Cumbria DAB Applications Received

Ofcom has received two DAB applications for Cumbria local multiplexes. Bauer have applied for a license to cover North and West Cumbria. This will consist of BBC Radio Cumbria, and CFM. The rest of capacity will be used to plug coverage gaps for Bauer’s national brands, including Scala Radio, and Absolute Radio 80s. Some capacity…Read moreRead more

Connect FM Binned as Station is to Merge with Smooth East Midlands

National station Smooth Radio will take over Connect FMs frequencies, as Ofcom has given permission for Communicorp to merge the station with the East Midlands version of Smooth Radio. Although bordering the Smooth Radio coverage area, Connect FM broadcasts via two licenses to Peterborough, Kettering, Corby, and Wellingborough in the East region. An Ofcom consultation…Read moreRead more

Love Sport to Broadcast Nationally

London based sports radio station Love Sport is to broadcast nationally on DAB, having recently reduced its AM/MW coverage area to North London in a frequency swap. The station has announced that it will broadcast on the SDL national DAB multiplex by the end of the year. This will require an existing service to switch…Read moreRead more

BBC to Celebrate Beatles Anniversary with Pop-Up Station

BBC Radio 2 have revealed plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles Abbey Road Album, with a pop up radio stations. BBC Radio 2 Beatles, revealed on last nights OJ Borg late night show, is to run from 26th to 29th September. The station will feature live shows from the Abbey Road studios…Read moreRead more

Global Monopoly Expands Again

The dominant monopoly that is Global Radio has expanded its presence on DAB. National duplicates of Capital, Heart and Smooth have been added to the Lincolnshire DAB multiplex and the Hereford and Worcester DAB multiplex. These services are already available on the D1 national multiplex. Capital UK has a national 80 kbps mono slot, as…Read moreRead more

Gold to Return to AM In Peterborough and Northampton

Gold will take over the 1332AM Peterborough and 1557AM Northampton frequencies from Smooth Radio. The change will take place when Connect FM is merged into Smooth Radio’s FM network. Connect FM was acquired by Communicorp earlier this year, who decided to merge the station into their Smooth East Midlands franchise. As yet, a date for…Read moreRead more

Minor but Significant Change for Gold London

Gold on the London 1 DAB multiplex has been relabeled to Gold London. The station has also had a bit rate increase to 40 kbps from 32 kbps (still DAB+) to match the new national service. The changes, although small, are a sign that Gold will remain on the local multiplexes that already carry the…Read moreRead more

Gold to Launch on D1 National

Global Radio’s Gold is to launch on the D1 National DAB multiplex on Monday (10th June). The service is expected to use DAB+, and occupy some of the space vacated when Heart Extra and Smooth Extra switched to DAB+ earlier this week. Despite some reports suggesting that the service has already gone live, Gold is…Read moreRead more

Heart Extra and Smooth Extra Switch to DAB+

Global Radio has switched Heart Extra and Smooth Extra to DAB+. Both services operate on the D1 National multiplex. Whilst both stations are now in stereo, a number of listeners will loose access, as many older DAB radios are not compatible with the newer DAB+ format. Heart Extra is using a bit rate of 32…Read moreRead more

Cyber Gold Rebrands as Atlantis

Cyber Gold has re-branded as Atlantis. The station has launched on the Suffolk local multiplex (DAB+ at 32 kbps). Atlantis continues on the Surrey and North Sussex local multiplex. Meanwhile, Cyber Radio has left the Brighton trial small scale multiplex, and Cyber Rock has left the Surrey and North Sussex local multiplex.