Population:	83.0 million
Coverage:	70%
Services:	142 DAB, 11 DAB+, 35 Data, 1 DMB
Sales (accumulated):	546,000 devices

Last update: 25-03-2010

Since the mid-1990's, Germany has tested and trialled all of the flavours of the DAB family of standards and there is currently a DAB network on air serving around 70% of the population.

Now, however, Germany is working towards a re-launch of digital radio using DAB+ and, to that end, the German Commission of broadcasting policies (Rundfunkkommission), has approved a nationwide multiplex which can transmit between 10 and 15 radio programmes.

The national digital channels will be supplemented by two or three multiplexes in each of the 16 regions to provide regional and local radio from public service ARD stations and private broadcasters.

Digital radio listeners in Germany will therefore be able to receive between 30 and 40 services (a mix of national, regional and local) wherever they are in the country.

Germany’s public service financing committee, the KEF is to provide funding to facilitate the roll out of national DAB+ digital radio in Germany.   The funds, which allow public broadcaster Deutschland Radio, to build out a national digital radio network using DAB+ technology, will be available providing the industry meets a tight timetable set out by the KEF. Space on the network however will be shared between public and commercial broadcasters giving the whole industry the opportunity to secure future development of radio. Conditions require commercial and public broadcasters to sign contracts with Media Broadcast GmbH by the end of September.  Funding will also be made available to ARD for programmes which will continue to be broadcast the federal states.

Germany’s commercial radio broadcasters and network operator, Media Broadcast, have agreed to work together to facilitate national digital radio. 

DAB radio reaches about 70% of the Germany population.

In this country there are

• Regional multiplexes: 16 Regular
• Local multiplexes: 4 Regular and 3 Trial

There are now more than 60 DAB radio stations in Germany (both public and commercial). There are up to 15 stations per site, split into a variety of regional and local multiplexes. Most are simulcasts of FM stations, but there are an increasing number of DAB-only channels. Data services broadcasting news and travel information are also available in many areas.

As Germany's re-launch of DAB using DAB+ rolls out, the number of stations on air will fluctuate but should eventually provide each listener with between 30 and 40 services.

There has been no official market research on the number of DAB receivers sold.

There are more than 1,000 DAB retailers in Germany listed by the www.digitalradio.de website. Users can search by postal code, map or name of retailer. There is also a list of online traders.

Between 2005 and 2008, the European DMB-project MI FRIENDS, was operated by the Bayerische Landeszentrale für Neue Medien (BLM) as a pilot project aimed at enabling mobile and interactive usage of new and existing media applications in receivers.  This multi-standard trial allowed services to be broadcast on all digital multimedia standards DAB, DMB, DVB-H, TPEG and GPRS/UMTS using a single device.

Germany has a two-tier government, federal and state, which is reflected in the country’s broadcasting legislation. The federal government issues telecommunications licences to network operators and regulates frequency and spectrum issues. Broadcast programme providers are regulated by the states, each of which has its own regulatory framework. The federal government assigns frequencies, but content distribution is licensed by State Media Authorities. Network operators are granted frequency allocation for 15 years and state licences run for between four and eight years and holders must promote DAB digital radio. It is a requirement that within three years of a licence being issued there is 80% population coverage. There are also no defined rules relating to data capacity use, up to 20% multiplex capacity is normal. Analogue switch off is targeted for after 2015.