FM Chip Activated for New Android Smartphones

Top-line models now are terrestrial radio-capable in the U.S. 

But FM is lost in Windows Mobile update.

The public pressure on FCC for broadcasting emergency capabilities and NextRadio’s lobbying efforts have borne fruit in the U.S. Through an update, telecom operators T-Mobile and Sprint have enabled the FM chip in its Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones, according to Android Authority. 

Australia to End Public Funding of DAB for Community Radio

Survival for 37 radio stations not likely without government support

The Federal Budget contains cuts of $1.4 million p.a. funding that currently keeps community radio stations broadcasting on DAB+ in 5 capital cities; Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.  The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) has responded to the Federal Budget saying that it has failed to maintain funding for metropolitan community digital radio services and has "taken the community out of radio." 

Seven New Digital-only Radio Stations in Dubai

Obsession with the smartphone pushing a listening boom

Dubai is to be home to seven new digital-only radio stations – including two Virgin-branded channels – in a response to the increasing numbers of music lovers tuning in via smartphones. The Arabian Radio Network (ARN) launches the new stations in May, its chief operating officer Steve Smith told Al Arabiya English. ARN’s new digital stations will be available via existing apps, in a market in which there is an “obsession” with smartphone use, Mr Smith said. This is ARN’s first digital-only radio stations – with several more to launch later in 2016.

New Alliance for LTE Broadcast on 4G and 5G

Leading mobile operators pushing next-generation broadcast service

At the TV Connect 2016 conference in London, four leading mobile network operators, representing North America, Australia, South Korea and the UK, announced the forming of the LTE-Broadcast Alliance. Verizon, Telstra, kt and EE together have more than 200 million mobile subscribers. The group’s primary goal is to encourage global support for LTE-Broadcast (LTE-B) services from all device makers. This will be a decisive challenge for terrestrial radio and television broadcast providers including digital solutions for radio as DAB and HD Radio.

Postponement Threat to Digital Radio Transition in Thailand

DAB and DVB-T2 on the Thai agenda. The challenge is local radio.

The planned transition of radio broadcasting from analog to digital system seems in serious danger of being postponed, with the term of the incumbent broadcasting committee at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission due to expire next year. The optimization of radio frequencies through a broadcasting transition from analog to digital technology is among those key plans, which have been delayed since last year from what was set out under the original Broadcasting Master Plan (2012-16). 

Headwinds against DAB in Western Germany

Media policy experts see no future for DAB+

But public service radio will still invest heavily.

Again North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) troubles digital terrestrial radio. Jürgen Brautmeier, Director of the Media Authority (LfM) and Marc Jan Eumann, NRW secretary of state for Europe and Media, have in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) advised against pushing for DAB on the regional level. We believe in the diversity of radio which we have in the FM world from local to national in Germany and would like more, but it is not secure with DAB+, said the two.