News

DTS, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of entertainment technology company Xperi Inc., today released a new automotive report, “From In-Vehicle Entertainment to Integrated In-Cabin Experience.” The report reveals that the personal vehicle is rivaling or outpacing other personal third spaces, which refers to a physical or virtual environment where one can relax or unwind. Of those who say in-vehicle entertainment is important: 81% say it is important to have a broad range of content (local radio, streaming, podcasts, audio books, etc.), and to be able to access relevant, easily ‘discoverable’ content (i.e., recommended in the dashboard) without looking for it. Two-thirds say it is important that the content is enhanced with rich visual/textual information (i.e., album cover images, biographical info) about the artist and song listened to.

On 20 December, the General Audiovisual and Media Service (SGAM) published a government order launching a call for tenders for the last DAB+ community network that had not been awarded in the 2019 global call for tenders. Applicants for this frequency network will have until 15 March 2024 to submit their applications to the CSA. All the information and documents needed for the authorisation procedure will be available in January 2024 on the website. The call for tenders is for one DAB+ network (C11) which covers Brussels and Wallonia.

Smooth Radio, from Global, today (Monday, 8 January) announced a brand new radio station, Smooth Relax, dedicated to “Your Relaxing Music Mix”. Smooth Relax joins sister stations Smooth, Smooth Chill and Smooth Country on DAB Digital Radio across the UK, on Global Player – the official Smooth app – and at globalplayer.com as well as on smart speakers. The launch of Smooth Relax follows the massive growth seen by Smooth Radio, which has 6.2 million weekly listeners*, including its sister stations Smooth Chill and Smooth Country, which have nearly 1 million weekly listeners between them.

The radio station Candlelight Radio has recently started to be heard in part of the Netherlands via DAB+. DJ Jan van Veen has had his own online radio station Candlelight Radio for several years. The online radio station is derived from the radio programme Candlelight, in which poems are read from listeners by Van Veen. The programme has a long history on Dutch radio. In the Almere region, Candlelight Radio can now also be heard via DAB+ on channel 10C.

Broadcast Services will begin construction of transmission sites for its regional digital radio networks as soon as possible. It has won five blocks in the frequency auction and will cover the largest cities first. "The frequency allocations obtained on the basis of the auction results will allow us to start preparing the implementation of DAB+ broadcasting networks for the Prague, Central Bohemia, Pardubice, Vysočina, South Moravia, Zlín, Olomouc and Moravia-Silesia regions as soon as possible. First we will start the construction of broadcasting sites in the largest cities: in Prague, Brno, Olomouc and Ostrava, and then in other regions," said Jakub Juhas, Executive Director.

A new spin-off radio station is launching in February called Boom Rock to go with Boom Radio and Boom Light. The third service from Phil Riley and David Lloyd’s growing radio brand will be available from launch on DAB digital radio in Nottingham and online. Boom’s programme director David Lloyd told RadioToday: “We’ve always had plans to broaden our offering – and this is certainly a format for which our listeners have shown an appetite.” Boom Radio launched on February 14th 2021, joining the national DAB multiplex Sound Digital a month later. Its first spin-off station, Boom Light appeared in summer 2022.

The operators of the two full-screen commercial DAB+ multiplexes that will be launched on the Czech market in the coming years will be České Radiokomunikace, or its subsidiary Czech Digital Group, and RTI cz. The Czech Telecommunications Office announced this in a press release on 5 January. According to the regulator, the auction raised almost CZK 80 million.

RTI cz has won the tender for the operation of one of two national DAB+ networks in the 174-230 MHz band. The auction part of the tender procedure was launched by the Czech Telecommunications Office (CTU) at the end of October last year and ended on 4 January 2024. According to the company's managing director Václav Ježek, this is a great success for RTI cz, and it is a logical step because it is one of the first ever promoters of the development of DAB broadcasting in the Czech Republic.

The electronic auction of the tender for the award of rights to use radio frequencies in the 174-230 MHz band has ended. The auctioned frequency blocks were divided among all eight participants of the tender. "I am pleased that we were able to complete the auction successfully, having satisfied all participating bidders and managed to allocate all the blocks on offer. Thus, nothing stands in the way of the further development of terrestrial digital radio broadcasting." said Marek Ebert, Chairman of the CTU Council. The tender sets out development criteria that should ensure not only the successful development of DAB broadcasting, but also the efficient use of the allocated radio frequencies. The national networks are to cover 50% of the population and motorways within 18 months, and 80% of the population and motorways within a further 12 months.

All eight participants in the auction of frequencies for DAB+ networks for commercial radio were successful and won frequencies for at least one multiplex. The two nationwide networks B and C were acquired by České Radiokomunikace (or its subsidiary Czech Digital Group) and RTI cz. The Czech Telecommunications Office (ČTÚ) succeeded in auctioning all 29 frequency sets, i.e. 27 regional multiplexes in addition to the two national networks.