In the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, the roll-out of
digital radio is proceeding since test transmissions were started by the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
in 1990. The UK currently has the world's biggest
digital radioDigital radio describes radio technologies which carry information as a digital signal, by means of a digital modulation method. The most common meaning is digital audio broadcasting technologies, but the topic may also cover TV broadcasting as well as many two-way digital wireless communication...
network, with 103 transmitters, with two national
DABDigital Audio Broadcasting , is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
ensemblesDAB ensembles are groups of Digital audio broadcasting broadcasters transmitting multiple digital radio channels on a single radio transmission....
and forty eight local and regional DAB ensembles broadcasting over 250 commercial and 34 BBC
radio stationRadio broadcasting is an audio broadcasting service, broadcast through the air as radio waves from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast common programming, either in syndication or simulcast or both...
s across the UK. In the capital,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
there are already more than 51 different digital stations available. In addition to DAB, radio stations are also broadcast on
digital televisionDigital television is the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by discrete signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV.-Timeline:...
platforms,
Digital Radio MondialeDigital Radio Mondiale is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for AM broadcasting, particularly shortwave...
on
mediumwaveMedium Wave is that part of the medium frequency radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting. For Europe the MW band allocated for broadcasting is from 531 kHz - 1611 kHz...
and
shortwaveShortwave radio operates in the frequency range of 3,000 kHz to 30,000 kHz . Short wavelength corresponds to high frequency given the inverse relationship between frequency and wavelength, thus, “shortwave radio” is denominated so because its wavelengths are shorter than the long wave-lengths...
frequenciesFrequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency....
as well as
internet radioInternet radio is an audio broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means...
in the UK. Digital radio ensemble operators and stations need a broadcasting licence from the UK's media regulator
OfcomThe Office of Communications or, as it is more often known, Ofcom, is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established in the enabling device, the , but received its full authority from the Communications...
to broadcast.
Digital radio in the United Kingdom is being promoted by radio stations and the broadcasting industry on the premise that it provides a wider choice of radio stations, is easier to use, and is resistant to the
interferenceIn physics, interference is the addition of two or more waves that results in a new wave pattern.Interference usually refers to the interaction of waves that are correlated or coherent with each other, either because they come from the same source or because they have the same or nearly the same...
which other broadcast media are susceptible to. However, the price paid for the extra number of stations is that the audio quality on DAB is lower than on FM. Also some areas of the country are not presently covered by DAB; the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
says that it may not provide coverage to the final 10% of the population, and may use
DRMDigital Radio Mondiale is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for AM broadcasting, particularly shortwave...
instead. The United Kingdom
GovernmentHer Majesty's Government is the government of the United Kingdom. Under the Constitution of the United Kingdom, executive authority notionally lies with the monarch but is exercised in practice by her ministers...
intends to migrate the vast majority of AM and FM analogue services to digital in 2015, subject to targets being met for coverage and listening figures for digital radio.
In the UK, 32.1% of the population own a DAB digital radio set and 58% of people have access to digital radio either through a
radio setThis article is about a radio receiver, for other uses see Radio .A radio receiver is an electronic circuit that receives its input from an antenna, uses electronic filters to separate a wanted radio signal from all other signals picked up by this antenna, amplifies it to a level suitable for...
,
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
or
onlineInternet radio is an audio broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means...
. RAJAR, who measure radio listening figures in the UK, stated in May 2009 that 33.8% of radio listening in the UK is done through digital platforms at least once a week. 21.4% of digital radio listening was to digital only stations. 41% of digital radio users listen to digital radio through a television platform.
Digital Audio Broadcasting
Experimental transmissions of the DAB Eureka 147 standard from the Crystal Palace transmitting station by the BBC started in 1990 with permanent transmissions covering London in September 1995. With the expansion of its
single-frequency networkA single-frequency network or SFN is a broadcast network where several transmitters simultaneously send the same signal over the same frequency channel....
in the spring of 1998, the BBC national ensemble was available to 65% of the UK population by 2001 and to 85% by 2004.
The Broadcasting Act of 1996 allowed the introduction of national, regional and local commercial ensembles in the United Kingdom.
The first national ensemble licence for DAB from the
Radio AuthorityThe Office of Communications or, as it is more often known, Ofcom, is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established in the enabling device, the , but received its full authority from the Communications...
was advertised in 1998 and one applicant applied for the licence. The licence was awarded to the GWR Group and NTL Broadcast, who since the launch were renamed
ArqivaArqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company was formed by National Grid Wireless combining with Arqiva in September 2008...
. The two companies formed the
Digital OneDigital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. The multiplex covers approximately 87% of the UK population from a total of 103 transmitters...
ensemble, which began broadcasting on 15 November 1999. The Digital One ensemble has grown and is currently available to over 90% of the UK population.
Growth and benefits of DAB in the UK
In the United Kingdom, the uptake of DAB has increased since the launch of the BBC national DAB ensemble in 1995. Lower prices, new radio stations and marketing have increased the uptake of DAB radio in the UK. Digital radios were first sold as car radios in 1997, priced around £800, with hi-fi tuners costing up to £2,000 being released two years later. In 2001, Digital One invested in Frontier Silicon to produce a new processing chip which would allow cheaper portable radios to be produced.
Roberts-Places:In the United States:*Roberts, Idaho*Roberts, Illinois*Roberts, Wisconsin*Roberts County, Texas*Mount Roberts , a summit in the Ossipee Mountains-Other uses:*Roberts class monitor, a class of British warship...
,
GoodmansGoodmans LLP is a Canadian corporate law firm with offices in Toronto and Vancouver. It is one of the seven sisters. First established in Toronto in 1917 by David Bertram Goodman, Goodmans LLP now has approximately 200 lawyers...
and in 2002,
Pure DigitalPure Digital is a British consumer electronics company, based in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire. Pure is a division of another Hertfordshire, UK-based company, Imagination Technologies, which primarily builds processors and graphics chips....
's award winning Evoke series of radios broke the £100 price barrier, and DAB take up has increased since. As the result of the increase of uptake of DAB, electrical retailer Dixons announced in 2006 that it would discontinue selling analogue radios.
The BBC and other DAB broadcasters have been encouraging DAB take up by promoting a number of features which are either new or improve upon former technology in their sales literature. The benefits of DAB is that due to the use of multiplexing technology and
encodingAn encoder is a device, circuit, transducer, software program, algorithm or person that converts information from one format or code to another, for the purposes of standardization, speed, secrecy, security, or saving space by shrinking size.-Media:...
technology, broadcasters including the BBC and EMAP have been able to launch exclusive digital radio stations alongside existing their analogue radio stations. Broadcasters also state that DAB offers better reception, without the problems of interference that is more noticeable through analogue radio. DAB radios also come with features such as station lists, so listeners do not need to retune their receivers, as well as scrolling text, providing information such as breaking news, travel information or the latest track information.
