More DAB radio stations on the way

 

More DAB + stations to launch

OFCOM have finally released details of which stations will be included in the next round of Multiplex licenses offered. The 25 licence areas, which are to be offered towards the end of this year, include : Aberdeen (N & S), Bedford; Belfast; Coventry; Darlington & Bishop Auckland; Dundee; East Hull; Leicester; Lincoln; Llandudno; Middlesbrough & Redcar; Milton Keynes; Nottingham; Oxford; Rutland & Stamford; Shaftesbury, Swansea; Swindon; Taunton; Warminster, West Hull; Harrogate; York and the Yorkshire Coast.

OFCOM recently announced more multiplex licence holders in many small towns across the North West of England and North Wales. Some will have a couple of slots reserved for community radio stations, or non-profit operations, but many more will be small scale commercial radio stations, often with programmes networked from other areas.

Several companies are likely to bid for some of the locations. Each MUX will be capable of transmitting up to 30 radio stations the cities, towns and surrounding areas. The final number depends on how much data each station wants to use; their transmission costs are fixed accordingly. Some stations have found that as little as 30kbps of data is quite enough for reasonable quality audio - not all listeners want super quality 'hi-fi'.

Small scale DAB transmission have proven very successful since first put on the air in 2015. They enable radio stations to get on the air a lot more cheaply then previously and for that used by 'old style' DAB. Intending purchasers should ensure they always buy a DAB+ capable radio; it probably has a green DAB+ tick-makrk on the box or the radio.

Old style DAB radio which first became widely available from 1999 are not able to hear the new DAB+ signals and pick up only a reducing number of 'heritage' or traditional radio stations.

French Footnote

Support for DAB in France is still weak, according to a new MediaMetre survey by the CSA (French regulator). 99% of French people own at least one radio, 87% of them have computers but only 13% of those surveyed had DAB+ radio in their home. Most French, especially the under-25s, have up to six units that can hear radio, - but DAB has not proved so popular.

Many people still listen to the most popular French language radio station, RTL, which transmits from the adjacent grand Duchy of Luxembourg with 2,000,000 watts on 236 kilohertz LongWave. The CSA has licensedmore mixesand these are slowly being built across France.