News

This is a major first: this summer, DAB+ is making headlines on television. After several radio and poster campaigns, the promotion of DAB+ radio is taking another step forward with a summer television campaign. From 31 July to 17 August, in addition to a new wave of radio advertising, DAB+ will be featured on several television channels (M6, France TV, BFMTV and SECOM).

For the fourth consecutive year, Radio Mont Blanc has recorded an increase in its FM/DAB+ audience, with a 2.4% rise in its broadcast area. At the same time, audio and video streaming has grown by 2.6% over the 2024-2025 season. These are upward indicators in a changing market. According to Médiamétrie's latest EAR Local survey (2023-2025), Radio Mont Blanc continues to grow its traditional audience. Across its FM and DAB+ coverage area, the local station has seen a 2.4% increase in its daily audience. It now attracts 149,800 listeners per week. This listening volume makes it ‘the leading local radio station in its FM broadcast area’. These results are part of a growth trend that began four years ago and has been confirmed again this year in the Annecy DAB+ sector.

The promotion of DAB+ by the Ensemble pour le DAB+ association continues this summer. A campaign will be broadcast from 31 July to 17 August on several television channels, including M6, France TV, BFMTV and SECOM. The advert, directed by Maéva Pensivy with music and jingle by 21 Juin Production, ‘will showcase the many benefits of listening to DAB+ radio while travelling, on a daily basis or on holiday,’ according to the press release. Among the criteria cited are exceptional and consistent sound quality and uninterrupted listening without having to change frequencies in the car. At the same time, a promotional campaign is planned on the radio. ‘In 2026, DAB+ will represent a broadcasting investment of more than £30 million for radio stations,’ adds the association.

The latest results of the 2025_2 radio survey confirm once again that RMS TOP Kombi is the strongest private audio offering in the country and remains the undisputed market leader. The daily number of listeners continues to rise steadily: RMS TOP Kombi reaches more than 2.8 million listeners daily in the total population aged 10 and above, putting it clearly ahead of Ö3. This result demonstrates the growing relevance of private radio stations. For the first time, the results also include DAB+ stations, which launched on MUX III in July 2024. These stations achieve excellent reach overall and strengthen the diversity of the domestic audio landscape.

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.