Three new AM radio stations are due to launch in Copenhagen on medium wave within the next couple of months. No on air date has been decided yet. The stations NB24, World Music Radio and Radio 208 will be broadcasting on 846 kHz (300 W), 927 kHz (300 W) and 1440 kHz (power not yet confirmed). Two of the stations will be music based and the third station will be all talk according to Stig Hartvig Nielsen. - - The digital radio switch to DAB+ will make a lot of incompatible DAB receivers obolete. Some listeners might shift to their old receivers with AM and FM rather than upgrade to DAB+
The name Radio 208 is a reminder of the wave length of commercial Radio Luxembourg broadcasting until 1991. It was an important forerunner of pirate radio and modern commercial radio in the UK but had a lot of listeners also in Scandinavia.
Meanwhile Denmark is upgrading its old digital DAB-network to DAB+. This will make an estimated 400.000 receivers obsolete as these are not compatible to DAB+. There is a fear within the DAB camp that households with old DAB will not switch to DAB+ but rather continue listening on FM and increasingly turning to on-line listening. Some listeners might also return to medium waves.
The major broadcast platform for radio in Denmark will stay on being analogue for a long time. FM is the backbone for national and local radio. Most radio stations on medium wave have been closed but public radio still operates on long wave from Kalundborg on 243 kHz. Now medium wave will return to the Danish capital and will also be receivable in adjacent Malmö in Sweden.
On the global market most stand-alone and portable receivers as well as in-car radios are equipped for AM (medium wave) and FM. Medium wave broadcasting is receivable in most homes as well in older cars in Denmark and Sweden.
Frequencies assigned for analogue radio on AM and FM are open for future hybrid or complete digitalization with technology as DRM, HD Radio or CDR.
Also read
368 New FM Broadcast Licenses Issued in Denmark
Still Kicking and Alive: Medium Waves in the U.K.
