First Country to Rule Unlocking FM Radio on Smartphones.

Advertisers welcome Mexico’s decision. Will combine linear audio with the interaction of digital platforms.
Federal Telecommunications Institute now requires all smartphone manufacturers to enable the technology that allows the device to pick up FM radio signals. Move came after months of pressure from National Chamber of Radio and Television Industry (CIRT).  Mexico is the first country in the world to enact such legislation.

Will DAB Kill Radio? Continued Listening Decline in Norway

National radio has lost many listeners in the last two years. 2 of 3 cars not DAB-able.
Radio listening is now dramatically falling in Norway, as the national radio closes its FM

transmitters. In week 21, total listening was only 62.9% according to Kantar TNS measurements. This is the worst week of the year with the exception of Easter week. Week 21 2015, the total radio listening rate was 70.9% in week 21 and the same week 2016 69.0%. Public radio is the big loser, while local radio is not included in this poll.

Continued Local Radio on FM Welcome by Advertisers in Norway

The transition to DAB opens for a local radio boost
Local radio stations in the counties Møre og Romsdal are pleased that NRK has recently switched off their FM transmitters. They also report that advertisers are now delighted that local stations are gradually becoming the only ones that broadcast on FM in respectively area.

FM Radio a Global Standard Mobile Emergency Utility

ITU supports activating FM chips in smartphones. Norway draws a blank. 
The North American Broadcasters Association opinion on activating radio receivers in smartphones has been adopted by the International Telecommunication Union (a United Nations organization). Enabling the FM chip present present in most smartphones would allow users convenient access to FM radio in times of emergency and natural disasters. The submission is supported by other international broadcasting organizations. -- Today there are an estimated 2,5 billion smartphones users in the world.  Number of stand-alone, portable and in-car FM radio receivers are estimated at 6 billion.

Online Music Streaming Overtakes Major Broadcast Radio

Spotify now officially has more UK listeners than BBC Radio 1

Major British music channel BBC Radio 1 has posted its worst quarterly Rajar result in history. The station’s average weekly audience fell to 9.1 million in the period – representing around 14% of the total UK population, and down by more than 2 million people compared to five years ago. Year-on-year, Radio 1’s audience dropped by 804.000 compared to the three months to end of March 2016. 
Spotify now comfortably boasts more than 9.1m active users in the UK market (and is believed to be up towards the 10m mark on a monthly basis).

Still Kicking and Alive: Medium Waves in the U.K.

Five AM community radio licences awarded. Radio Caroline returning to AM and sea waves.

Media authority Ofcom has now awarded five medium wave (AM) community radio licences. The licences are for stations serving different communities in Glasgow, West Leicestershire, Leicester, Suffolk and northern parts of Essex, and Yeovil and South Somerset. One of the licensees is seaborne pirate station Radio Caroline. - There are 220 non-commercial community radio stations in the United Kingdom. Most are on FM.  - Read more about the five radio stations below.