FM and Internet Might Kill DAB in Germany

Strong position for FM radio, only to be challenged by Internet radio.
DAB radio marginalized in Germany.

A report presented by the media authorities shows that analogue FM transmission still dominates some 90 years after the introduction of radio and 20 years after the start of digital radio. 94 per cent of German households not only have FM reception at their disposal but also own an average 3.5 receivers. The chance of a radio service to reach an audience is many times higher for FM than for any other mode of transmission.

British Government: No Date for FM Switch-Off

Digital radio switch-over: Minister reveals measures to aid broadcasters

The radio industry will have to wait for digital switch-over after communications minister Ed Vaizey said today that much had to be done before broadcasters could contemplate following television into an all-digital future.

As expected, Vaizey did not announce a switch-over date, with digital take-up slower than expected, accounting for just over a third of all radio listening. 

DRM+ Radio Station On Air in Germany on Regular Basis

Digital radio on the FM band
The student radio “bit express” in Erlangen in cooperation with Fraunhofer IIS is from December 11 is broadcasting their new transmitter on 87.9 MHz using DRM+. This frequency was assigned for test transmissions by the Bavarian regulatory authority BLM. With the set-up of the final hardware, “bit express” will be on air with DRM+ on a regular basis. For the first time the new enhanced codec
xHE-AAC is put into operation.

Read more: www.bitexpress.de   

Confusion on DAB Standards Continues in France

The French Ministry of Culture and Communication will shortly authorize the transmission standard DAB+. The government envisages that this will co-exist alongside the standard already authorized, T-DMB (DMB-R). This reveals that the government still considers digital radio to be a matter for experimentation, in that its decision "will enrich the period of experimentation in offering two technical paths for digital radio with their particular costs and modes of operation". 

German Youth Rejects Digital Radio

Youth radio listening; FM triumph, DAB flop

German youth are still listening to radio on a stationary radio or car radio and it is overwhelmingly via FM. According to the "JIM Report 2013" (Youth, Information, Multimedia) from Medienpädagogischen Research Association Südwest three quarters listen to an ordinary FM receiver and two thirds on a FM car radio. 
In spite of the broad offering of other means of listening as mobile phone, Internet, mp3-player and DAB+ youth are indifferent to those platforms. It is striking that the usage of DAB+ units has decreased from 3 to 2 percent in a year. (Satellifax)

Labour Warning Against a Hasty Switch to DAB Radio

Hasty switch could hit poor, warns British MP

Shadow culture minister Helen Goodman has warned the government against a hasty switch to digital radio, saying the leap from analogue to digital would hit the poorest households hardest. She said the government was putting the interests of big business ahead of ordinary listeners, who she said should not be expected to pay for new digital sets at a time when household budgets were already stretched.