News

STV Radio, Scotland’s newest and only national commercial radio station, has recorded a strong debut in its first official audience figures since launching in January 2026. According to the latest RAJAR results for the station’s first six months on air, STV Radio is attracting 139,000 weekly listeners, who tuned in for 1.3m hours. The figures already make STV Radio one of the top ten most-listened-to commercial radio stations in Scotland. Available on DAB, STV Player and smart speakers, STV Radio is building a loyal and growing audience. Listeners are spending over 9.3 hours with the station each week, demonstrating strong engagement and highlighting the station’s appeal with its target audience.

The plan to develop and expand the DAB+ digital radio network operated by the national network operator DAB Italia is continuing, with the commissioning of new transmitters designed to extend the service’s coverage and improve reception quality in the areas concerned. The most recent activations concern transmitters located in the regions of Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Abruzzo and Calabria, which came into operation during the first half of this year. The new sites strengthen signal coverage in the provinces of Reggio Calabria, Cosenza and Catanzaro in Calabria; in the province of Udine in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region; and in the province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region.

On 1 September, MDR will continue the transition to DAB+ radio broadcasting and cease parallel analogue broadcasts via ten short-range FM frequencies. This will also affect listeners in Freiberg, Grimma, Hoyerswerda, Bad Lobenstein, Nordhausen and Schmölln. They will continue to receive the relevant MDR services via DAB+ (channel 9A), often via alternative FM frequencies, via satellite, via cable, as well as on mdr.de and on ARD Sounds. As a modern and sustainable regional media organisation, MDR has digitised its entire production and distribution chain in recent years. Only FM broadcasts are still analogue. As it did in 2025, MDR is ceasing the broadcast of its programmes on selected FM frequencies this year as well.

DAB accounted for 61% of in-car radio listening in the United Kingdom during Q1 2026, according to media regulator Ofcom’s “Media Nations 2026” report. That represents an increase from 56% in Q1 2025, while AM/FM’s share fell from 37% to 33%. Ofcom found that access and convenience appear to influence in-car platform choices more strongly than age. Among listeners aged 15–24, DAB accounted for 56% of in-car radio listening in Q1 2026, compared with 37% for AM/FM and 8% for internet delivery. Digital broadcast radio therefore held a clear majority of listening hours even among the youngest age group measured by RAJAR.

The roll-out of DAB+ networks by the consortium companies within the Aeranti-Corallo association – which operate as local radio network operators – continues. In recent weeks, numerous new transmission facilities have come into operation, expanding the service’s coverage in their respective catchment areas, whilst further activations are already scheduled for the near future. These new launches confirm the steady progress of the DAB+ network roll-out plans drawn up by the consortium companies and submitted to the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy as part of the procedures for the allocation of frequency usage rights. This process is enabling the gradual extension of digital radio coverage across numerous areas of the country.

For the first time, Radio Aftonbladet will be broadcast on FM, DAB+ and via the Aftonbladet app. The countdown is now on to the launch of a radio station designed to make it easy to keep up with the day’s news – with fast-paced journalism, high-profile presenters and a tone that feels warm and personal. This is Aftonbladet’s biggest venture into audio to date. “We’re not just building a new channel – we’re establishing Sweden’s first commercial news radio station,” says Lotta Folcker, publisher at Aftonbladet. Radio Aftonbladet will be a national radio station broadcasting live journalism from morning to evening. News, sport and entertainment will be interspersed with music, with the aim of giving listeners a quick overview of what’s happening – in the car, at work and at home.

Alton’s voice just got a lot louder. Wey Valley Radio is now on digital radio right across East Hampshire, taking its potential audience from around 25,000 people to almost 67,000. The community station, based in Alton, is now broadcasting on DAB+ digital radio across East Hampshire – opening the station up to tens of thousands of listeners who could not previously hear it on the airwaves. The move takes the station’s potential audience from around 25,000 people within reach of its 101.1 FM signal to 66,995 across the wider area. Wey Valley Radio’s arrival on DAB caps a long and happy collaboration with its friends at Petersfield’s Shine Radio in a three-year effort to bring small-scale DAB to East Hampshire.

ODS Radio, based in Annecy, France, has now secured a slot on the Lausanne DAB+ multiplex (Channel 8C), in addition to its existing slot on Geneva DAB+ (Channel 10D). In Geneva, broadcasts are transmitted at a bit rate of 72 kbit/s; in Lausanne, the rate is 48 kbit/s. The broadcaster is therefore very well positioned in Western Switzerland when it comes to DAB+.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has officially joined Radio Ready, the global coalition dedicated to safeguarding radio’s prominence in the connected car dashboard. NAB’s addition significantly strengthens Radio Ready’s presence across the United States, bringing the leading advocate for America’s broadcast industry into the growing international coalition working to keep radio front and centre for drivers. While radio remains the top choice for in-car audio, the modern dashboard is changing fast. New technology in vehicles has made finding free, local radio harder than ever. The core challenge isn’t audience demand - it’s discoverability. Radio Ready was launched as a unified global response to this shift.

Ofcom's annual Media Nations report shows the UK's audio sector continues to perform strongly, with 93% of adults listening to some form of audio content every week, and 87% listening to live radio every week, giving it the highest reach of any media sector. The report states: "DAB remains the primary form of digital radio distribution, with most services carried on local multiplexes. The expansion of small-scale DAB, with the number of multiplexes exceeding the 100 mark for the first time, marks a significant structural development, lowering barriers to entry and supporting a more localised and diverse supply of services." It also notes that "the expansion of digital radio has continued to be driven by audience migration to digital listening, and operator migration from legacy DAB carriage to DAB+."