News

WorldDAB publishes its latest market figures, revealing that 50 million receivers have been sold in the major markets across the world. Other statistics include coverage mobility (main road network) and the overall population coverage, sales of receivers, the penetration rate in homes and, for the first time, the number of national stations available on DAB/DAB + made in relation to those available on the FM band.

Standard kit includes sports seats, a Quickclear heated windscreen, air-con and a DAB radio with a 4.2in screen.

Digital radio broadcasting does not consume mobile data and uses as little as one tenth of the battery consumed by streaming; therefore, the introduction of digital radio receivers in all mobile devices would mitigate those negative effects, commonly experienced by mobile users. A consortium of broadcasting companies and organizations has joined forces to develop an open and universal interface to ease the implementation of digital radio on smartphones.

A consortium of broadcasting companies and organizations has joined forces to develop an open and universal interface to ease the implementation of digital radio on smartphones. The Open Mobile Radio Interface (OMRI) was announced during IBC and comes only months after the world's first DAB+ enabled smartphone, LG Stylus 2 DAB+, hit the shelves in Australia and Europe.

Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer Joan Warner says campaign likens the switch to DAB to the transition of TV from analogue to digital, and focuses on the benefits of upgrading, including better sound quality and up to 30 extra stations.

The pop-up digital station run by Jazz FM and the BBC is returning for 2016, for five days from November 10th. Live concerts will air from EFG London Jazz Festival in partnership with BBC Radio 3 along with Jazz FM’s archive recordings, and specially commissioned new content for the first time this year.

Speaking at WorldDAB’s Industry Insight Session at the IBC in Amsterdam, the EBU’s Head of Radio Graham Dixon said: “The continuing importance of live radio, combined with the increasing popularity of radio on the move, with young people in particular consuming radio on their phones, means we need to establish reliable delivery platforms to take radio into the future.”

Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) continues to attract a larger digital radio audience than any other radio group, with four of its stations in the top 10 of GfK’s DAB+ Digital Radio Report 3 for 2016.

The Digital Radio report by GfK, released by Commercial Radio Australia, has the total DAB+ cumulative audience at 3,603000.

WorldDAB has released its latest collection of sales and coverage figures for key markets in Europe and Asia Pacific to the end of Q2 2016. So how does Australia stack up? Stats include road and overall population coverage, receiver sales, household penetration and, for the first time, the number of national stations on DAB/DAB+ compared to FM.