ITALY: Will there be room for all radio stations on DAB?

The allocation of licences is approaching and we asked an expert what will happen. Pending final guidelines, as of today, those who broadcast on FM can participate (as members of a consortium, otherwise they will compete for the remaining space). Those who only operate in the digital band, on the other hand, have two options: buy an FM frequency or buy half the band that will be allocated to a radio station that is entitled to it

Massimo Lualdi, lawyer and journalist, is one of the founders of Consultmedia and directs Newslinet, a legal, economic and technical information periodical aimed at the Italian media system
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The allocation of DAB frequencies in Italy is approaching and the scarcity of radio resources will not allow all consortia to obtain them. As a result, not all radio stations will be able to have a channel, particularly those that do not have FM frequencies. With Massimo Lualdi, who with Consultmedia has been assisting hundreds of publishers on regulatory issues for almost thirty years, we take stock of the situation regarding the prospects and steps to be taken by traditional publishers and those who have taken advantage of the current availability of channels to bring their web radio to DAB.

A premise: in Italy, the digital band has two limits: the unused channel 13 (reserved by the Ministry of Defence for the VHF links used by the Army) and the interference problems raised by neighbouring countries, which limit the number of channels that can be used, aggravated by the Ministry’s absence at the coordination tables over the last decade, which have left Italy with ‘the crumbs’.

What timeframe is envisaged for the contest and the subsequent allocation?
It is difficult to answer since the final guidelines for participation in the calls for tenders have not yet been published by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. It was thought that they would be published by the end of February 2023, resulting in the publication of the calls for tenders in the current month of March and with the deadline for the submission of applications within the following 30 or 60 days (it is not even known how long this will be), but this has not happened. I assume it will be soon so we can estimate that by the beginning of the summer, the ministry will be able to start the screening and, barring any surprises, conclude the allocation by the end of the year.

For how many broadcasters will there be space on DAB?
Since the draft guidelines indicated a maximum limit of 72 CUs (capacitive units: allows 12 channels with a bitrate of 96 kbps on a multiplex) for each broadcaster, but (rightly, to avoid DTT errors) not a minimum, it is difficult to answer. Theoretically, 36 CU (equal to 48 kbps per channel) is considered a suitable value to carry the existing analogue to digital. But since not all broadcasters will give up the maximum due, the picture is still undefined.

Vincenzo Dolce (right) president of Mave (Media AudioVisivi Europei) and manager of the Mediadab multiplexes with Massimo Lualdi (left), vice-president of the same association
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Will those operating on FM have priority in the allocation or only a higher score?
They will have it to the extent that only analogue licensees can participate in a consortium as partners. But if they have not done so before the tenders, they will have the same chance as independent, i.e. digitally native, providers.

Will a radio born on DAB still be able to broadcast? What steps will it have to take to avoid having to switch off and protect the investments made so far?
A few digital natives acquired analogue dealer status (by taking over the concession and FM plant in the region of interest). A few others have secured a 50% share of the 72 CUs due to an analogue dealer (allowing them to cut costs pro rata in the consortium). For the others, it will depend on the remaining spaces. As Consultmedia, we are convinced that the market will stabilise in the use of 36 CUs, which, if handled well from the point of view of the audio chain (source files, high-quality sound processing and Fraunhofer codecs), guarantee more than decent sound quality. With this in mind, all current independent providers in the experimental muxes should be able to survive.

Buy a concession and an FM channel? Some have already done so: will this new interest in FM drive up prices? (Which, as you write in the Newslinet magazine, have plummeted by 90% in recent years)?
Absolutely not. This is a transitory phenomenon related only to participation in tenders. In fact, we will see a new collapse immediately afterwards. I’ll say more: it is very likely that incentives will be provided at the ministerial level (at the instigation of Agcom, which has already expressed its opinion on the point) for the voluntary decommissioning of installations in exchange for a guarantee that analogue status will be preserved in digital form (hence the possibility of competing for contributions and other support measures, and of course of participating in consortia as members).

(Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini)

December 24, 2022December 21, 2022

NETHERLANDS: FM SWITCH-OFF BETWEEN 2027 AND 2032 IS STILL REALISTIC

The report does not, however, analyze listening habits, although according to RadioWereld.NL, the public devotes only 47% of its time to FM (data from August-September 2022)
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In anticipation of the renewal of FM licenses, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK) has updated a 2017 study on switch-off scenarios between 2027 and 2032, confirming that the deadline is still realistic. Reduced mobile internet tariffs and the rise of smart speakers would favor an early switch-off, as would soaring energy costs and the fact that the use of radio is becoming less and less relevant in natural disasters and for traffic data disseminated by TMC. However, concerns remain about the still sub-optimal coverage of DAB+, particularly indoors, and the fact that in-car listening is 60% FM, despite the fact that new cars have been equipped with a digital receiver since the end of 2020.
(Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini)

September 23, 2021September 23, 2021

NORWAY: THE GREAT SWITCH-OFF HOAX/Part one

One of many headlines in late 2017 announcing the shutdown of the FM band and the migration to DAB
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In 2017, news that Norway was the first country to switch off the FM band in favour of DAB grabbed headlines. The idea tickled the imagination, so few verified it. But it was a hoax: the sensationalism of the news had overshadowed the reality. What abandoned FM was public radio NRK and, above all, the commercial networks. NRK occupied two frequencies out of three of those active in the country: 2000, compared to 1000 of all other radio stations, networks included. The main beneficiary of this operation was public radio: concentrating in a single multiplex four national networks, divesting hundreds of transmission sites (they were 700) and decommissioning FM transmitters nearing the end of their life, would have realized great economies of scale.

Towards a five-year extension

On May 8 in Bergen, Mari Velsand, director of the Norwegian Media Authority, handed over to the Minister of Culture, Trine Skei Grande, a request for an extension of the FM licenses
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Of the remaining frequencies, 40% (400) have been switched off by private networks and large commercial radio stations, especially in the capital and in large urban areas. But the others are still on the air: 552 (data from www.fmlist.org) used by 100 radio stations, many of which declare on their website that they are proud to continue in analogue. Some stations have also switched on DAB muxes (there are several used by a single station, which at most host two or three thematic channels) to keep up with the news. Broadcasting will continue until at least 2026: Mari Velsand, director of the Norwegian Media Authority recommended the government extend the FM licenses another five years, believing that media diversity would be compromised if the shutdown occurred at the end of 2021, as planned.

July 22, 2021July 7, 2021

TUNISIA: Copy, cut, transmit – Polish radio jingle pleases abroad

On the Wirtualnemedia website, you can listen to a recording in which the jingles of RM and RMF are compared. Source

The world of radio has accustomed us to the craziest stories. And this one certainly deserves a prominent place. Accomplice technology and probably… a tourist. Wirtualnemedia, a Polish site specializing in media and broadcasting, has discovered that Tunisian broadcaster RM FM had infringed copyright by using jingles from Polish radio station RMF. And in a very detailed report the site interviews an audio producer who explains technically how the infringement took place: the jingles, perfectly identical in melody and singing, are one second shorter, as the final part of the song has been cut to remove the F of RMF, since the Tunisian station is called RM. You can also see that the sound is compressed, a sign that the jingles were recorded from the net or downloaded from YouTube (where they are available) or from the site of the prestigious American production studio that made them.

A few days after the article RM no longer aired jingles

Wirtualnemedia monitoring the audio streamed by RM, and a few days after the article was published, they discovered that the counterfeit jingles were no longer being aired. So it approached the Polish network to see if it had warned the Tunisian station, but the station would not provide details. RMF is Poland’s largest network, with 30.1% of listeners between March and May 2021, according to the Radio Track survey conducted by research institute Kantar.

Radio M’saken RM FM is a station in eastern Tunisia that broadcasts on 99.8 MHz FM from Zeramdine, a town in the governorate of Monastir
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RMF is based in Krakow and on its website it offers a summer game that has a prize pool of 520,000 zlotys (over 115,000 euros)
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June 25, 2021June 25, 2021

BRAZIL: FM tuner mandatory on mobile phones

FM tuner mandatory on mobile phones in Brazil — Communications Minister Fábio Faria claims that around 90 % of mobile phones sold in the country have an FM tuner, but the function is disabled for commercial reasons
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From 1 June 2021, mobile phones manufactured in the South American country must integrate FM radio, to allow those in areas not served by the internet to get information for free. The government sees this as an opportunity for those who live far from large urban centres, where the mobile network signal is weak and FM stations are well received. As many as 40 million Brazilians do not have access to the internet, but almost all of them have a mobile phone. Smartphones will have to allow listening from 76.1 to 108 MHz: in the South American country, in fact, the FM band has been extended since 2013 to allow AM stations to move to FM (1720 broadcasters out of 1781 operating on AM have requested this, but feasibility analyses are delayed).

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021

UKRAINE: Will religious broadcasters be the only voice in the desert?

