News

A new community-led local radio group has been created to apply for the small-scale DAB multiplex in North East London and South West Essex. East London and Essex Digital is a collaboration from Phoenix FM and Gateway 97.8, which have 30 years of broadcasting on FM between them. Phoenix FM Chairman, Paul Golder said: “This is a community-led application aiming to give a louder voice to small community radio stations throughout our area. At least 7 community radio stations will be carried on the new service, each reaching nearly a million new listeners."

A new community radio station in Bristol is launching on Bristol East small-scale DAB multiplex. Base Radio, dedicated to promoting local culture, music, and news in Bristol, will do on DAB from April 29th at 8am. “We’re thrilled to bring our community station and programming to a wider audience through DAB. It’s a great opportunity to join the likes of BCFM, Bradley Stoke, Keynsham Town and Ujima radio, in providing a community station for South Bristol and Bristol as a whole” said Rodney Brown, one of the management team.

Digital Radio West Sussex has been created to apply for the new DAB radio multiplex licence covering South West Sussex. The licence is being advertised by Ofcom during Round 5 with any new services likely to be on-air in 2024. Digital Radio West Sussex is made up of More Radio owner Total Sense Media, V2 Radio, OpenDAB Brighton & Hove, Regency Radio, Platform B, Gaydio, and radio consultant John Dash. The team at Digital Radio West Sussex says: “Our proposed service will have the capacity to bring more than twenty new and existing radio stations to DAB in a vibrant and fast growing part of the South Coast, significantly increasing listener choice."

The current trial small-scale DAB licence holder in Brighton and Hove has teamed up with local radio services to apply for the full-time licence. OpenDAB Brighton & Hove CIC, created by Daniel Nathan & Rashid Mustapha, has been running since 2015, broadcasting 26 local radio services to Brighton & Hove.

Wolverhampton DAB has soft launched its multiplex, which will reach over 380,000 people across the area. Having taken 53 days to build from the award of the licence, it’s said to be the fastest time yet for a DAB multiplex in the UK. Chris Hurst, Director of Wolverhampton DAB, thanked Ofcom for its support from a regulatory standpoint, and Viamux and Optimux for delivering the multiplex on time and within budget. “We’re thrilled to have launched the Wolverhampton DAB multiplex in record time,” Hurst said. “We believe this represents a major milestone for the UK digital radio industry, and we’re looking forward to hearing an ever-expanding diverse range of radio services that will be offered to the people of Wolverhampton and the surrounding areas.”

Popular station, Panjab Radio has returned to Wolverhampton and Coventry via DAB in the ongoing expansion of small-scale services. The station stopped broadcasting in certain areas including the named cities in 2019 when Panjab Radio ended its national service. Panjab Radio, which sits at No.2 amongst commercial Asian stations in Greater London, is now available in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Bradford, Coventry, Wolverhampton and its base in London.

Numerous companies have announced their separate plans to apply for small-scale DAB multiplexes in the capital of England as part of Round 5 of applications. RadioToday can confirm North London Digital, East London Radio, South of the River Digital, and City West Digital are among those currently preparing bids to be submitted to Ofcom ahead of the closing date on 30 June. U.DAB – the current North London trial SSDAB multiplex operator – has confirmed it will apply for the permanent licence. U.DAB has operated the Trial London multiplex since October 2015.

Ofcom is today opening applications for small-scale DAB in South East England, including London. This will be the fifth round of small-scale DAB licensing, and the largest to date, with a closing date of 30 June 2023. In addition to the 31 areas, there are three re-advertisements from other regions available. Ofcom says it will announce all the winners from London and the SE at the same time at some point in 2024, although the extra three will be announced prior.

LGBTQ+ radio station GlitterBeam will launch on DAB in Blackpool this Friday, 24 March.The station has been streaming online since July 2019, before being made available on small scale DAB in the North East of England, in Cambridgeshire and in Coventry. Founders Eugenio Ceriello and Michael Walton-Dalzell said: “We are extremely excited to broadcast in Blackpool, with its vibrant LGBTQ+ scene, and we hope to bring our “Music with Sparkle” from the Blackpool Tower, where the transmitter is."

Frisk Radio in the north east of England is launching on the small-scale DAB multiplex serving Middlesbrough and Redcar. The station launched two years ago and joined new local multiplexes in Tynemouth and Newcastle as they launched. Commenting on the expansion, Frisk Radio’s director, Stuart Landreth said: “Having grown up with legendary night clubs like Tall Trees, Liquid and Millennium, we know that there are a generation of clubbers across Teesside who are passionate about their dance music – and we’re here to cater to that in an untapped radio market.” Frisk Radio claims a monthly audience of 22,500 listeners in Newcastle and across Tyneside.