News

Eduardo Montefusco, President of Radio Dimensione Suono (RDS), was unanimously elected to the presidency of DAB Italia. Following his appointment, Montefusco highlighted the development of digital radio - and DAB in particular - as one of his priorities.

Czech Radio is set to reveal its DAB+ network expansion plans at a press conference taking place next Thursday 17 September. The event will cover Czech Radio's radio broadcasting distribution strategy, 2020 DAB+ expansion plans and the planned switchoff of AM services.

Thanks to DAB + digital radio, the Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF) can be used to send corresponding warnings directly to DAB + radio devices. EWF is a new form of barrier-free alerting within a few seconds, which the digital terrestrial broadcasting standard DAB + offers and, in exceptional cases, can switch on radios that are in standby. In addition to the voice announcement, multilingual text information is also transmitted with EWF via DAB+.

There are now almost ten million DAB+ radios in cars and households across Germany - one million more than in the previous year, with the number expected to rise further as Germany prepares to launch its second national multiplex in October.

The report, published by Germany's digital radio organisation, includes the latest data on DAB+ digital radio in Germany, where the sales of DAB+ devices have grown by 14 percent year on year from 2019 to 2020.

Commenting on the latest results stemming from the Germany's Audio and Digital Radio report, the directors of public broadcasters MDR and Deutschlandradio reiterated their DAB+ plans, highlighting the diversity it offers as well as the important role DAB+ has played throughout the pandemic.

The digitisation of radio continues to progress in Germany, with Germans increasingly buying and listening to DAB+ radio. The number of DAB+ receivers in German households has increased by 1.8 million (14 percent) compared to last year, while almost two thirds of Germans now have access to a digital radio in their household.

A new Exeter-based consortium called ExeDAB has been formed to apply for a Small Scale DAB multiplex in Exeter. The company already has received expressions of interest from a number of radio stations who will launch on digital radio in Exeter if it wins the multiplex licence.

Spain's Izquierda Confederal parliamentary group has presented before the Senate a Proposal to introduce a Law to urgently address the promotion and development of terrestrial digital radio broadcasting.

The first 25 small-scale DAB radio multiplex licences are being advertised today by Ofcom. Applicants now have 12 weeks to prepare and submit applications, with the first small scale multiplex licences expected to be awarded early in 2021.