In an interview with the portal 'Public. Media Detector' portal, Dmytro Gruzynsky, head of the Ukrainian National Radio and Television networks, reiterated a few months ago his desire to decommission the old FM band — In an interview with the ‘Public. Media Detector’ portal, Dmytro Gruzynsky, head of the Ukrainian National Radio and Television networks, reiterated a few months ago his desire to decommission the old FM band
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We continue our journey through the airwaves of Eastern European countries where the “old” FM OIRT band (between 65.8 and 74 MHz) is about to be completely abandoned. The situation in this band in Ukraine should be examined taking into account the presence of three public radio channels and some private broadcasters, of religious or informative nature. The head of the organization responsible for the development of the radio and television networks, National Radio and Television of Ukraine (NSTU), Dmytro Gruzynsky, in an interview in December 2020, affirmed the intention of the organization to soon dismantle almost all the installations still operating in the OIRT band.

The situation of the public broadcaster’s national programmes

Radio Ukraine is the oldest radio station in the country. The first broadcast went out on 16 November 1924 at 19:00. Services continued without interruption, even during the Second World War
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In the plans of the company, about ten transmitters should have remained on air for Persha Program, as many for Radio Promin’ and 15 for Radio Kult’ura. The reason for the cuts was, on the one hand, the obsolescence and inefficiency of many systems, and on the other hand the possibility of being assigned FM frequencies in the same basins. Typically, new concessions are awarded through a tender and the state broadcaster must always beat competition from the numerous commercial radio stations. In some cases, the authorized powers have proved to be insufficient to satisfactorily cover the service area, so much so that NTSU asked to increase the power of a concession for UR1 from 500 watts to 1 KW). The fact remains that the presence of the three Ukrainian public broadcasters in the OIRT band is destined to be increasingly residual.

Commercial radio stations in the OIRT band?

RadioM declares on its website that it is ‘an independent information and entertainment station’ which aims to ‘convey patriotic and moral ideas’. It has seven frequencies between 87.5 and 108 MHz, and in the Odessa region it transmits on 101.7 MHz.
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As far as private broadcasting is concerned, both OIRT band frequencies of Yaskrave Radio and two out of three OIRT band frequencies of Hromads’ke Radio have been switched off. In addition, at the end of 2020, RadioM let lapse the concession for 68.36 from Odessa, which was the only OIRT band frequency of the station.

Two religious radio stations broadcast only in the OIRT band

Radio Maria began broadcasting in Ukraine on 1 June 2010 on 69.68 MHz in Kiev. In ten years, the number of active frequencies in the OIRT band has risen to 11. The station has branches and transmitters in seventy countries worldwide.
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The installations of two religious radio stations remain active; at the moment they only have frequencies in the OIRT band and therefore it is likely that they will not be switched off, since listeners still have devices and car radios to receive the programs broadcast in this band. To date, the Catholic Radio Mariya has 11 different frequencies, Svitle Radio Emmanuyil (close to the Pentecostal Church) has 8, while Golos Nadiyi (“Voice of Hope“, an Adventist radio station) has only 4 in the OIRT band and 3 in the “new” FM band and it can be assumed that it takes over some of the licenses issued by the NSTU.

Analogue TV channels remain on air – for political reasons

On the website of the National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine, there is a report of a 2019 meeting in which one of the members, Serhii Kostynskyi, proposes to continue broadcasting in the territories bordering Russia and near occupied Crimea
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As a curiosity, the OIRT FM band is adjacent to a band used for TV and there are still some analogue TV channels on air, and can be received on 65.75 MHz (the audio frequency related to the TV channel R2). It seems in fact that not all analogue Ukrainian TV stations have completed the switch off; moreover Ukrainian authorities intend to keep on analogue transmissions serving the Donbass area and in several settlements in the Kherson region near occupied Crimea (for obvious political reasons).

by Franco Martelli, part 2-continues

April 25, 2021April 21, 2021

RUSSIA: The last frequencies of the Cold War are about to be extinguished

During the Cold War, the FM band in Eastern European countries was different. Radio stations transmitted between 65.8 and 74 MHz (except in East Germany), called the OIRT band; frequencies used in the West by television. As a result, citizens could not pick up signals from capitalist countries, and vice versa. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the band was gradually abandoned, but there are still several nations in Europe that have not switched off all their OIRT transmitters: Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. In recent years, however, the decommissioning of the band has accelerated and the signals are now drastically reduced. In a number of articles, we examine the situation in each country.

