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On Boxing Day, Viaplay Radio launched a new radio channel called Sonic Radio, which is distributed via Viaplay's DAB+ network and the internet. Sonic Radio has a music focus close to that of P3, with an emphasis on alternative music in various genres and the positioning ‘The music you like’. Sonic is using the DAB+ airtime previously used for Svenska Favoriter and during December to broadcast Star FM's regular oldies format when Star FM switched to Christmas music.

Radio station Radio Stad Den Haag can also be heard via DAB+ and medium wave in the near future. The radio station normally broadcasts only via the Internet. Radio Stad Den Haag was active as a radio pirate in the 1980s. The radio station broadcast a lot of Italo and dance music and managed to reach a large number of listeners in a short time. The radio station is back on air temporarily until 1 January 2025. The radio station can be heard in part of South Holland via DAB+ (channel 12D) and medium wave (747 kHz). The station can be heard temporarily via the channels of Impact Radio.

The Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (Mimit) has announced the launch of a comparative selection process for awarding DAB+ usage rights in Veneto, Tuscany, Lazio, Campania and Puglia. On 20 December 2024, the Director General of Mimit’s DGTEL issued six decrees, published on the Ministry’s website, detailing plans for local network allocations in Veneto, Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, and Puglia. The official tender notices will be published on Mimit’s website under the Digital — Radio and Television section on 5 February 2025. Aeranti-Corallo has reiterated the need for additional frequencies in these regions to meet local broadcasting demands.

In an era marked by the dizzying speed of technological innovation and the rapid obsolescence of one shiny new platform after another, Radio is beginning its second century of service as one of the most dependable and widely utilized forms of media in the world. Proclaimed in 2011 by UNESCO Member States and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 as International Day of the United Nations, February 13 became World Radio Day (WRD). 2025 marks a pivotal year for climate change. To support radio stations in their journalistic coverage of this issue, World Radio Day on February 13, 2025 will be dedicated to “Radio and Climate Change”. WorldDAB is pleased to be a partner of World Radio Day 2025.

MC Radio, well-known in the capital of Wielkopolska, has joined the Poznan version of Polish Radio's DAB+ multiplex. This is the digital debut of this station. It can now be listened to not only in Poznań and the surrounding area, but also in the entire region - via the Poznań *Piątkowo*, Poznań *Śrem*, Kalisz *Mikstat*, Konin *Żółwieniec*, Piła *Staszyce*, Jarocin *Żerków* and Nowy Tomyśl *Bolewice* sites. As readers report, the changes to the multiplex line-up occurred on Friday, 20 December. The bit rate of the stream is 64 kbps.

New in DAB+ in the Canton of Ticino. Radio Number One and One Dance made their entry - in the ‘Digris AG’ mux -. Broadcasting takes place on channel 8A. Within the same multiplex are RFT Pop, Radio Gwen, Open Broadcast, Maxxima TI, Spoon Rock, Radio Tell, 105 Dj Radio, Radio Morcote, Radio Positiva, RTO, Radio Studio Star, Radio Maria, Radio Italia.

Revolution: DAB+ on the road to tomorrow's radio. From 1 January 2025 Divergence will go fully digital. Divergence is opting for modernity and reducing its energy footprint, by ceasing its FM broadcast on 93.9MHz and broadcasting its programmes entirely on DAB+. By listening to Divergence on DAB+, you can enjoy your favourite programmes in High Definition quality.

Marco Derighetti, Operations Director, SRG SSR, writes: "More than twenty years ago, the need arose in Switzerland for a radio broadcasting technology that would allow an expansion of the radio programmes available on the territory with free-to-air reception. DAB technology, later refined into DAB+, was able to satisfy this need. In fact, DAB+ made it possible to significantly increase the number of channels available to the population. The FM band could only accommodate around 20 channels. Depending on where you are in Switzerland, you can now pick up between 100 and 200 radio stations. Moreover, the development of DAB+ coverage in Switzerland has reached great maturity and is technically superior to that offered by FM."

As the end of 2024 approaches, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG) will also switch off its FM transmission. However, around two dozen private radio stations in Switzerland will continue to broadcast via FM and will not switch off the service until the end of 2026 at the latest. The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG) is switching off its 850 VHF broadcasting antennas at midnight on 31 December 2024. According to its own figures, this will save around CHF 15 million per year. According to the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom), around 10 per cent of the population in Switzerland still listen to the radio exclusively via FM. Meanwhile, the use of DAB+ and internet radio has risen continuously since 2015: for DAB+ from 23 to 41 per cent in 2023 and for internet radio from 26 to 39 per cent.

A new Radio World ebook explores “Recipes for Visual Display.” This is an excerpt. RW: How well do you think the message about the importance of visual display and good metadata has sunk in with broadcasters? Nick Piggott, project director of RadioDNS: “Not as widely and deeply as I think it needs to. In the case of the connected car, the competition for prominence isn’t just against the other radio stations, so don’t benchmark against just your competitors... we need to be acting in a coordinated and standardised way, so that the proposition to the automotive industry is consistent, not just from station to station, but country to country as well. Standards like FM, RDS, DAB and RadioDNS enable radio’s universality.”