DAB has also been marketed with having two major advantages over analogue radio broadcasting in that using
MPEG-1 Audio Layer IIMPEG-1 Audio Layer II is a lossy audio compression format defined by ISO/IEC 11172-3 alongside MPEG-1 Audio Layer I and MPEG-1 Audio Layer III...
lossy audio compressionAudio compression is a form of data compression designed to reduce the transmission bandwidth requirement of digital audio streams and the storage size of audio files. Audio compression algorithms are implemented in computer software as audio codecs...
technology, parts of the audio spectrum that cannot be heard by humans are discarded, meaning less data needs to be sent over the air. This, as well as
multiplexingThe multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which may be a physical transmission medium. The multiplexing divides the capacity of the low-level communication channel into several higher-level logical channels, one for each message signal or data stream to be transferred...
technology allows a number of channels to be broadcast together on one frequency as opposed to one channel for analogue radio broadcasts.
National, local and regional DAB ensembles use the same frequency for the area they cover. Using a
single-frequency networkA single-frequency network or SFN is a broadcast network where several transmitters simultaneously send the same signal over the same frequency channel....
, an ensemble broadcasting a number of stations can cover the same area as a number of FM frequencies which would be required to cover the same area for one station. The BBC carried out successful tests of a single-frequency network in London before launching its national DAB ensemble.
Criticisms of DAB in the UK
DAB provides low audio quality in the UK due to 98% of stereo stations using a bit rate level of 128 kbit/s with the
MP2MPEG-1 Audio Layer II is a lossy audio compression format defined by ISO/IEC 11172-3 alongside MPEG-1 Audio Layer I and MPEG-1 Audio Layer III...
audio codec, which provides much poorer sound quality than FM-quality (assuming good reception on both DAB and FM).
Also, a large and growing number of music stations are transmitting in mono. Indeed, the bit rates used by the radio stations on other digital platforms, such as cable, terrestrial and satellite are usually higher than on DAB, so the audio quality is also higher. For example, all of the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
stations use higher bit rates on the digital TV platforms than on DAB apart from the
BBC World ServiceThe BBC World Service is one of the most widely-recognised international broadcasters, currently broadcasting in 32 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays. It is politically independent, non-profit and...
on Freeview.
In addition,
OfcomThe Office of Communications or, as it is more often known, Ofcom, is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established in the enabling device, the , but received its full authority from the Communications...
has said that even after extra
spectrumA spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
has been allocated to DAB, it estimates that around 90 local radio stations will either be unable to transmit on DAB because there is no space for them on a local DAB multiplex or because they cannot afford the high transmission costs of DAB that the multiplex operators are charging. However, Ofcom announced in 2005 that it regarded
Digital Radio MondialeDigital Radio Mondiale is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for AM broadcasting, particularly shortwave...
(DRM) as being an option for the local stations unable to secure carriage or unable to pay the high transmission costs of DAB.
In the UK, on 30 January 2008, a report in the
Daily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily tabloid newspaper. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper, The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982. Scottish and Irish editions of the paper were launched in...
claimed that there are not enough DAB radios being sold to support the service for the future and that people are favouring their traditional analog radios over DAB. It also reported that unless sales start to rise, DAB in the UK could follow the same fate as Betamax Video Cassettes did in the 1980s. In January 2009, the Digital Radio Development Bureau announced that fewer DAB radio sets were sold in Christmas 2008 than in the previous year, although the group states that customer confidence in DAB remains high.
On January 24, 2009 Ofcom allowed electrical retailers to be granted a licence to rebroadcast DAB signals within their stores to demonstrate DAB radio sets within their stores. The United Kingdom consumer charity,
Which?Which? is a product-testing and campaigning charity with a magazine and website run by Which? Ltd...
warned that consumers who could not get an adequate DAB signal could be mislead by the in-store sets. The Digital Radio Development Bureau replied to the Which? report stating that stores contain a steel structure which produce a
faraday cageA Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conducting material, or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static electrical fields....
effect where DAB signals are blocked out. The DRDB recommended that consumers should check DAB coverage online with their
postcodeA postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.Germany was the first country to introduce a postal code system, in 1941...
before purchasing a DAB radio to avoid disappointment.
GCap
On February 11, 2008 GCap Media chief executive Fru Hazlitt presented a new strategy for GCap to fend off a takeover bid from
Global RadioGlobal Radio is a British commercial radio company, the largest in the country following acquisitions of Chrysalis Radio in July 2007 and GCap Media in June 2008....
. The strategy for DAB included the closure of national DAB stations
Planet RockPlanet Rock is the name of several things:* "Planet Rock" , a 1982 song by Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force* Planet Rock: The Album, a 1986 album containing the song...
and
theJazztheJazz was a British commercial jazz digital radio station. The station was run by GCap Media and launched on Christmas Day 2006 at 09:00 UTC originally as a non-stop jazz station on the Digital One DAB ensemble, Sky Digital, Virgin Media and the Internet....
to close by March 31, 2008 as well as the disposal of
Digital OneDigital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. The multiplex covers approximately 87% of the UK population from a total of 103 transmitters...
to
ArqivaArqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company was formed by National Grid Wireless combining with Arqiva in September 2008...
for £1. The chief executive also stated that the DAB platform in the UK was not economically viable and that growth in digital radio would come from FM and Internet Radio, announcing a deal with Apple to stream GCap stations on the
iPod touchThe iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, and Wi-Fi mobile platform designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The product was launched on September 5, 2007, at an event called The Beat Goes On. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
and
iPhoneThe iPhone is an Internet and multimedia enabled smartphone designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Because its minimal hardware interface lacks a physical keyboard, the multi-touch screen renders a virtual keyboard when necessary...
on the same day.
The takeover of GCap by Global Radio has led to them keeping Digital One and looking to take a stake in Channel 4's second national commercial multiplex.
The Digital Radio Development Bureau and the
4 Digital Group4 Digital Group was a media consortium in the United Kingdom. The group won the licence to operate the second national DAB radio multiplex, as advertised by Ofcom in December 2006. The consortium, led by Channel 4 Radio, is a combination of the existing commercial radio operators and brands new to...
defended DAB by stating that DAB was showing signs of growth and would become more attractive to consumers and broadcasters. The
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
and 4 Digital Group issued a joint statement on 12 February 2008 stating their commitment to DAB.
