26 October 2016

Community Radio Fast Growth in the United States

Number of low-power FM radio stations doubled since 2014
More than 750 new low-power FM (LPFM) community radio stations have been licensed to join the FM airwaves since 2014, according to the FCC. This has nearly doubled the total number to more than 1,500 LPFM stations across the U.S. and its territories. Thousands of applications poured in to the FCC 2013 following the passage of new legislation signed in 2011 that opened up opportunities for LPFM stations to operate in larger markets and urban areas. 

16 October 2016

Digital Transition in Norway: Commercial Radio Will Be a Loser

Public Service Continues to Dominate Norwegian Radio Landscape - Analog and Digital
No sign of commercial radio will increased its listening share with the transition from FM to DAB+. NRK has now about 70% of all listening in Norway. The two national commercial networks P4 Hele Norge (MTG) and Radio Norge (Bauer Media) should be concerned about the recent listening figures. 

13 October 2016

Proposal in Parliament Might Stop FM Switch-off in Norway

Widespread political concern over DAB radio shortcomings
The Parliament - Stortinget-  will this fall decide if the FM switch-off for Norwegian national radio should be postponed. Center Party (Sp) member from Nordland, Janne Sjelmo Nordås confirms that the Sp will submit a proposal which will convince Stortinget to conclude that the digitization of radio should be discontinued. Too many complain poor DAB coverage, and therefore we should postpone the FM switch-off, says Sjelmo Nordås.I  receive messages from many indicating that they are not receiving the DAB signal or the quality is really bad, she says to the public radio broadcaster NRK.

2 October 2016

Largest Digital Radio Brand Sold After Losses

Sale of Pure signals setback for DAB development 
The British company Imagination Technologies has sold digital radio manufacturer Pure to an unknown Austrian investment company, AVenture AT GmbH, for £2.6m in cash. The deal also gives the buyer an option to buy one of Imagination Technologies’ properties in Hertfordshire for £4.5m. The cash will be used to reduce debts, Imagination Technologies says.

28 September 2016

Mobile Broadband the Fastest Growing ICT in Human History

 Increasingly a game-changing challenge for the broadcasting industry
The 2016 State of Broadband report has been released by the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable DevelopmentAt the global level, the total number of mobile cellular subscriptions will reach 7.4 billion by the end of 2016, according to the latest ITU estimates, with almost half of these subscriptions for mobile broadband. GSMA estimates that there were 4.7 billion unique mobile subscribers worldwide by the end of 2015 (63% of the global population). 6,5 billion smartphone subscriptions are forecast by 2022.

27 September 2016

Another 77 Frequencies For Local FM Radio in Denmark

DAB replacing FM is not yet visible on the horizon.
All broadcasting licenses for local FM radio in Denmark expires at the end of 2017. Before new allocation of frequencies for local radio during next year, the Energy Board has presented a list of 103 vacant frequencies in the FM band. Of these 77 are new frequencies, while 26 are "old" and still vacant. A total of 635 local frequencies will be assigned