News

A new, second digital radio transmitter in Prague was launched this week by Teleko digital. It is located at the City Tower building in Pankrác and uses the infrastructure of Digital Broadcasting. "We applied for this site at a time when it was not known whether there would be any auction of frequencies for DAB+ networks intended for commercial radio and we obtained it before the auction was announced," Tomáš Řapek, managing director of Teleko digital said. Teleko's DAB+ network broadcasts from the City Tower building on channel 11A with a power of 200 W, i.e. the same and on the same channel as Teleko's original transmitter in Strahov. With this, City Tower forms a single-frequency network and the Teleko DAB+ multiplex has thus significantly improved the coverage of the capital.

SPIE Belgium, a subsidiary of the SPIE group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, is extending its partnership with JACOPS NV to modernise and optimise DAB+ radio communications in all tunnels in Flanders. In the long term, this initiative will make it possible to increase the efficiency of radio communications in all Flemish tunnels, which is a significant step forward in terms of safety. Norman Kabir, Business Development Manager at SPIE Belgium explains: "In addition to optimising the sound and radio frequency range, DAB+ will bring tangible improvements in road safety thanks to targeted emergency notifications in tunnels."

The Voice in north Devon has launched a second radio station on DAB called The Voice 2. The extra service plays music from the 60s, 70s and 80s and includes local news, travel and presenters. It started at 7am today, Tuesday 9th April, covering the same area as The Voice. Managing Director Jim Trevelyan said: “Local radio has evolved, and as such opportunities arise, we have then risen to that challenge to provide a new service. The two stations complement each other very well and mean North Devon has two truly local radio stations. Rescan your DAB radio.”

Carbon emissions in broadcasting radio services have been significantly reduced, AZERTAC reports, based on the information released by the Radio Television Broadcasting and Satellite Communication. "The introduction of DAB+ digital radio, will allow the reduction of energy consumption, and as a result, carbon emissions halve from 1.3 thousand tons to 0.6 thousand tons - along with an increase in the quality and number of programmes.” So, for the first time in Azerbaijan, on August 26, 2019, a DAB+ digital transmitter with a power of 1 KW was installed in the Baku TV Tower Complex, and now a test broadcast of 11 local digital radio stations in one package on the 11B frequency channel is being carried out in the city of Baku and the Absheron Peninsula, it says.

Bayerischer Rundfunk will also be broadcasting its DAB+ service from the Balderschwang transmitter from 11 April. The Bavaria-wide DAB+ transmitter network will thus grow to 88 locations. The community in the Allgäu will thus have its own radio coverage with all digital BR programmes from Bayerischer Rundfunk as well as other private programmes.

Community station Radio Newark has extended its coverage towards Nottingham by joining the new small-scale DAB multiplex in the area. Radio Newark says its current FM footprint has a reach of around 60,000, and the DAB service will cover an area of over 750,000 people. Radio Newark Director of Operations Phil Johnson told RadioToday: “It’s a massive, massive difference in our potential reach, but we have to remember that we are still Radio Newark – we are not here to take on Nottingham. This is about making Radio Newark more available to Newark people, or to people who see themselves as having some connection to Newark.”

The local DAB+ pilot project Bad Kreuznach/Bingen (channel 12A) is now broadcasting with twice the range. On Saturday, 6 April, network and platform operator Milling Broadcast put the second transmitter site into operation. From the Fichtenkopf in Niederwald near Rüdesheim, Rheinhessen between Bacharach and Mainz and the Rheingau between Lorch and Wiesbaden are covered with a power of 500 watts. Previously, the ensemble was broadcast from Kuhberg near Bad Kreuznach, also with an output of 500 watts. The bouquet currently includes 11 programmes and a warning channel. The project is investigating more cost-effective ways of broadcasting digital terrestrial radio programmes using alternative technical approaches with open source software. The trial is limited until 2026.

Radio Piekary has been added to DABCOM's local multiplex in Katowice. Thus, nine stations can be listened to via the mux in the Silesian capital. In addition to Radio Piekary, the Katowice DABCOM multiplex currently includes: Radio Profeto, WP Radio, Muzo.FM, Mega Radio, Disco Radio, Radio Nuta, Radio Imperium and Radio Express. The broadcast is carried on channel 12C. As radiopolska.pl reports, the broadcast of Radio Piekary is experimental. The other radio stations have received licences from the National Radio and Television Council. All stations broadcast at a bitrate of 128 kbps.

The Bavarian digital radio project ART (Announcement Radio Toolbox) is nearing a successful conclusion. All results are available in the final report published today. Over the past 14 months, under the direction of Bayerische Medien Technik (bmt) and together with the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for New Media (BLM), the Bavarian Media School, Bayerische Lokal-Radioprogramme (BLR) and Bayern Digital Radio (BDR), tested the linking of different DAB radio programmes using DAB announcements. Listeners were able to combine five music genres with five information categories in a DAB+ receiver ─ according to their own preferences - to create an individually combined programme of music and information. The technology used is part of the DAB standard and is available in various receivers.

V2 Radio is dropping Sussex from its name as it grows its coverage area to include parts of Hampshire on DAB. MD Justin Cottrell tells RadioToday: "We are now the only proper local radio station covering Sussex and Hampshire. We have extended our reach so that we can continue to offer the appeal across our region, with a specific focus on a 25-mile radius of Chichester." The station adds that the extra coverage will be useful for local people who commute outside of their core area and still want to listen on DAB.