opportunities for other community based stations to expand their reach.”

Broadcasters around Thanet, Dover & Folkestone are coming together as Kent Coast DAB Limited to apply for a small-scale DAB licence. Academy FM Thanet, Kent Coast Community Broadcasters Ltd and Kent Capacity Co Ltd will but submitting an application for the Margate, Dover & Folkestone multiplex. Debbie Day, Station Manager of Academy FM Thanet, said: “We are really excited by the opportunity to develop our service on small-scale DAB and look forward to working with our partners. In the future, we along with others we will be able to offer more choice of services, support more charities and organisations and reach the wider community.”

Xtra DAB Ltd has announced its plans to apply for the recently advertised small-scale multiplex for Harlow. Lending their support to the application are a number of local services including East Herts Radio and Radio Forest, plus local DAB station Radio Xtra. Xtra DAB Ltd says “Radio will soon be getting a whole lot bigger in Harlow and surrounding areas with more stations – more choice and more opportunities to broadcast, with a great community asset for Harlow and surrounding areas with space for community radio stations and other radio stations to offer a truly broad and diverse listener choice.”

Central Sussex Digital Radio Ltd has announced its intention to bid for the new DAB radio multiplex licence covering Haywards Heath & Uckfield. The licence is being advertised by Ofcom with any new services likely to be on-air from 2024. Central Sussex Digital Radio is made up of Total Sense Media, operator of More Radio and community station Ashdown Radio who broadcast on FM across East Sussex from their studios in Uckfield. V2 Radio who have been broadcasting across Sussex on DAB for the last two years are also part of the group, as is John Dash. The application is also being supported by other established community stations, including Mid Sussex Radio and Mid Downs Hospital Radio.

Three small-scale DAB multiplexes have been granted by Ofcom covering Bath & Midsomer Norton, Boston, Spalding & Skegness, and Derby. Only the Derby licence attracted more than one application, and these awards bring the total to 22. Just two more remain to be handed out in Round 4. Berwickshire & North Roxburgh, and East Fife, both with only one applicant each, are expected to be given out soon.

Aiir PlayoutOne Local community radio broadcasters have joined together to apply for the small-scale DAB licence for South Hertfordshire. Hertfordshire Digital Broadcasting brings together several local online Community Radio stations such as Radio Dacorum from Hemel Hempstead and new stations including Borehamwood and Elstree Community Radio, plus Clive Glover, the founder of St Albans Community station Radio Verulam. Clive told RadioToday: “Community radio in Hertfordshire has been restricted by the lack of FM frequencies so small-scale DAB brings the opportunity for other radio groups currently online only to get onto the airwaves locally in future. “We are talking to a number of other local organisations interested in starting new radio services so we hope that there could be as many as 8 local services on air by the time we go live in 2025.

Aiir PlayoutOne West Kent DAB Limited, a joint venture between West Kent Community Radio, MuxCom Ltd and Kent Capacity Co Ltd, has announced its plan to apply for the small-scale DAB licence for Maidstone, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. The area is part of Round 5 and applications need to be in by June 30th 2023. Gregory Watson, Director of Kent Capacity Co, said: “We are excited to be working with West Kent Community Radio and MuxCom to bring small scale DAB to Maidstone, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. “Our experience through MuxCo of building and operating local multiplexes, working with local partners, has been unique in the UK – helping small operators to become part of the DAB family and enabling many small radio stations to broadcast.”

Moorlands Radio is now broadcasting on small-scale DAB digital radio as the new multiplex for its area goes live. The new Congleton and Leek digital mux was licenced by Ofcom last year and is now fully live carrying a host of new radio stations. Commenting on the launch, Station Chairman Gary Dunn said: “We have been working on this for the last 3 years with our partners at Moorlands DAB. Having the FM transmitter network of 103.7 and 97.3fm along with the DAB transmitters will allow us to provide even more programmes. As part of our DAB launch, the regulator has agreed the station can split some of the output between FM and DAB.”