News

Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) has welcomed the GfK Survey 1, 2026 results. The industry reaches 12.7 million Australians weekly - sustaining the consistent audience performance that has defined the medium since mid-2022 through a global pandemic, platform fragmentation and an increasingly competitive media landscape. Lizzie Young, CEO of CRA said: "The commercial radio industry is entering an exciting new chapter - one defined by a level of industry collaboration for the benefit of audiences and advertisers alike. Our members are reaching audiences across AM, FM, DAB+, streaming and podcasting, and the investment in platforms like CRA Audio ID and RadioApp means we are delivering the precision, transparency and scale that advertisers require."

Norddeutscher Rundfunk is continuing with its FM switch-offs in Schleswig-Holstein. This time, listeners on the North Sea island of Heligoland are affected. The following stations are due to be switched off at the Heligoland site on 8 April: N-Joy – 91.5 MHz; NDR Info – 92.5 MHz; NDR Kultur – 97.0 MHz All NDR programmes can be received via DAB+ on channel 11B. The transmitter on Heligoland has a radiated power of 400 watts. In addition to the programmes familiar from the FM band, NDR Blue, NDR Info Spezial and NDR Schlager also broadcast digitally.

New local programmes will return to the airwaves in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset when Nation Radio begins broadcasting on 30 March. The station has confirmed a line-up of presenters with strong connections to commercial radio in the South West, many previously heard on Pirate FM before its closure. Nation Radio Somerset is already broadcasting on DAB across Somerset and will introduce a full programme schedule from launch day. Nation Radio Devon and Nation Radio Cornwall will both begin broadcasting on Monday 30th March on DAB+ multiplexes covering Devon, Plymouth and Cornwall.

Communities across the UK will benefit as the government backs high quality and trustworthy local journalism with a new local media action plan. Speaking at the Society of Editors Future of News Conference on 17 March, the Culture Secretary will back the essential role of local media in communities all over the UK. Funding for community radio stations will be doubled to £1 million per year (compared with 2024/25) over the next three years, helping to support the long-term sustainability of nearly 400 community radio stations and to encourage the sector’s development in underserved areas. Grants are available for Ofcom-licensed community radio stations in the UK, including those broadcasting via a Community Digital Sound Programme licence on a digital radio multiplex.

In the latest issue of the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) Tech-i magazine, Jacqueline Bierhorst, Chair of WorldDAB, discusses recent developments in digital radio. From roll-outs across Europe and trials in new markets to regulatory challenges in the automotive sector, the article provides an overview of the global development of DAB+. According to Jacqueline Bierhorst, 2025 was a year of progress for DAB+ digital radio in several countries. In Europe, Estonia launched digital radio in September and Luxembourg put 11 DAB+ stations on air in December. In Turkey, DAB+ services are now being broadcast from the Çamlıca tower, and 30 additional towers have been announced to extend coverage. In Greece, the public broadcaster ERT is gradually rolling out DAB+ from Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras.

The Bundeswehr is upgrading its equipment: as revealed in a current tender, broadcast teams will in future be able to transmit not only on FM but also via DAB+ digital radio. Radio Ander­nach is the name of the Bundeswehr’s troop support radio station and reports to the Cyber and Information Space Command (CIR). To date, signal processing and the transmission of radio programmes have been carried out exclusively via mobile FM broadcasting systems. However, as DAB+ digital radio becomes increasingly widespread, the existing technology is to be upgraded accordingly. According to the tender, mobile antenna masts with a height of 25 metres are to be used, as before, which can be operated via FM with a transmitter output power of up to 5 kW and on DAB+ with up to 10 kW.

At its meeting on 3 March 2026, the Media Council of the Berlin-Brandenburg Media Authority (mabb) decided to put out to tender several DAB+ transmission capacities for the nationwide distribution of private radio programmes in Berlin and Brandenburg. Four capacities in six multiplexes are expected to be available: one multiplex for Berlin and five regional multiplexes in Brandenburg, which together cover both federal states and enable regional separation of the programmes. The six multiplexes will be occupied by a mix of private and public radio programmes. One transmission capacity each for nationwide distribution is planned for the open channel ALEX Berlin and non-commercial local radio (NKL).

In Spain, COPE, the second-largest national commercial radio station, appears to be phasing out several medium-wave stations once again. Since early March, no regular programming has been broadcast on a number of frequencies; instead, a continuous message directs listeners to tune in via FM or online. This concerns at least seven AM stations: Murcia (711 kHz, 6 kW), Ferrol (837 kHz, 2 kW), Zaragoza (1053 kHz, 20 kW), Orense (1143 kHz, 5 kW), León (1215 kHz, 10 kW), Badajoz (1269 kHz, 10 kW) and Valencia (1269 kHz, theoretically 50 kW), together accounting for 100 kW of transmission power. It has long been clear that the phase-out of medium-wave broadcasting in Spain has also gathered pace. At the end of 2025, the public broadcaster Radio Nacional de España switched off all its AM stations in one go.

Ladislav Antoš, co-founder of the Czech radio station ZUN Radio—which is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year—gave his very first media interview exclusively to the MediaGuru.cz portal. The station has opted to broadcast exclusively via digital channels, including both online and DAB+; there is no longer any room for FM broadcasting. How difficult is it in the Czech Republic to build and operate an independent station focused on a specific genre of dance music that doesn’t measure its audience in the traditional way through Radioprojekt? "Already in the first year we started operating, we were getting feedback, and it was clear that people were listening to us. So it was faster—basically, after just a few hours, we were already seeing feedback."

A small-scale DAB digital multiplex in East Devon marks the 100th to be launched under Ofcom’s nationwide roll out of this innovative technology. Small-scale DAB provides a low-cost way for local commercial, community and specialist music services to take to the digital airwaves. ExeDAB, which is run jointly by commercial station Radio Exe and community broadcaster Phonic FM, is the 100th small-scale DAB multiplex to launch since the first service went live in December 2021. Paul Mercer, Ofcom’s Director of Broadcast Licensing and Programme Operations, said: “The small-scale DAB programme was designed to help grassroots community broadcasters, specialist music stations, and services for minority and other underserved populations to take to the digital airwaves.”