Broadcasting might interfere with military communication
The massive NATO exercise in Norway known as Trident Juncture is starting this week. It can interfere with DAB radio signals. It’s unclear whether the country’s communications network will meet the demands placed on it. The NATO exercise will involve 40.000 soldiers from all 29 NATO countries plus Sweden and Finland. Telecom provider Telenor can’t rule out ill effects on both DAB and mobile signals. - Long time freguency conflict between broadcasters and military still unsolved.
This might also signal an end of future DAB radio.
How soon will TV aerials become redundant? The Swiss government has paved the way for the country to become the first nation in Europe to ditch digital terrestrial TV (DTT). In a new concession, or charter, the government has provided public broadcaster consent to switch off DTT by the end of 2019. And more countries will follow.
DTT replaced traditional analogue TV signals received via a rooftop or indoor aerial as part of a digital switchover across Europe during the last decade. Switzerland completed its switchover in 2008.
Podcasts and smart speakers are fueling the online audio market.
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analyze e.V. (agma) this week published the latest data on the use of digital audio services in Germany. According to the ma 2018 IP Audio III measurments, the online audio market continues to grow dynamically. Each month, there are listening streaming sessions 280 million times, with an average session time of 48 minutes.
But online radio will expand on many devices
According to a report from die medienanstalten published this week FM continues to be the dominant listening platform in Germany. This year 92,2 percent of the households have at least one FM receiver compared with radio via cable/satellite 22,8%, DAB 17% and Internet 10,7%. There are approximately 135 million FM receivers in active use in Germany. Cable/satellite is losing its position to DAB and online radio.
Norwegians are going for DAB success in Oslo and Brussels
Being a small country and not an EU member it is notable how Norway is involved in European DAB-promoting in Brussels. And two Norwegians companies will put their hopes to the latest proposal (see separate story below) to the European Parliament which is the outcome of many years of aggressive lobbying. The most powerful resources regarding DAB comes from the EBU. For more than 8 years the EBU office in Brussels has an annual budget officially at 1-1,2 million euro.
However, consumer and eurolegal backlash is looming.
The European Electronics Communications Code (EECC) will include a new provision that any radio equipment integrated in a new car which is put on the market for sale or rent in the Union shall be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio broadcasting. The political agreement on the EECC had been reached in June 2018 . This might be a step forward for the DAB system, but technical developments for mobile broadband might kill the whole setup.