4 Digital Group
On October 10, 2008
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
announced that it would be pulling out of the 4 Digital Group consortium, which includes the withdraw of launching services on the second national multiplex as well as the axing of its three digital radio services, E4 Radio, Channel 4 Radio and Pure 4. Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan admitted that the axing of Channel 4's foray into digital radio could cost the corporation £9 million.
DAB frequency plan
DAB radio stations in the United Kingdom are broadcast on a number of frequency blocks on VHF
Band IIIBand III is the name of a radio frequency range within the very high frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum.Band III ranges from 174 to 230 MHz, and it is primarily used for radio and television broadcasting...
. The original plan devised in
WiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwestern Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
for the framework of DAB in Europe was to allocate frequency blocks 11B to 12D for UK DAB broadcasting. However, as part of its Review of Radio, Ofcom has expanded the frequency allocations for DAB and has advertised local and a national ensemble licence on blocks outside the original Wiesbaden plan on 10A to 10D and 11A.
| Block |
Frequency |
England and Wales |
Scotland |
Northern Ireland |
| 10A |
209.936 MHz |
None |
None |
None |
| 10B |
211.648 MHz |
Local ensembles |
None |
None |
| 10C |
213.360 MHz |
Local ensembles |
None |
None |
| 10D |
215.072 MHz |
Local ensembles |
None |
None |
| 11A |
216.928 MHz |
Digital Two |
Digital Two |
Digital Two |
| 11B |
218.640 MHz |
Local ensembles |
Local ensembles |
None |
| 11C |
220.352 MHz |
Local ensembles |
Local ensembles |
None |
| 11D |
222.064 MHz |
Digital One ensemble |
Local and regional ensembles |
None |
| 12A |
223.936 MHz |
Local and regional ensembles (except West Wales) |
Digital One ensemble |
None |
| 12B |
225.648 MHz |
BBC national DAB ensemble |
BBC national DAB ensemble |
BBC national DAB ensemble |
| 12C |
227.360 MHz |
Local and regional ensembles (except the south coast) |
Local and regional ensembles |
None |
| 12D |
229.072 MHz |
Local ensembles (except the south coast) |
Local ensembles |
Local ensembles |
Under a Maastricht plan in 2002, the UK also has
L bandL Band is used to refer to three different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum: 40 and 60 GHz , 1 to 2 GHz , or 1565 nm to 1625 nm .-NATO L band:...
allocations for local terrestrial DAB, though there are no plans to broadcast any digital radio stations on L band. Ofcom auctioned spectrum in L band in 2008 for a number of uses, including terrestrial digital radio. On May 16, 2008, Ofcom declared that
QualcommQualcomm is a wireless telecommunications research and development company, as well as the largest fabless chip supplier in the world, based in San Diego, California.-Corporate history:...
UK Spectrum Ltd had won the auction of L band frequencies in the UK.
BBC National DAB
The BBC's national DAB ensemble broadcasts on frequency block 12B (225.648
MHzThe hertz is a unit of frequency. It is defined as the number of complete cycles per second. It is the basic unit of frequency in the International System of Units , and is used worldwide in both general-purpose and scientific contexts...
) across the United Kingdom, with coverage currently at 87% of the population of the United Kingdom, with ongoing plans to extend coverage to 90%. The multiplex is owned and operated by the BBC and is transmitted from a number of transmitter sites across the country. The BBC's national multiplex carries only BBC national
radio stationRadio broadcasting is an audio broadcasting service, broadcast through the air as radio waves from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast common programming, either in syndication or simulcast or both...
s.
Local BBC radioBBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 41 stations.Initially, stations had to be co-funded by the BBC and local authorities, which only some Labour-controlled areas proved willing to do. Radio Leicester was the first to launch on 8...
stations are carried on the relevant local DAB ensemble where commercial DAB licences are operating.
Commercial DAB multiplexes
There are a number of commercial DAB multiplexes operators in the UK who run 48 local and regional DAB multiplexes across the United Kingdom. operators include the national operator,
Digital OneDigital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. The multiplex covers approximately 87% of the UK population from a total of 103 transmitters...
, regional operator MXR and local multiplexes operators including NOW Digital, Bauer Media Group,
UTVUTV is a television channel based in Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 licensee for the Northern Ireland region and is operated by UTV plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :...
, Switch Digital and MuxCo.
DAB+
DAB+, a new digital radio standard using the
HE-AACHigh-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding is a lossy data compression scheme for digital audio defined as a MPEG-4 Audio profile in ISO/IEC 14496-3. It is an extension of Low Complexity AAC optimized for low-bitrate applications such as streaming audio...
encoding standard and announced by the WorldDAB organisation in 2006, is being considered for digital radio broadcasting in the UK. HE-AAC encoding is more efficient than the MPEG-2 Layer II encoding standard currently used for DAB in the UK. DAB+ will either allow stations to broadcast at higher sound quality than currently possible with DAB, or allow more stations at the same quality currently broadcast on an ensemble.
The Digital Radio Development Bureau released a
press statementA news release, media release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. Typically, they are mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to assignment editors at newspapers,...
in January 2007 in which they admitted that DAB+ will be used in the UK in future. Ofcom have said that the UK will switch to DAB+, but not until the vast majority of radio sets can work with DAB+. The current chief executive of the DRDB, Tony Moretta, indicated that DAB+ was a "red herring" and may not be introduced in the UK for the foreseeable future due to the growing number of digital radio sets currently being sold and used in the future which cannot decode HE-AAC and therefore access DAB+ stations. Moretta also cited greater expense for broadcasters and overall satisification in the current audio quality of DAB stations of which a move to DAB+ would only benefit a small number of
audiophileAn audiophile, from Latin audio "I hear" and Greek philos "loving," is a hobbyist who seeks high-quality audio reproduction via the use of non-mass-produced high-end audio electronics....
s as other reasons.
The 4Digital Group, led by
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
, who were originally awarded the licence to operate the new national
DABDigital Audio Broadcasting , is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
multiplex, had planned to launch a podcast service using the DAB+ format.
Digital terrestrial television
Digital radio on the digital terrestrial platform started on 30 October 2002 with the launch of the BBC's digital only radio services,
BBC 1XtraBBC 1Xtra is a digital radio station in the United Kingdom from the BBC specialising in new black music, sometimes referred to as urban music. Launched at 18:00 on16 August 2002, it had been codenamed Network X during the consulation period and is the sister station to BBC Radio 1...
,
BBC Five Live Sports ExtraBBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra is an additional digital radio service provided by the BBC via DAB Digital Radio and the digital satellite, digital terrestrial, IPTV and digital cable television services in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It is not available via analogue radio...
