News

Antenne Niedersachsen GmbH & Co. KG has received an unlimited, state-wide licence from the Lower Saxony State Media Authority (NLM) to broadcast and distribute its special-interest radio programme ‘Antenne Schlager’. This decision by the Commission for Licensing and Supervision (ZAK) marks an important milestone for the programme, which has already been broadcast via DAB+ in Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Bremen since mid-July 2023. ‘The state-wide licence for Antenne Schlager is an important step towards further expanding our brand and strengthening our presence in the digital radio market,’ says Carsten Hoyer, Chairman of the Management Board of Antenne Niedersachsen GmbH & Co. KG. ‘We are already looking forward to making the programme available via additional DAB+ locations and being able to offer our listeners a diverse and high-quality pop music programme.’

ZUN radio, a digital radio station focused on electronic music, will broadcast in the eastern part of the country in the DAB+ multiplex of the operator Teleko digital. Its founder and director Ladislav Antoš confirmed this to the Digital Radio portal. ZUN can already be tuned in on channel 10D from Lysá hora, followed by the Strážník transmitter in Vysočina on Thursday 29 August in the late afternoon. "For us, the strengthening of the D1 motorway coverage is one of the most important events of this year and we are already looking forward to the next one, which will be the expansion of our broadcasting in South Moravia. It is from the east of the country that we have the greatest interest from advertisers so far and it is a great benefit for us that Teleko is the leader in the transition to auctioned final channels," Ladislav Antoš told Digital Radio. In Vysočina, the station will improve its coverage thanks to the Strážník transmitter, which will increase its power from 1 kW to 5 kW after the transition to channel 10D.

Four years after its web debut, Radio Morcote International grows further and lands on DAB+. It can be heard on the Swiss digital airwaves from 1 September on the Digris mux, channel 8A. ‘We have worked hard over the past four years to make Radio Morcote what it is today,’ said station manager Daniela Moroni, ‘a quality radio station born thanks to the commitment and professionalism shown by every single member of the team. In a few months, most of the radio stations in Ticino will switch off FM: what better opportunity to seize than this one?’ she added, enthusiastically announcing the station's new mode of operation.

This season, Nostalgie+, the DAB+ version of Nostalgie in Belgium, promises to leave even more room for its audience with a new programme called ‘Juke-box’ and a brand new immersive event in the world of the Beatles.

I recently presented at the WorldDAB Automotive Event on a subject that I don’t think any station manager or technical manager would ever have considered just five years ago. I started with a familiar opening: the evolution of radio from its first days in vehicles. How easy it was for broadcasters, who just needed to broadcast a single, mono, audio channel on an AM frequency. As technology has evolved, the capabilities of vehicles and broadcast radio have evolved: FM, stereo, RDS. Each step has moved the experience forward, kept up with listener expectations, and demanded more competency and coordination between broadcasters and manufacturers. The arrival of digital radio demands more capability and competency: text information, album art, logos. These are baseline expectations, as fundamental as transmitting (stereo) audio without distortion.

Nicola Bomio has been President of the Association of Swiss Private Radio Stations (VSP) since April. In an interview with persoenlich.com, the head of radio at CH Media explains where he wants to set the tone in future and how he sees the relationship with the SRG. When will private radio stations switch off FM? "This is a decision that every company and every member of our association can make for themselves. Around half of the members will reduce their FM capacity at the end of the year. And then there are others who will continue to broadcast on FM until the end of 2026, as permitted by the Federal Council."

In the first of our series of short interviews with WorldDAB members exhibiting at IBC2024, Nilesh Mandalia, VP Sales at DekTec says they will be highlighting their DAB Test tools in Amsterdam. DekTec is well known for providing PC-add on cards and USB devices, complemented with variety of Test & Measurement orientated applications.

Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) is pleased to announce that commercial radio share has reached its highest level since 2014, climbing to an impressive 74.6%. This surge reflects nearly 10% growth over the past three years, underscoring radio’s role in connecting communities and delivering trusted content. Radio’s reach continues to expand beyond traditional settings. Listeners in car growing by 4.8% YOY, with over 10 million people tuning in weekly this way. These listeners spend an average of 5 hours and 26 minutes tuned in, integrating it into their routines. Commercial DAB+ only radio stations are also on the rise, attracting an audience of over 2.6 million. TSL on Commercial DAB+ only stations have increased by 18 minutes to 6 hours and 26 minutes, highlighting the growing popularity of digital radio.

Digitalisation by commercial radio stations is finally taking off in the Czech Republic. The operator Teleko digital is preparing the implementation of its next transmitter with final parameters in the next few days. Strážník in Vysočina will switch to the new frequency during Thursday 29 August and with it the power will increase from the current 1 kW to 5 kW. The multiplex of the operator Teleko digital will have the same coverage as the digital broadcasting of Czech Radio in Vysočina. On Thursday 29 August, from 11 am to 5 pm, the Jihlava - Strážník transmitter will undergo a maintenance break to install a new combiner. After this, the TELEKO DAB radio network will be able to increase the radiated power from the current 1 kW to 5 kW. At the same time, the switchover to the new channel 10D will take place and the existing frequency block 8A will be switched off.

For decades, FM was the radio standard par excellence, but now digital DAB+ is in the starting blocks: Luxembourg has launched the ‘Appel public’ for its first national multiplex. Unlike in the past, the country is not a pioneer, but a latecomer. While our Belgian and German neighbours have long been setting up new digital radio networks in parallel with the tried-and-tested FM operation, DAB radio silence has prevailed in the Grand Duchy. DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting and, according to the EU, the DAB+ version will one day completely replace FM. The ‘Service des médias, de la connectivité et de la politique numérique’ (SMC) has now launched the official tender for the national DAB+ multiplex on channel 7D.