News

Sky Radio Lovesongs is back on DAB+ after almost 10 years. The theme channel replaces Sky Radio Nice & Easy on channel 9C. Sky Radio Lovesongs brings the most beautiful love songs ever made 24 hours a day. Nice & Easy already made way (temporarily) from Sky Radio Christmas in early October, but has not returned. Sky Radio Lovesongs could be heard on DAB+ for some time in 2013, then on channel 11C. However, the station was replaced by Sky Radio Hits in early 2014.

ON AIR support GmbH says: "Our transmitter at the Kreuzwertheim site was completed and put into operation just in time for the holidays on 21 December 2023. It provides the northern part of the Main-Tauber district with digital radio on channel 11B." The site for the Baden-Württemberg private radio ensemble has a power of 2 kW.

Following 13 years of online streaming, 6 Towns Radio is joining a local small-scale DAB multiplex in the new year. The community station will have a potential audience of 300,000 local people across Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. A station spokesperson said: “We’re all absolutely delighted to be able to announce the news that we’ll be available on DAB, it has been a long time coming and the hard work behind the scenes from all volunteers has meant we have got to this point." The DAB transmission network in Stoke and Newcastle is operated by local non-profit, the Alternative Broadcast Company (ABC).

As DAB+ technology is rolled out at a steady pace in France, the A3C7 association is organising a conference on the arrival of digital radio in Brittany on 9 January 2024. The conference will be complemented by a free exhibition on the technology from 21 to 23 March 2024. This conference will bring together "the local players who played a key role in the advent of this new method of radio broadcasting, which has now become a worldwide standard". A number of French and foreign professionals who have been partners in this epic story (Nicolas Curien, Jean Marc Dubreuil from WorldDAB, Jérôme Hirigoyen, Charles-Emmanuel Bon, Prune de La Fage...) will explain how this technology works and talk about the present and future of radio.

The entire RADIO BOB! team is delighted for Jan-Henrik Schmelter: The Programme Director of Germany's rock radio station was voted Radio/Audio Manager of the Year by Kressreport. The trade journal explains: "The 52-year-old has turned RADIO BOB! into a strong national brand. Since he took over in 2010, the station from the Regiocast Group has increased its reach from 36,000 listeners per hour to 550,000. Bob! owes its rise not only to nationwide DAB+ broadcasting, but also to stringent brand management." RADIO BOB! has been broadcast via FM in Hesse since 2008. Since 2011, the rock station's headquarters in Kassel has also been broadcasting a nationwide service via DAB+.

Analysing the DAB+ trends in GfK Radio 360 Surveys sometimes feels like having to choose a Christmas present for five friends with totally different tastes. Broadly speaking Sydney love CADA, Melbourne their 80s Gold, Perth likes it smooth, so too Adelaide and Brisbane, who appear to also enjoy a smorgasbord of tastes and styles. In Sydney, CADA, who are going to sound very different in 2024, gained 20,000 listeners and led the DAB pack. Also with more than 100K listeners were TikTok Trending, smooth relax, KIIS 90s, Coles Radio, ABC Sport (the only metro besides Adelaide where sports saw any gain post the AFL / NRL seasons) and, most surprising of all, iHeartAustralia.

Seven broadcasters applied for the DAB+ capacity (channel 7B) advertised by Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (mabb). One application could not be considered for formal reasons. Applicants were: Chillout Antenne, FG, Metropol FM, Radio Vidovdan, Radio Bollerwagen, Radio Darya and JazzRadio Berlin-Brandenburg.

The end of 2023 is all about DAB+ in Central Germany, with new broadcasting locations, more programmes and an outlook for additional diversity for radio users. Infrastructure and radio-as-a-service provider DIVICON MEDIA has almost doubled the reach of the DAB+ state mux in the Free State of Thuringia to around 1.55 million (mobile) and 0.82 million (indoor) by commissioning the DAB+ transmitter sites Inselsberg and Jena on 18 December 2023. The Jena broadcasting location also enables the transmission of extended programme information such as logos and slideshows. "Almost two thirds of people in Thuringia are now able to receive the DAB+ regional mux programme," says Franz Coriand, Managing Director of DIVICON MEDIA. "

December 2023 marks a major step forward in the roll-out of digital terrestrial radio. Between October 2023 and today, 108 new transmitters have been switched on. Residents of Chartres, Compiègne, Dole and Menton will be able to receive DAB+ radio in their homes for the first time. In other cities such as Lens, Strasbourg, Montbéliard, Clermont-Ferrand and Nice, new stations are being added to the DAB+ offering. After an initial phase of national DAB+ antenna deployment in October 2021, the listening areas will be expanded and enriched. By March 2024, at the end of the second phase of deployment, 26 national radio stations will be available to more than 60% of the French population. In total, more than 550 radio stations are already broadcast on DAB+.

2023 has been a banner year for Australian commercial radio, culminating in record audience numbers, GfK Survey 8 has revealed. Commercial radio listening has soared to a record high of 12.25 million listeners aged 10+ across the five major metro markets, underpinned by a vibrant growth in DAB+ listening and the continued embrace of commercial radio by younger listeners. “Since 2021, listeners of commercial radio DAB+ only stations have grown by a massive 48%. Audiences are loving the great new content being added by the commercial networks, and DAB+ is easier to access than ever,” said Ford Ennals, CEO of Commercial Radio & Audio.