,
BBC 6 MusicBBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
,
BBC 7BBC Radio 7 is a British digital radio station broadcasting comedy, drama, and children's programming nationally 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcasting outlet for the BBC's vast archive of spoken-word entertainment, and was established specifically to enable the contents of the BBC Sound...
and the
BBC Asian NetworkBBC Asian Network is for anyone in the UK with an interest in Asian music, news, entertainment, culture, debate and drama. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with a background in the South Asian diaspora.They have production centres in...
as well as existing stations
BBC Radio Five LiveBBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's radio service providing live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
and the
BBC World ServiceThe BBC World Service is one of the most widely-recognised international broadcasters, currently broadcasting in 32 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays. It is politically independent, non-profit and...
. All the stations broadcast on the BBC's
multiplexA multiplex or mux is a group of TV channels that are mixed together for broadcast over a digital TV channel...
B.
On the same day EMAP Radio (now owned by Bauer Radio) launched three radio stations,
Smash HitsSmash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at children and young teenagers, and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
,
Kerrang!Kerrang! is a rock music magazine published by Bauer Consumer Media in the United Kingdom. The magazine's name is onomatopoeic and refers to the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar.-History:...
and
KissKiss 100 is a radio station broadcasting to London on 100.0 MHz FM specialising in hip hop, R&B, urban and dance music. It also broadcasts on digital radio in other parts of the UK on DAB and nationally on Freeview, Sky Digital and Tiscali TV...
. Two other
commercial radioPrivate television or commercial broadcasting is the United States first model of television born in 1920 decade, antithetical to the "public television" model born in Europe in 1930, 1940 and 1950 decads and dominant worldwide except America up until the 1980 decade. Today it is the historically...
stations also launched,
onewordOneword Radio was a British commercial digital radio station featuring books, drama, comedy, children's programming, and discussion. The station was available in the UK via digital radio and digital television and was streamed on the internet 24 hours a day worldwide.Ownership was shared between...
and
102.2 Jazz FM102.2 Jazz FM was a local jazz and soul music station for London run by GMG Radio. The station was based and broadcast from Castlereagh Street in London to around 15.5 million people within the broadcasting area...
.
The BBC later launched
BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the BBC which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock or interviews. It is aimed...
,
Radio 2BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the UK. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
,
Radio 3BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music, but jazz, world music, drama and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation Artists scheme...
and
Radio 4 FMBBC Radio 4 is a domestic UK radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967.-Outline:...
on multiplex A on 14 February 2003. These channels later moved to Multiplex 1 on 3 October 2007.
Currently, the digital terrestrial platform has twenty seven radio stations broadcasting from broadcasters including the BBC, Bauer Radio,
GMG RadioGMG Radio is the radio division of the Guardian Media Group. The group is based in Laser House, Salford Quays in Manchester. The advertising division is in Old Trafford, Manchester. John Myers is the Chief Executive Officer, although his deputy will replace him in April 2009...
and Absolute Radio.
Digital satellite
Radio stations broadcasting via
SatelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
to the United Kingdom usually use the
SES AstraSES Astra SA, is a corporate subsidiary of SES, based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg, that owns and operates the Astra series of geostationary communication satellites, which transmit approximately 2490 analogue and digital television and radio channels via 317 transponders to 122.2 million...
series of satellites at
28.2° eastAstra 28.2°E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 28.2° East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
or the
EutelsatEutelsat S.A. is a French-based satellite provider. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, it is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues.Eutelsat’s satellites...
Eurobird 1Eurobird 1 is a Eutelsat operated satellite, used primarily for digital television. It is located at 28.5° east in the Clarke Belt, just within the range of most satellite dishes pointed at SES Astra's Astra 2A, 2B and 2D at 28.2° east...
satellite at 28.5° east. Radio stations broadcast
free-to-airFree-to-air television and radio broadcasts are sent unencrypted and may be received via any suitable receiver:Free-to-view is, generally, available without subscription but is digitally encrypted and may be restricted geographically...
via the
Sky DigitalSky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E....
,
Freesat from SkyFreesat from Sky is a British satellite television service from BSkyB which gives viewers access to over 200 free-to-air channels, some free-to-view encrypted channels, an electronic programme guide and Sky Active interactive data service....
platforms and any
DVB-SDVB-S is the original Digital Video Broadcasting forward error coding and modulation standard for satellite television and dates from 1994, in its first release, while development lasted from 1993 to 1997...
compliant
set-top boxA set-top box or set-top unit is a device that connects to a television and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen.- History :...
. The
FreesatFreesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was marketed from 6 May 2008 and offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television, with a selection of channels available...
platform has all the BBC's national and regional digital radio stations as well as
BBC London 94.9BBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Digital Channel 0152 and also online. Previously known as BBC London Live, GLR and Radio London...
from the launch on May 6, 2008 on the
EPG.
WorldSpace1worldspace is a satellite radio network that provides service to over 170,000 subscribers in eastern and southern Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia with 96% coming from India.It is the first satellite radio network ever, beating the North American Siriusand XM services by 11 years.-...
was planning a
subscriptionThe subscription business model is a business model where a customer must pay a subscription price to have access to the product/service. The model was pioneered by magazines and newspapers, but is now used by many businesses and websites...
based digital radio satellite service on the upper frequencies of the L band, if it had secured the frequencies from the Ofcom auction of L band frequencies in 2008. However, Qualcomm beat WorldSpace in securing the L band frequencies in the Ofcom auction process.
Digital cable television
A number of digital radio stations also broadcast through
digital cableDigital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
platforms, including Virgin Media and
WightCableWight Cable 2005 Ltd is the only provider of commercial and residential cable television services on the Isle of Wight. They also provide telephone and broadband internet services....
.
Internet radio
In the United Kingdom, over 350 of the UK's radio stations also
streamStreaming media are multimedia that are constantly received by, and normally presented to, an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider . The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather than to the medium itself...
their stations online, not including
Restricted Service LicenceA UK Restricted Service Licence , is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event...
d radio stations,
Hospital radioHospital radio is a form of audio broadcasting produced specifically for the in-patients of hospitals. It is primarily found in the United Kingdom.-History:...
stations and stations who solely broadcast online. RAJAR figures taken between April and May in 2008 showed that 14.5 million people have listened to radio online with 9.4 million people listening every week. As well as listening through a
media playerMedia player is a term typically used to describe computer software for playing back multimedia files. Most software media players support an array of media formats, including both audio and video files....
on a
computerA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
, a number of British firms, including
BT GroupBT Group plc is the privatised former state telecommunications operator in the United Kingdom. It is the dominant fixed line telecommunications and broadband Internet provider in the UK, and also operates in more than 170 countries around the world...
