News

DAB+ will be launching in the department of Seine-Maritime, in the French region of Normandy, on 1 October 2019. Listeners in the cities of Le Havre and Rouen will now be able to benefit from DAB+ digital radio broadcasts.

RTBF, the public broadcaster for the French-speaking community of Belgium, has announced the launch of two new DAB+ stations for French-speaking Belgium - Jam and Viva+. This brings the total number of RTBF DAB+ stations in the country to eight.

The development of Austria's national DAB+ network is in full swing, with the second phase of the rollout - originally expected for March 2020 - set to be completed ahead of schedule, and as early as December this year. Operated by the national public service broadcaster ORS, this expansion stage is set to bring population coverage in the country to 75%.

DAB+ digital radio is set to be at the heart of discussions for the Austrian Media Day taking place on September 25. Amongst a number of notable speakers, WorldDAB president Patrick Hannon will be taking the stage on behalf of Frontier Smart Technologies to examine the reasons behind the success of DAB+ radio in Europe.

Using a total of five transmitters, the new DAB multiplex would carry 13 radio stations, including a number which are not currently available in the area, but can be heard on DAB in other regions across the country.

The digitisation of the radio industry continues to sweep over Europe, prompting digital radio enthusiasts in Spain to urge their country to follow suit. According to the digital radio report published by the EBU, the two transmitters currently active in Spain only cover 20% of the population, offering no more than one service that is not available through the FM band.

Graham Dixon, head of radio at the EBU, briefed IBC delegates at the ‘WorldDAB Radio distribution strategies for a connected world’ session that significant progress had been made in the field of DAB+ over the past year, highlighting that over 1566 digital radio stations are already on air in over 31 European markets.

Ofcom has received two applications for the DAB digital radio multiplexes covering North Lancashire, Cumbria and parts of South West Scotland. MuxCo has partnered with Nation Broadcasting to apply for a multiplex to cover Morecambe Bay and South Cumbria, whilst Bauer has applied for a multiplex to cover North and West Cumbria.

According to the latest survey conducted in Italy by GfK and DAB Italia, 4.5 million Italians now own a DAB+ receiver - approximately one million more than in June 2018 - while over 12 million people in Italy are familiar with DAB+ digital radio.

IBC 2019 saw experts from across the radio industry come together at WorldDAB’s session on radio’s migration to digital. The session addressed digital terrestrial radio’s place in the distribution mix and offered insights for broadcasters on how to assess all digital distribution platforms, including 5G, in order to make informed investment choices to safeguard broadcast radio’s future.