Russia: in large cities the switch off goes slowly

In the recording made with an SDR receiver you can listen to the four stations still active in St. Petersburg in the OIRT band
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In the report published in 2020, we talked about the decision of the government to move the broadcasters from the OIRT band to the CCIR (87.5-108.0 MHz). The state-owned Radio Rossii, which has already deactivated many installations, proceeds to switch off as soon as the communications authority makes available a frequency in the CCIR band. The switch-off has gone fast in the most peripheral areas of the endless Russian Federation, where the band is free, but it is going slow in the biggest cities, where the band is close to saturation. It also does not help that Russia uses a very “wide” channel spacing: in Moscow, the standard distance between stations is 400 kHz (while in many European countries it is 300 kHz, and drops to 200 kHz in some large Italian metropolitan areas). So in St. Petersburg, there are still four frequencies active in the OIRT: Rossii on 66.3 MHz, Radio Peterburg on 69.47 MHz, Orfey on 71.66 MHz, and Grad Petrov on 73.1 MHz. On YouTube you can listen to a scan of the OIRT band, recorded on March 27, 2021, and hear the four stations. In Moscow, only 66.44 MHz (Rossii from Ostankino), 68.0 MHz (Avtoradio), and 72.92 MHz (Radio Radonezh) are active. In the Kaliningrad Oblast (Russian enclave wedged between Latvia and Poland), 65.9 MHz and 66.02 MHz of Radio Rossii have been switched off, and only 72.11 (Radio Shanson) is on air.

By Franco Martelli, part 1-continues

April 18, 2021April 15, 2021

GERMANY: Visual radio lands on satellite (and it’s a boom in Italy)

Schlager Radio can be received on FM, on the digital band on DAB+, via cable, via satellite — Schlager Radio can be received on FM, via DAB+, via cable, via satellite. As well as being available on the web, via a dedicated app, and can be listened to on smart speakers
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Berlin-based Schlager Radio has announced the launch of its own visual radio station, which will be receivable via satellite on Astra and with a smart TV connected to the internet. The station’s intention is to offer additional information, such as displaying the title of the song being broadcast. “The aim”, says press spokesman Heiner Harke, “is to offer our listeners visual added value without being a TV programme“.

Boom in Italy

In Italy, on the other hand, live video broadcasts from radio stations are almost like television programmes and are becoming increasingly popular. In fact, around 19 million Italians now follow them on a screen (TV, smartphone or PC), 11 million of whom use TV. And according to the Censis research “La transizione verso la radiovisione” (“The transition towards radiovision”) “visual radio is strongly in tune with the expectations of Italians: 52% declare that they would like to have more and more the possibility to enjoy radio contents on different devices also in video format. And 50% of those who follow radiovision find it pleasant, 27.5% engaging, 24% innovative”.

In Italy, the forerunner was RTL 102.5, which has 1.1 million listeners of its video version (1.8 million during lockdown). Many local radio stations followed.
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Rai has also inaugurated live video broadcasts from September 2020 on Radio2. In 2021 it will be the turn of Radio1 and, progressively, other channels of the public broadcaster Source

Public radio also adapts in Switzerland

Switzerland’s Rete Uno began broadcasting in April 2021, announcing it in a statement on its Facebook account
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March 23, 2021March 22, 2021

IRELAND: RTÉ shuts down DAB but channels continue on digital

As we anticipated in 2019 (news here), Ireland’s public broadcaster (Raidió Teilifís Éireann or RTÉ) will switch off the DAB channels on 31 March 2021, but will not close the RTÉ Gold, RTÉ 2XM, RTÉ Radio 1 Extra, RTÉ Pulse and RTÉjr Radio channels, which it will make available on other digital platforms. The decision was taken for three reasons: to reduce costs, the small number of listeners in the DAB band and the fact that RTÉ is the only Irish broadcaster in the digital band. The majority of Irish people (77%) listen to FM radio, compared to 0.5% for DAB. This is according to the latest radio listening survey (JNLR, Radio in a Digital World), conducted by market research institute Ipsos MRBI.

More details here.

February 25, 2021February 23, 2021

HUNGARY: Last independent radio station continues on the Web

Last independent radio continues on the Web — Klubrádió continuing online could have a larger potential audience, because the ERP (effective radiated power) of 2,6 kW that the station used on FM allowed it to be heard only in the Budapest area
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Klubrádió, the last independent Hungarian radio station, switched off its FM transmitter at midnight on February 14th, 2021. It was broadcasting on 92.9 MHz from Budapest: its license was not renewed by NMHH (National Media and Telecommunications Authority) because the station had not communicated in time the contents of its programming. But the station’s director, András Arató, defied Viktor Mihály Orbán’s government by continuing online broadcasting and airing the official anthem of the European Union, a piece from the final movement of the Ninth Symphony composed in 1824 by Ludwig van Beethoven, also called the Ode to Joy, which the EU has adopted since 1972. The EU, through a spokesman, asked Hungary to allow Klubrádió to continue broadcasting on FM.