, Reciva, Pure, Roberts Radio, Dixons and Acoustic Energy have brought out
Internet radio deviceAn Internet radio device , also commonly called network music player is a hardware device that autonomously receives and plays music from a computer, Internet radio stations or online music services via the home network.- Background :...
s which use the
Wi-FiWi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance for certified products based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. This certification warrants interoperability between different wireless devices....
signal from a router to stream Internet radio stations within range of a Wi-Fi router. Apple and GCap Media made a deal in February 2008 for GCap stations to be broadcast through iPhone and iPod touch devices.
In 2006, the
Phonographic Performance LimitedPPL is the London-based UK music licensing company which licenses recorded music and music videos for public performance, broadcast and new media use...
(PPL) announced that it would charge additional royalty fees on UK
Internet radioInternet radio is an audio broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means...
stations if they broadcast outside the UK. Radio stations which stream online including
GCap MediaGCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. On 31 March 2008 the company agreed a takeover by...
and
GMG RadioGMG Radio is the radio division of the Guardian Media Group. The group is based in Laser House, Salford Quays in Manchester. The advertising division is in Old Trafford, Manchester. John Myers is the Chief Executive Officer, although his deputy will replace him in April 2009...
, have implemented
IP blockingIP blocking prevents the connection between a server/website and certain IP addresses or ranges of addresses. IP blocking effectively bans undesired connections from those computers to a website, mail server, or other Internet server....
to prevent listeners outside the UK from listening to their radio stations and therefore avoided the increased fees.
In March 2007, a
BBC NewsBBC News, formerly BBC News and Current Affairs, is the department within the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the corporation's news-gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online....
article reported that the PPL were re-negotiating royalty fees paid by UK Internet radio stations, and the result of the negotiations would be that fees would increase.
Digital Radio Mondiale
Digital Radio MondialeDigital Radio Mondiale is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for AM broadcasting, particularly shortwave...
is being considered by
OfcomThe Office of Communications or, as it is more often known, Ofcom, is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established in the enabling device, the , but received its full authority from the Communications...
for introduction in
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
in 2012, on the present AM medium wave band.
In 2005, tests of DRM on
shortwaveShortwave radio operates in the frequency range of 3,000 kHz to 30,000 kHz . Short wavelength corresponds to high frequency given the inverse relationship between frequency and wavelength, thus, “shortwave radio” is denominated so because its wavelengths are shorter than the long wave-lengths...
radio from European transmitters broadcasting into the United Kingdom were performed by
Virgin RadioAbsolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
,
Classic GoldClassic Gold was a network of three "Gold" music formatted stations which broadcast on AM in Bradford, Hull and Sheffield. They were the Pennine Radio, Viking Radio and Radio Hallam's medium wave franchises...
,
Premier Christian RadioPremier Christian Radio is a British Christian radio station wholly owned by the charity, Premier Christian Media Trust.Premier Christian Radio broadcasts Christian programming including news, debate, teachings and Christian music to London and the surrounding areas...
,
Virgin Radio Classic RockA sister station to Absolute Radio, Absolute Classic Rock, is a radio station broadcasting to London via DAB, Virgin Media, Sky Digital, Freesat channel 725 and worldwide on the internet...
, Asian Sound and CVC.
The British Broadcasting Corporation
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
started broadcasting the BBC World Service on shortwave and
mediumwaveMedium Wave is that part of the medium frequency radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting. For Europe the MW band allocated for broadcasting is from 531 kHz - 1611 kHz...
radio for a few hours a day across Europe from Orford Ness in Suffolk and
KvitsøyKvitsøy is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the smallest municipality in Norway . Kvitsøy was separated from Mosterøy on 1 January 1923.The municipality is an archipelago situated northwest of the coast of the Stavanger peninsula...
in Norway, the latter being receivable across England, Wales and Southern Scotland.
The BBC undertook a trial of the digital radio mondiale (DRM) technology, which allowed them to explore digital radio using medium-wave frequencies.
The trial broadcast
BBC Radio DevonBBC Radio Devon is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Devon. It began transmissions on 17 January 1983, replacing a previous breakfast show for Devon and Cornwall broadcast on the local frequencies of Radio 4....
using the new technology in the Plymouth area from April 2007 and closed down on October 31, 2008. In May 2009, the BBC released a report on the trial in Devon. The report gave a number of conclusions about DRM from the trial:
- The sound quality from the trial was better than AM quality, but not as good as average DAB quality;
- The daytime coverage of the DRM trial extended further than the discontinued AM service. However, the night-time service, as expected to be smaller than daytime coverage due to the characteristics of medium wave broadcasting, did cause problems with interference to the DRM trial. The BBC stated this interference can be avoided, but only with a redesign of the transmission network;
- A single frequency network is possible and would be significantly robust
Robustness is the quality of being able to withstand stresses, pressures, or changes in procedure or circumstance. A system, organism or design may be said to be "robust" if it is capable of coping well with variations in its operating environment with minimal damage, alteration or loss of...
.
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting
In 2006, National Grid Wireless carried out a technical trial of
T-DMBDigital Multimedia Broadcasting is a digital radio transmission technology developed by South Korea as part of the national IT project for sending multimedia such as TV, radio and datacasting to mobile devices such as mobile phones...
and DAB-IP on the
UTV-EMAP Stoke-on-TrentUTV Bauer Digital Stoke-on-Trent is a local commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, which serves the Stoke-on-Trent area. It is jointly owned by UTV and Bauer Radio The service launched on 30 April 2004...
ensemble. The trial assessed the reception qualities of both technologies in urban and rural areas as well as the
mobile televisionTelematics is any of the following:* The integrated use of telecommunications and informatics, also known as ICT...
and radio services which could be delivered.
There is currently an ongoing experimental DMB multiplex broadcast in London on L-Band and Cambridge on VHF Band III, used for video, audio and data applications.
Analogue switch-off
On January 29, 2009 the UK Government's interim report into digital communication for the future by Lord Carter,
Digital Britain, made the suggestion that DAB would be the future direction of digital radio in the United Kingdom. The report stated that only when the following conditions are met, a migration from FM to DAB would begin:
- Digital radio listening figures hit at least 50%;
- Coverage of DAB matches that of FM, of 90% which the report stated would not be achieved until 2015. The report mentioned that the Government would work with the BBC to meet the coverage target.
