News

From 23 July, ZuidWest FM will be available throughout West Brabant and parts of Zeeland via DAB+. The digital reach of the regional broadcaster will double. In addition to Roosendaal, Bergen op Zoom, Tholen and Woensdrecht, the station will also be available digitally in Etten-Leur, Breda, Moerdijk, Halderberge and Zundert. For Streekomroep ZuidWest, this is an important step in the further development of its audio offering. Radio manager Pieter Hendriks considers full coverage via DAB+ to be essential: ‘We want to be accessible on all relevant platforms, and DAB+ is an important part of that.’ According to him, the coverage will soon be up to standard: ‘Local journalism deserves reach. We have now firmly established that digitally as well.’

Since 23 July, various local broadcasters in the province of Utrecht can be listened to via digital radio (DAB+). From Wednesday evening, the radio stations Bingo FM (Utrecht), Roulette FM (De Bilt) and Omroep Lekstroom (Houten region) can be listened to via channel 5A. The commercial Hindustani radio station Radio SBS can also be listened to via this network. On Wednesday, a large number of local broadcasters in the Breda region also started broadcasting via DAB+ on channel 8C. The intention is that all local broadcasters that have applied for a DAB+ licence will have started broadcasting by 1 September.

Broadcast Partners (Radio Netwerk Nederland) launched local allotment 50 today. This is the broadcasting schedule for the Breda region, which stretches from Etten-Leur to Moerdijk. Broadcasts are on channel 8C. The transmitter that went into operation today and the associated antenna installation are located on the Digitenne transmission mast at Het Spinveld in Breda. Earlier, transmitter operator RNN put the adjacent allotment 51 into operation for the Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom region. The transmission mast in Breda is used to broadcast several public and commercial stations digitally. These are the stations BredaNU, Zuidwest FM, Omroep Drimmelen, Omroep SLOG, ORTS, Radio Rucphen and Radio Muziekstad.

News in Piedmontese DAB+. The super stations Love FM and Ritmo 80 have been connected. The two stations, which are part of the same publishing group, have been included in the CR Dab Piemonte mux. Broadcasting takes place on channel 10B. This is a further step forward for the two stations, which are already present in several Italian regions, both in analogue and digital versions.

The Finnish Amateur Radio Association has received a trial licence from the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom in Joensuu, around 350 km north-east of Helsinki. This licence allows the Finnish Amateur Radio Association to broadcast Radio Hami terrestrially as part of the HamKarelia25 summer camp in the Linnunlahti holiday resort and in the Joensuu Science Park. And not only on FM 90.7 MHz, but also on DAB+ on channel 9A. The transmission power is set at 50 watts ERP in both cases. DAB+ was already used to broadcast at last year's HamKarelia24 summer camp. Last year, however, it was on channel 10C. This year, three programmes are being broadcast in the DAB+ package: Radio Hami, Radio Hami LoFi and Hami luentosali.

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, in collaboration with WorldDAB and ASBU, successfully held a three-day online technical workshop from 15–17 July 2025. The sessions covered a wide range of topics including the business case, technical standards, network design, and implementation strategies for DAB+ digital radio. Highlighted sessions included updates on DAB+ technical standards, practical guidance on launching DAB+ services, network design with a focus on Single Frequency Networks (SFN), headend systems, cost analysis, and real-world case studies from Switzerland and other countries. The event benefited both technical and managerial staff involved in planning and deploying DAB+ digital radio systems.

The operators of digital radio networks are calling for a complete ban on the sale of radio receivers that, in addition to analogue broadcasting in the FM band, do not allow reception of digital DAB+ broadcasts. For car radios, a Europe-wide regulation that all newly manufactured cars must have a radio capable of receiving DAB+ applies from 2022. "Only radios that include a DAB tuner should be sold in shops. Not just FM. To sell pure FM radios today is unfair on customers - it will restrict them and that restriction will only get worse. The radio has a long life and those people will eventually have to throw it away. Change may come through legislation - as with cars - or through pressure on dealers. But radios without a DAB tuner should simply not be imported here anymore," says Karel Zýka, technical director of Czech Radio.

In Luxembourg, the national DAB+ package on channel 7D with 12 stations is due to be launched this autumn. However, there are signs that a second DAB+ package could soon follow. Test programmes are currently being broadcast in Luxembourg via two transmitter sites. Two sites are being used that are not intended for the national mux on channel 7D. They will primarily serve the south of the country. The test broadcasts can be observed on channel 5D. Initially, the test packet will be broadcast via the Junglinster site. It will be broadcast with a power of 1 kW ERP. The second location is Rodange/Um Bierg, in the very south-west of Luxembourg. With 300 watts ERP, the range of the site is rather limited. Only the RLM programme is currently on air.

Radio reception will change in the coverage area of BR station Ludwigsstadt from 22 July 2025. In future, Bayerischer Rundfunk will broadcast its programmes from there exclusively via DAB+; FM broadcasting will be discontinued. All BR programmes can still be received in the region via DAB+. Alternatively, FM reception from the Ochsenkopf transmitter will be possible for Bayern 1, Bayern 2 and Bayern 3. The Ludwigsstadt transmitter serves the town of Ludwigsstadt and the districts of Ebersdorf, Lauenhain, Lauenstein, Ottendorf and Steinbach an der Haide. FM broadcasting is being decommissioned for reasons of economy and energy efficiency.

The pace of digital adoption in radio and television is, without a doubt, vastly different. While DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) has completely replaced analogue television in a large number of countries and its reach is practically global, the scenario for radio is quite different. But this situation appears to be changing, and digital radio is gaining ground in a growing number of countries. “Just in the last six months, we’ve seen the launch of DAB+ in Turkey and the announcement of a nationwide rollout in Greece, as well as new trials in countries as diverse as Ireland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Thailand. This comes alongside sustained growth in established markets,” explains to TM BROADCAST Jacqueline Bierhorst, President of WorldDAB and Project Director of Digital Radio NL.