News

Small-scale DAB multiplexes in Liverpool, Cardiff and Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn have each had a power increase. Viamux has turned up the wattage on all the services following approval from Ofcom. Following the submission of a detailed coverage improvement request, Cardiff DAB was allowed to double the power at each of its three transmission sites. Nathan Spackman from Bro Radio welcomed the news. “Launching on DAB in May 2023 allowed us to reach new audiences across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, whilst bringing existing listeners over to DAB+. The improved coverage will help us to continue to grow our community service, increase revenue and reach even more listeners.”

BBC Radio 1 has announced the name of its new extension, Radio 1 Anthems, which will launch on Friday, 8 November 2024 on BBC Sounds, with opportunities for new production talent and a series of new commissions all made outside of London. Radio 1 Anthems will help young audiences discover and re-discover a wide range of music and acts supported by Radio 1 in the 2000s and 2010s with a dedicated focus on growing new on-air and off-air talent. As part of the BBC’s commitment to serving all audiences with high quality, distinctive music content, the BBC announced its plans to launch new music extensions to its popular stations earlier this year.

Global has announced the launch of 12 brand new radio stations for some of the UK’s biggest commercial radio brands, launching in just three days, on 12 September 2024. Most of Global’s biggest music brands will all get brand new sister stations. It follows the huge success Global has seen from launching popular brand extensions including Heart Dance, Capital Dance, and the millions of listeners tuning into nostalgia and mood stations like Heart 80s and Smooth Relax. The brand new stations will all be available on Global Player, the official app for all of Global’s radio brands and content, as well smart speakers, online and DAB Digital Radio.

Greatest Hits Radio’s Ken Bruce shared some exciting news with millions of listeners to his show this morning, as he announced news of a brand-new sister station, Greatest Hits Radio 60s. The first hour of the new station will simulcast with Greatest Hits Radio from 12noon to 1pm on Monday 16th September and joining Ken will be national treasure – and the voice of Greatest Hits Radio 60s – Joanna Lumley. Joining Joanna on the new station – available across the UK on DAB and via the Rayo app – will be broadcasters including Richard Allinson who will be hosting the Breakfast show from 6 – 10 am every Monday to Friday whilst Alex Lester takes over afternoons from 2 – 6pm.

Czech Radiokomunikace, or rather its subsidiary Czech Digital Group, will launch in a few weeks, it could happen at the end of September, its upcoming and long-awaited full-screen DAB+ multiplex officially called Broadcasting Network B. The first sites have appeared in recent days in the database of the Czech Telecommunications Office. Unsurprisingly, these are the four largest cities. In Prague, CDG plans to use channel 11D, as in Ostrava. The signal for the territory of the capital city will of course be distributed by the Žižkov transmitter, which has been assigned a maximum radiated power of 20 kW. In Ostrava's Hošťálkovice, it will be 10 kW, as well as from Brno's Hady (channel 7C) and Pilsen's Radč (channel 11B).

The Municipal Radio, which paved the way for free radio - television in Greece, today after 37 years, is again in the forefront with the Municipal Company of Information and Communication of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, bringing DAB+ digital broadcast radio to our country. From 3 September 2024, the DAB+ trial pilot broadcast began to optimise the quality of the broadcast radio programmes, reduce the energy footprint by using green broadcasting systems and aiming at the development of DEPTHE as a provider of digital radio program broadcasting for all municipal radio in the territory. Digital radio broadcasting is carried out independently from the DEPTHE TELECOM facilities on the 5C/ 178.352 MHz DEPTHE TELECOM channel with the cooperation and under the auspices of the Association of Municipal Radio and Television Broadcasters, Greece.

DAB+ (Digital Audio Broadcasting Plus) is a digital standard for radio broadcasting, with advantages such as higher sound quality and a greater variety of stations than traditional FM. Disadvantages are discussed, including upgrade costs and the need for compatibility with older devices. The role of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy in the introduction of DAB+ in Italy is examined, with particular attention to the frequency planning and allocation of network usage rights. In summary, the article provides an overview of the transition to digital broadcasting and the change in the Italian radio landscape.

Adam Williscroft is about to leave the SCA building at World Square. He is stepping down from his role as music content director – audio on demand & digital radio. Williscroft became content director of 2Day, before moving to digital audio – taking SCA’s footprint from three stations to 13 different brands, and implementing localised revenue across each DAB market nationally. After the launch of LiSTNR, Williscroft oversaw the expansion of music formats and music podcasting. A key part of the DAB+/LiSTNR offer is Triple M digital radio. Anchored by Triple M Classic Rock, the Triple M DAB+ family now spawns six separate stations which combined is the #1 DAB+ brand.

If you were asked to guess what last year’s most zeitgeisty radio station was, you probably wouldn’t have put your money on Fix Radio, a station dedicated entirely to tradespeople, where leading segments include the likes of The Heating and Plumbing Show. But, as it happens, Fix Radio was last year’s fastest growing national radio station. With over 460,000 weekly listeners, the station grew an astonishing 480 per cent last year after acquiring its national licence in May 2022. Radiocentre CEO Matt Payton added that developments in tech and the growth of DAB in recent years have given commercial radio a boost, with stations empowered to “offer even more choice – building audiences around the interests, genres and passions of listeners”. And indeed, there have been many other success stories for more targeted offerings: Boom Radio (for baby boomers), Lyca Radio (for British Asians) and a whole array of nostalgia-driven decade stations (Absolute 80s, Capital Dance, KISSstory etc).

Easy FM is Almere's local radio station. The radio station was one of the first in the Netherlands to broadcast as a local radio station via the DAB+ digital radio network in the Almere region with an experimental licence. Now that local DAB+ has outgrown the experimental stage, Easy FM will continue on the Almere allotment with a new broadcasting licence valid until mid-2030. Besides Easy FM, Sunrise FM, Soulradio and Dance Radio Amsterdam have also been granted broadcasting licences for allotment 26 (Almere) by regulator Rijksinspectie Digitale Infrastructuur (RDI). The broadcasts in the Almere/Flevoland region can be received via DAB+ channel 10C.