Carter also suggested in his report that manufacturers of devices which can pick up radio signals ensure it is DAB ready for the forthcoming migration. The report also indicates plans to create a
Digital Radio Delivery Group (DRDG), made up of the major investors of DAB, whose plan it will be to ensure a smooth transition from AM and FM to DAB for consumers. They will also advise on digital radio migration. On September 22, 2009 the DRDG and Digital Radio Development Bureau were intergrated into one organisation for this purpose -
Digital Radio UK.
On June 16, 2009 the final
Digital Britain report concluded that a switchover of all national and local FM services which currently broadcast on DAB multiplexes would take place in 2015 and that DAB would be chosen to take the UK to and beyond switchover.
Application and licensing
The United Kingdom media and communications
OfcomThe Office of Communications or, as it is more often known, Ofcom, is the independent regulator and competition authority for the communication industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established in the enabling device, the , but received its full authority from the Communications...
(and before the formation of Ofcom, the Radio Authority) advertises and provides the licenses for digital radio services in the United Kingdom, under the Broadcasting Acts of 1990 and 1996.
Application and licensing procedures
Ofcom awards licenses for digital radio services differently depending on the type of service and the platform. Ofcom advertises the licences of new digital radio ensembles and are subject to an
open competitionAn auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
to the highest bidder. Ensemble licence awards are awarded for twelve years. On digital television services, individual stations can apply for either a digital cable and satellite licence to broadcast on the aforementioned platforms, or apply for a digital terrestrial licence to broadcast on digital terrestrial television.
On Digital Terrestrial Television and DAB, broadcasters also need to contact the ensemble or
multiplexThe multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, which may be a physical transmission medium. The multiplexing divides the capacity of the low-level communication channel into several higher-level logical channels, one for each message signal or data stream to be transferred...
operator of a local or national DAB ensemble or digital terrestrial multiplex to broadcast within a region, subject to a fee payable to the ensemble operator. On Digital Satellite, radio stations need to secure capacity with a transponder operator and an uplink to a satellite. To broadcast on the
Sky DigitalSky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E....
platform, a broadcaster must also secure an
EPGAn electronic program guide or interactive program guide or electronic service guide is a digital guide to scheduled broadcast television or radio programs, typically displayed on-screen with functions allowing a viewer to navigate, select, and discover content by time, title, channel, genre, etc...
slot allowing viewers to navigate to their channel using the set-top-boxes provided by
British Sky BroadcastingBritish Sky Broadcasting is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the UK and Ireland. It produces TV content, and owns several TV channels. It is the UK's largest pay TV provider...
. A request for a EPG slot must be done up to nine months in advance. The same procedure applies to secure a slot on the
FreesatFreesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was marketed from 6 May 2008 and offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television, with a selection of channels available...
platform, although stations need to contact Freesat UK Ltd instead of BSkyB. On Digital Cable, broadcasters need to contact a cable supplier for carriage.
All stations broadcast in the UK must legally hold a music copyright licence from the
Phonographic Performance LimitedPPL is the London-based UK music licensing company which licenses recorded music and music videos for public performance, broadcast and new media use...
, PRS for Music and
Mechanical-Copyright Protection SocietyThe Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society are an organisation who pay royalties to composers, songwriters and music publishers when the music they have created is sold. This includes sales of the music alone such as CDs and downloads, and also products which use the music as a part of their...
in order for
royaltiesRoyalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property right. Royalties are typically a percentage of gross or net sales derived from use of an asset or a fixed price per unit sold of an item...
to be paid to the
musicianA musician is a person who performs or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.* A singer uses his or her voice as an instrument....
s the main bodies represent.
First national ensemble
On 24 March 1998, the Radio Authority advertised for the first (and at the time, the only one planned) national ensemble to be broadcast on DAB. The three national commercial services on FM and mediumwave had to be included as part of the ensemble,
Classic FMClassic FM is one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasting classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...
,
talkSPORTTalksport , owned by UTV Radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a commercial sports and talk radio service from London to the United Kingdom....
and
Virgin RadioAbsolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
. The licence was awarded to the sole applicant, GWR Group and NTL Broadcast to form Digital One. The original licence application included the following stations:
| Digital One Ltd (original application) |
Classic FMClassic FM is one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasting classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...
|
Classical music |
GWR (now part of Global RadioGlobal Radio is a British commercial radio company, the largest in the country following acquisitions of Chrysalis Radio in July 2007 and GCap Media in June 2008....
) |
| Classic Gold Rock |
Rock music |
NTL |
| Club dance |
Dance music |
TBA |
| Plays, books and music |
Comedy, drama and serials |
TBA |
| Rolling news service |
Rolling news |
ITN |
| Soft AC |
Female contemporary music |
TBA |
| Sports channel |
Live sports and comment |
Talk Radio UK |
Talk RadioTalksport , owned by UTV Radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a commercial sports and talk radio service from London to the United Kingdom....
(now talkSPORT) |
Talk radio |
Talk Radio UK (now owned by UTV Radio UTV Radio is a UK media company, and owner of several radio stations in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It is a growing branch of UTV Media....
) |
| Teen and chart hits |
Pop and dance music |
GWR |
Virgin RadioAbsolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
|
Complementary rock music |
SMG plcSTV Group plc is a Scottish media company. Originally formed as Scottish Television, it changed its name to Scottish Media Group in 1996 when it acquired Caledonian Publishing, owners of Glasgow-based newspapers The Herald and Evening Times . It then went on to acquire the ITV license holder for...
|
After the closure of
PrimeTime RadioPrimeTime Radio was a national UK radio station. It was once part of although it became independent in 2004. It operated as a sister station to Saga Digital radio. The line up featured a variety of presenters including David Hamilton, Don Durbridge, David Allan, Dave Cash, Tony Myatt and Sheila...
in 2006, the original licence was amended to allow the launch of a new classic and contemporary jazz service,
theJazztheJazz was a British commercial jazz digital radio station. The station was run by GCap Media and launched on Christmas Day 2006 at 09:00 UTC originally as a non-stop jazz station on the Digital One DAB ensemble, Sky Digital, Virgin Media and the Internet....
which was launched on 25 December 2006, before the 31 December 2006 deadline set in the licence amendment.
In April 2009, Global Radio, which had acquired GCap Media - part owner of Digital One, sold its 63% stake in the ensemble to Arqiva, making them the sole owner and operator of the ensemble.
Local ensembles
The Radio Authority (and subsequently Ofcom) continue to award regional ensemble licences to a number of radio groups with advertising of the licences starting from 1998, and licence awards being awarded from 10 May 1999, with the Birmingham ensemble being the first local licence being issued to CE Digital. The Birmingham ensemble licence award was followed by awards for licences in
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
,
Greater LondonGreater London is the top-level administrative subdivision covering London, England. The administrative area was officially created in 1965 and covers the City of London, including Middle Temple and Inner Temple, and thirty two London boroughs...
