8 January 2016

DAB Scandal in Norway: License Fees Fund Guarantee for Private Radio

Government forced to release secret deal. Will the new minister of culture reconsider the FM closure plan?
The former CEO of the public service broadcaster NRK, Hans Tore Bjerkaas, has put his signature on a secret deal between the DAB promotion company Digitalradio Norge and the broadcast provider Norkring. The deal worth 63 million NEK is safeguarding the Swedish broadcaster MTG participation for DAB+ distribution for its network P4 Radio Hele Norge. This means that license fee funding has been used in order to prop up a private foreign owned company.

23 December 2015

Spotify Takes Command of In-Car Music Listening

New Tesla deal might put broadcast radio in the shadow
Tesla's Model S electric car series will now ship with Spotify Premium integration, replacing former music partner Rdio, in Europe, Australia and Hong Kong. Current Model S owners will also benefit from the feature thanks to an over-the-air software upgrade, according to The Telegraph. 

20 December 2015

Broadcast Provider Signs Long Time FM Contract with Swedish Public Radio

Agreement indicates weak prospects for a future transition to DAB 
Teracom AB has been following a public procurement with an agreement to deliver a nationwide terrestrial network for FM and RDS to Swedish Radio (SR) which launched the tender in April 2015. The basic requirements from SR is a population coverage of at least 99.8% and tightening requirements for reliability and robustness.

19 December 2015

European Community Media Gets New President

Platform with Third Media Sector expertise in 16 countries strengthened
At its General Assembly in Madrid Community Media Forum Europe (CMFE) the Board of Directors got three new members. Judith Purkarthofer (Austria) takes over as President after Ciáran Murray (Ireland) . Vice presidents are Larry Fergeson (Cyprus) and Gabriella Velics (Hungary). Treasurer is Helmut Peissl (Austria). Together with former board members new in the Experts Group is Lina Chawaf MD of the Syrian expat radio station Radio Rozana in Paris. 

Television Fee Funds Support to Community Radio in Denmark

Community radio receives 2,35 million euro in state aid for 2016
The Radio and Television Board has now distributed operating aid for non-commercial local radio and television. As in previous year, the total contribution is DKK 43.8 million (€5,8 M) of which the radio receives 40% and television 60%. 153 community radio stations have received support with a maximum amount of DKK 122.444 per station. 

16 December 2015

Danish Report: DAB Radio Will Not Replace FM in The Near Future

Digital radio is increasingly the Internet. Will DAB be scrapped?
There are no prospects that digital radio in the foreseeable future will match the wide spread of FM radio in Denmark today. In six years, at least half the radio listening will still be on FM. This is evidenced in a market research report from the Media Authority now out for consultation.
Is the fixed line telephone on the way back? No, and niether is DAB. This should have been asked by the politicians, when they in the spring of 2015 was about to decide to put a very tight deadline to switch off FM favor of DAB. Had they done so, it would have been almost as it is also thought that fixed line phone was to replace the mobile phone, said John R. Kristensen, president of the copyright organization Gramex to Berlingske Business. He says that the report clearly indicated that the DAB technology is not adopted by the consumers.