News

The list of radio stations that have responded (and are validated) to the call for applications published on 1 June 2016 for DAB+ licences in Lille, Strasbourg and Lyon has been published. Of note is the application by Radio Classique, alongside several local and regional radio stations, as well as most of the radio stations already on air with DAB+ in Paris, Nice and Marseille.

DAB+ is the technical standard on which industry and regulators across Europe agree on, it offers many benefits for broadcasters and listeners. A trial of DAB+ has been on air in Vienna since May.

The international radio industry gathered in Vienna for the WorldDAB General Assembly. More than 200 participants, including political decision-makers, broadcasters and representatives of the industry, discussed the growth in the introduction of DAB+ as a digital radio standard throughout Europe and beyond.

The digital switchover is fast approaching in Norway, with the first FM switch off taking place in Nordland on 11 November. The rest of the digital switchover will be carried out throughout the rest of 2017, on a region by region basis.

The R1 is sort of modern, and sort of retro (but in a good way). It supports DAB+ digital radio as well as FM radio, and it also has Bluetooth so he can connect it to a phone and play Spotify or Google Play Music or other music services.

The Scottish Sun’s Xmas Radio station is now live, on air, with festive hits now playing 24 hours a day. Listeners will be able to tune in on DAB to hear the best festive tunes to help them countdown to Christmas, broadcasting from midday on November 21 until midnight on December 27.

Nostalgic station Angel Radio is joining the DAB line-up in London, making its programmes available in the Capital for the first time. Tests started this week ahead of a full launch before Christmas, and the station is asking listeners to donate around £5,000 so it can afford the licences to broadcast in London.

President and CEO of Radio France, Mathieu Gallet, has confirmed this week that he will officially ask the French government for DAB+ frequencies in Strasbourg, Lyon and Lille. His request to the Ministry of Culture will be for Mouv’ to improve coverage in Strasbourg, and for FIP in both Lille and Lyon. Both stations currently have virtually no coverage in any of these three cities. [Relevant section is at time index 2:11:00].

Konsole Labs has rolled out it's DAB+ hybrid radio mobile app in Germany. The app is free to download and allows users to listen to their favourite radio stations via DAB+ or internet radio depending on signal strength.

The preliminary programme for the European Radio Show 2017 is now available. The key theme for the event is global media and will cover a range of topics exploring the future for the radio industry in an evolving digital world.