,
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and
South YorkshireSouth Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and the city of Sheffield...
, with more licences being awarded afterwards.
In October 2006, Ofcom announced a timetable of locations which would get its own DAB ensemble, where a local ensemble does not currently offer coverage. Three blocks will be made available in VHF
Band IIIBand III is the name of a radio frequency range within the very high frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum.Band III ranges from 174 to 230 MHz, and it is primarily used for radio and television broadcasting...
. In May 2007, Ofcom replaced the York and Scarborough for a licence which covers the whole of North Yorkshire, and the Guildford plus Reigate and Crawley licences were merged to cover Surrey.
Areas covered are as follows:
| Area |
Advertisement date |
Block |
Winning applicant |
Ensemble name |
HertfordshireHertfordshire , abbreviated Herts, is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford....
, BedfordshireBedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region....
and BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury and the largest town in ceremonial Buckinghamshire is Milton Keynes....
|
December 2006 |
10D |
NOW Digital |
NOW Home Counties |
| Derbyshire Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains...
|
January 2007 |
10B |
NOW Digital (East Midlands) |
NOW Derbyshire Now Derbyshire is an upcoming local commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, which will serve Derbyshire and other parts of the East Midlands....
|
WrexhamWrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located to the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
and ChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
|
February 2007 |
10D |
MuxCo |
MuxCo North East Wales & West Cheshire |
HerefordHereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
and WorcestershireWorcestershire or ; abbreviated Worcs) is a historic and administrative county located in the West Midlands region of central England. In 1974 it was merged with the county of Herefordshire to form the single administrative county of Hereford and Worcester; which was divided in 1998,...
|
March 2007 |
10B |
MuxCo |
MuxCo Hereford & Worcester |
NorthamptonshireNorthamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census...
|
April 2007 |
10C |
NOW Digital |
NOW Northampton |
OxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East England region, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire....
|
May 2007 |
10B |
NOW Digital |
NOW Oxford |
GloucestershireGloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
|
July 2007 |
10C |
MuxCo |
MuxCo Gloucestershire |
| North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county in that region and also partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest ceremonial...
|
June 2007 |
12D |
MuxCo |
MuxCo North Yorkshire |
| Mid Mid Wales is the name given to the area of Wales lying between North and South Wales. Like the other regions of Wales, it has no official status as a region and therefore has no precise boundaries. It borders England via the Welsh Marches to the east and the Irish Sea via Cardigan Bay to the west...
and West WalesWest Wales is the western area of Wales.Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, an area called "South West Wales" in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics. Other definitions include Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, but exclude...
|
August 2007 |
12D |
MuxCo |
MuxCo Mid and West Wales |
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
and Northern SussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
|
September 2007 |
10C |
MuxCo |
MuxCo Surrey and Northern Sussex |
LincolnshireLincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire. It also borders Northamptonshire for just 19 metres, England's shortest county boundary...
|
October 2007 |
10D |
MuxCo |
MuxCo Lincolnshire |
Regional ensembles
The first regional licence to cover a greater area of land compared to a local ensemble was awarded on 6 October 2000 to Switch Digital for Central Scotland Other areas which were awarded and classed as regional licences include:
| Region |
Operator |
Licence award date |
On air date |
| Central Scotland Central Scotland can refer to:* Central Belt, the area of highest population density in Scotland, also known as the "Midlands" or "Scottish Midlands"* Central Lowlands, a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland...
|
Switch Digital |
6 October 2000 |
June 2001 |
North East EnglandNorth-East England is one of the nine official regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Tees Valley. The historic name for North-East England is Northumbria and whilst a few regional bodies still use this name, it is rarely used in...
|
MXR Ltd |
15 December 2000 |
July 2001 |
| South Wales South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
and the Severn EstuaryThe Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England, and extending from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
|
MXR Ltd |
23 January 2001 |
July 2001 |
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
|
MXR Ltd |
9 February 2001 |
August 2001 |
North West EnglandNorth West England is one of the nine official regions of England. It has a population of 6,853,200 and comprises five counties of England – Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire....
|
MXR Ltd |
9 March 2001 |
September 2001 |
YorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the British Isles. Because of its great size, functions were increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have been subject to periodic reform. Throughout these changes, Yorkshire has continued to be recognised as...
|
MXR Ltd |
28 November 2002 |
June 2003 |
In March 2009, Ofcom made a recommendation to the Government in their
Radio in Digital Britain report that the regional ensembles should expand into a nationwide regionalised service to fill the gap made by the 4Digital Group pulling out of the second national ensemble. Ofcom cited that the regions for the second national ensemble would be:
- The East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and most of Lincolnshire, although people often speak of...
, East AngliaEast Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, mid and southern Lincolnshire;
- London
[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, Southern EnglandSouthern England, The South and The South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands and East Anglia. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region...
, the South EastSouth East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. Its boundaries include Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
and the South MidlandsThe South Midlands is an area of England. It is the southern portion of the English Midlands, and just as there is no agreed definition for that area, various organisations use the name South Midlands to refer to an area that is specific to their own way of dividing up the country. The term is...
;
- Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
;
- North East England and Cumbria
Cumbria is a shire county in the North West of England. Cumbria came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
;
- North West England;
- Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
;
- The West Midlands;
- Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
;
- The West
The West of England is a loose and locationally unspecific term sometimes given to the area surrounding the City and County of Bristol, England, and also sometimes applied more widely and in other parts of South West England.-Use in the Bristol area:...
and South West of EnglandSouth West England is one of the regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area, covering including Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. It has a population of almost five million, and includes the area often known as...
;
- Yorkshire, the North Midlands
The North Midlands is a loosely-defined area of England. It is typically held to include the northern parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and in some definitions also covers South Yorkshire, southern Cheshire and parts of Lincolnshire and Staffordshire...
and North LincolnshireNorth Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in the region of Yorkshire and the Humber in England. For ceremonial purposes it is part of Lincolnshire....
.
Second national ensemble
Ofcom announced in 2005 that they would be advertising for the second national digital ensemble. As a result,
GCapGCap Media was a British commercial radio company formed from the merger of the Capital Radio Group and GWR Group. The merger was completed in May 2005. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. On 31 March 2008 the company agreed a takeover by...
threatened to take Ofcom to court after being told by the Radio Authority that there would not be another national ensemble. The court action was dropped after Ofcom assured GCap that none of the stations on the second ensemble would compete with existing stations on the Digital One ensemble.
