Leaders from Germany and the UK both voiced support for digital radio at the WorldDMB conference in London this week. The main takeaways from both officials were the importance of digital for radio’s future and the need for governments to collaborate to achieve that vision. Continue Reading
The UK’s culture minister spoke at Radio’s Digital Countdown about the uptake of DAB receivers in cars. Ed Vaizey reported that 74.1% of new cars now come with DAB receivers as standard. Continue Reading
Third-quarter RAJAR data was released today, revealing the latest radio listening trends for the UK. Radio in the region had a weekly audience of 47.8 million adults or 89.3% of the UK’s population aged 15 and older. The most notable developments for radio this quarter were in digital radio. Continue Reading
Due to budget restrictions, the BBC has said it will not fund the digital radio switchover for its stations. “We are not convinced of the value for money case for any further such investment, particularly while digital listening remains below 50%, with DAB listening only a proportion of that.” Continue Reading
Wolfgang Struber, vice chairman of Digital Radio Austria, made statements supporting the adoption of DAB+ technology in the European nation. “Radio is the last broadcasting format in Austria to convert to digital, and Digital Radio Austria wants to follow the trend set by some other European countries to make the switch to DAB+,” he said. Continue Reading
The Australian Communications and Media Authority announced that it will extend the current round of DAB+ trials until June 30, 2016. The tests are occurring in Canberra and Darwin, and are being led by Commercial Radio Australia. The trials happening in the capital city of Canberra include the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Special Broadcasting Service, with hope for community services to eventually join. Continue Reading
The Swiss Radio Day included a presentation of research into digital listening within Switzerland’s radio audience. The Digital Migration working group’s recent research found that 45% of all radio listening in the nation happens on digital channels. DAB+ is responsible for about half of that figure. At this stage, DAB+ and the Internet are equally popular among listeners. Continue Reading
Commercial Radio Australia announced the launch of a report on DAB+ stations in the country. The data from market research firm GfK marks the first release of audience numbers for DAB+ stations since the technology launched down under in 2009. There are currently 3.16 million people in the DAB+ audience across Australia’s five main metropolitan cities. Continue Reading
UK Minister of Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey spoke recently on BBC 4 about the potential FM radio switch-off in favor of DAB. “When we reach a certain target of listening on digital—and we’re very close to that target at the moment—we’ll take a view on what the appropriate next step will be,” he said. Continue Reading
The Netherlands government announced that it will issue 34 DAB+ licenses for regional radio stations. The nation’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said that only commercial stations that already have a legal permit for DAB+ would be allowed to sign up for consideration. Continue Reading
Australian Minister for Communications Malcom Turnbull released a report with recommendations for creating a digital radio planning committee in charge of rolling out DAB+ outside of the major metropolitan areas. Commercial Radio Australia and the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia voiced support for this step toward increasing DAB+ coverage. This new report sees digital radio as a supplement to broadcasting rather than a replacement, at least for the near future. Continue Reading
Ofcom, the UK media regulator, announced that it will conduct trials of small-scale DAB technology with about 60 stations around the country this summer. The regulator granted 10 trial licenses to radio multiplexes around the UK for the nine-month tests. Continue Reading