On 1 December 2006, Ofcom advertised a licence for a second national digital ensemble to launch new digital radio and multimedia services on frequency block 11A (216.928 MHz). Applications needed to be submitted to Ofcom by 28 March 2007.
On 29 March 2007, Ofcom announced that it had received two applications for the second national digital ensemble, from the
4 Digital Group4 Digital Group was a media consortium in the United Kingdom. The group won the licence to operate the second national DAB radio multiplex, as advertised by Ofcom in December 2006. The consortium, led by Channel 4 Radio, is a combination of the existing commercial radio operators and brands new to...
and National Grid Wireless. The radio channels which made up both applications are as follows:
| 4 Digital Group |
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
Radio |
Speech |
Channel 4 Radio Channel 4 Radio was a radio brand launched by Channel 4 in January 2007. On October 11 2008 the closure was announced. It incorporated Oneword, in which Channel 4 purchased a 51% share in 2005, although it relinquished this share to co-owner UBS Media in January 2008.Listeners were required to...
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| Closer |
Female music and lifestyle |
EMAP EMAP is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
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| Disney The Walt Disney Company , often simply known as Disney, is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world, known for its family-friendly products...
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Children's radio |
The Walt Disney Company |
| E4 Radio |
Youthful entertainment and music |
Channel 4 Radio |
| Original |
Album led alternative music |
CanWest Global CommunicationsCanwest Global Communications Corp. , operating under the corporate brand Canwest, is one of Canada's largest international media companies...
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| Pure 4 |
Adult music and speech |
Channel 4 Radio |
Sky News RadioSky News is a 24 hour international news service with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New Zealand. Sky News previously operated...
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Rolling news |
British Sky BroadcastingBritish Sky Broadcasting is a company that operates Sky Digital, a subscription television service in the UK and Ireland. It produces TV content, and owns several TV channels. It is the UK's largest pay TV provider...
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| Sunrise Radio Sunrise Radio is the United Kingdom's first Independent Local Radio station to cater specifically for the Asian community. Dr Avtar Lit is the chairman, but the station is run by one of his sons, Tony Lit who has also appeared as a newspaper reviewer on Sky News and who stood unsuccessfully for...
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Asian music and community programming |
Sunrise Radio Group |
| talkRadio |
Talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
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UTV plcUTV Media is a broadcasting and New Media company based in Belfast in Northern Ireland. UTV Media's main operation is the ITV franchise for Northern Ireland, and it is also the owner of UTV Radio, which operates the UK Independent National Radio station talkSPORT, along with 17 radio stations in...
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Virgin RadioAbsolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
Viva |
Younger female music station |
SMG plcSTV Group plc is a Scottish media company. Originally formed as Scottish Television, it changed its name to Scottish Media Group in 1996 when it acquired Caledonian Publishing, owners of Glasgow-based newspapers The Herald and Evening Times . It then went on to acquire the ITV license holder for...
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| Podcast service |
Various podcasts |
Various |
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| National Grid Wireless |
BBC Asian NetworkBBC Asian Network is for anyone in the UK with an interest in Asian music, news, entertainment, culture, debate and drama. The music and news comes out of the main urban areas where there are significant communities with a background in the South Asian diaspora.They have production centres in...
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Asian music and entertainment |
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
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| Channel 4 Radio Station 1 |
TBA |
Channel 4 Radio |
| Channel 4 Radio Station 2 |
TBA |
Channel 4 Radio |
| Colourful |
News and Afro-CaribbeanThe British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...
community radio |
Colourful Media Limited |
| Confidential |
50+ radio station |
Confidential |
| Confidential |
Adult-Album |
Confidential |
| Confidential |
Asian radio station |
Confidential |
| Confidential |
Love songs |
Confidential |
| Confidential |
Rolling news |
Confidential |
| Fun Radio Fun Kids is a British children's digital radio station in the United Kingdom and currently the Sony Digital Radio Station of the Year. It is operated by Children's Radio UK Ltd which is owned by Folder Media...
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Children's programming (13 hours) |
Children's Radio UK Limited |
Premier Christian RadioPremier Christian Radio is a British Christian radio station wholly owned by the charity, Premier Christian Media Trust.Premier Christian Radio broadcasts Christian programming including news, debate, teachings and Christian music to London and the surrounding areas...
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Christian Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
programming |
London Christian Radio Limited |
| Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg is the name of a commercial radio station that has broadcast in many languages in conjunction with a television service operated from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.-Background history:...
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Youthful alternative and indie music |
CLT/UFA |
| Radio Play |
Interactive participation radio A quiz channel is a television channel that focuses on phone-in quizzes. The quizzes usually focus on puzzles, such as filling in blanks, identifying subjects, or other forms of word puzzles....
(6 hours) |
Somethin' Else |
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On 6 July 2007 Ofcom awarded the licence for the second national ensemble to the 4 Digital Group, who are required to launch its services one year after its licence award. However on October 10, 2008 the 4 Digital Group pulled its plans for digital radio, including the launch of the second multiplex. Ofcom held talks with the other remaining shareholders of the 4 Digital Group to see if they were willing to continue with the launch. In March 2009, Ofcom recommended to the Government that the second national ensemble should be regionalised, formed by the existing regional ensembles.
Digital Radio UK
Digital Radio UK is a organisation which represents the interests of the digital radio industry including the BBC, commercial radio companies and transmission network operator,
ArqivaArqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company was formed by National Grid Wireless combining with Arqiva in September 2008...
. The organisation also promotes the use and take up of DAB in the United Kingdom and ensure that the deadline for digital migration in 2015 is met. Digital Radio UK is formed from the Digital Radio Delivery Group which also absorbed the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB). Part of DRDB's plans, and under Digital Radio UK still is, will be to promote
DABDigital Audio Broadcasting , is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
uptake through a website for consumers as well as print and
radio advertisingA radio commercial is a form of advertising via the medium of radio. Airtime is purchased from a station or network in exchange for airing the commercials....
.
See also
- Radio in the United Kingdom
There are over 250 radio stations in the United Kingdom. For a more comprehensive list see List of radio stations in the United Kingdom.-BBC Radio:The most prominent stations are the national networks operated by the BBC....
- DAB ensemble
DAB ensembles are groups of Digital audio broadcasting broadcasters transmitting multiple digital radio channels on a single radio transmission....
- Digital audio broadcasting
Digital Audio Broadcasting , is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
- Digital Radio Mondiale
Digital Radio Mondiale is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for AM broadcasting, particularly shortwave...
- List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
- The Radio Academy
The Radio Academy is a registered charity that is dedicated to 'the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production'.The Radio Academy was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees...
Official sites
National and regional multiplex sites operators
UK Internet radio
Other sites