Bauer Northern Ireland is a DAB digital radio multiplex broadcasting to Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. The multiplex is now operated by Bauer Radio, having originally been awarded to the Scottish Radio Holdings

Scottish Radio Holdings

Scottish Radio Holdings was a Scottish media company which owned 22 radio stations, and around 30 local newspapers in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.-History:...

 unit Score Digital; SRH was sold to Emap, who were in turn subsequently purchased by Bauer.

Aside from the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 National DAB service, this is the only DAB service available to listeners in Northern Ireland, as the Digital One

Digital One

Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covers more than 90% of the populationfrom a total of 137 transmitters...

 multiplex - the national commercial platform broadcast to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Scotland

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...

 and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 - is unavailable in the area due to a lack of available frequencies, given that frequencies used have to avoid clashing with those used by analogue VHF TV and radio services in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 (being replaced by UHF digital TV by 2012). Three stations that are carried on Digital One are available locally in Northern Ireland on this multiplex (Classic FM, Talksport and UCB UK), though other D1 stations (including the third national commercial station, Absolute Radio) are absent from DAB in NI.

BBC Radio Foyle

BBC Radio Foyle

BBC Radio Foyle is a BBC Northern Ireland local radio station, serving County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It is named after the River Foyle which flows through the city where the station is based. The station broadcasts from BBC's Northland Road studios on 93.1 FM and 792 MW in Derry, County...

, an opt-out from BBC Radio Ulster, is not available on DAB as a full station. It is, however, available to Freeview TV users in Northern Ireland. In June 2010, the BBC announced a plan to trial the broadcast Radio Foyle content as a part-time opt-out from Radio Ulster on DAB, in a similar manner to the Radio 4 longwave programme opt-outs on BBC National DAB - under this scheme Radio Ulster's bit rate would drop during Radio Foyle opt-outs to allow both to occupy the one reserved BBC space on the multiplex. It is not clear whether this move will be made permanent following the trial.

Transmitter sites

Bauer Northern Ireland currently broadcasts using block 12D (229.072 MHz) on the following sites:

Transmitter	kW	Area
Black Mountain Black Mountain transmitting station The Black Mountain transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated on land 301 metres  above Ordnance Datum to the west of the city of Belfast, in Northern Ireland . It includes a guyed steel lattice mast which is 228.6 metres  in height...	7	Belfast, Carrickfergus, Bangor & Downpatrick
Limavady	7	Limavady, & Coleraine
Brougher Mountain	5	Omagh & Enniskillen
Strabane	5	Strabane & Newtonstewart
Derry	5	Derry
Colinward	0.5	Ballyclare

Current line-up of services

The stations currently carried on the platform are:

Service	Service ID	Bit rate	Audio channels	Description	Analogue availability
BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is one of two Northern Irish BBC radio stations, the other being BBC Radio Foyle located in the city of Derry. BBC Radio Ulster is located at Broadcasting House in the Ormeau Avenue area of Belfast city centre...	C339	128 kbit/s	Joint stereo	BBC regional service	92.0-95.0 MHz
CityBeat Belfast CityBeat Belfast CityBeat is a two-time Arqiva 'Station Of The Year' and multi-Sony Award winning Northern Irish radio station. It broadcasts to Greater Belfast on 96.7 MHz FM and on DAB Digital Radio across all of Northern Ireland. From 5 April 2007, Citybeat became available on 102.5FM for North Belfast,...	C090	128 kbit/s	Joint stereo	Adult contemporary	96.7 MHz (Belfast) 102.5 MHz (Bangor & Carrikfergus)
Classic FM Classic FM (UK) Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...	C2A1	128 kbit/s	Joint stereo	Classic music	99.9-101.9 MHz
Cool FM Cool FM 97.4 Cool FM is a commercial radio station, based in Newtownards, Northern Ireland, owned and operated by Bauer Radio and part of the Big City Network. The station began broadcasting in 1990 when its parent station Downtown Radio ceased simulcasting and split its AM and FM frequencies into two...	C5B2	128 kbit/s	Joint stereo	Adult Contemporary & Chart Hits	97.4 MHz (Belfast)
Downtown Radio Downtown Radio Downtown Radio is an Adult Contemporary music radio station based in Newtownards, County Down, that serves all of Northern Ireland using a network of FM and AM transmitters.- History :...	C5C5	128 kbit/s	Joint stereo	Regional commercial service	96.4 MHz (Limavady) 96.6 MHz (Enniskillen) 97.1 MHz (Larne) 102.3 MHz (Ballymena) 102.4 MHz (Derry) 103.1 MHz (Newry) 103.4 MHz (Newcastle) 1026 kHz (Belfast)
Heat Radio	CDCE	112 kbit/s	Joint stereo	Rhythmic music, Bauer Radio service networked from Manchester	—
Kiss	C483	128 kbit/s	Joint stereo	Dance and R&B, networked from London	—
Q102.9 Q102.9 Q102.9 "Northwest's Best Music" is a radio station based in Derry, County Londonderry. It broadcasts on FM 102.9 to the north west of Northern Ireland, Q102 also broadcasts via DAB throughout Northern Ireland via the Score NI multiplex. It is part of the Q Radio Network, which also owns a number...	C4B6	128 kbit/s	Joint stereo	Local service for Derry	102.9 MHz (Derry)
Talksport TalkSPORT Talksport , owned by UTV radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a sports and talk radio service broadcast from London to the United Kingdom....	C0C0	64 kbit/s	Mono	Talk & Sports	1053, 1089 kHz
UCB UK United Christian Broadcasters United Christian Broadcasters is an international Christian broadcasting and media group. Through affiliates in twenty five countries, it operates radio and television stations and publishes and broadcasts Bob Gass's free daily devotionals The Word for You Today and word4u2day...	CED0	64 kbit/s	Mono LSF	Christian music, also available via Digital One Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covers more than 90% of the populationfrom a total of 137 transmitters...  platform on mainland	—

Original line-up of services

The stations which were originally carried on the platform are:

Service	Description	Current status
3C 3C (radio) 3C was a United Kingdom radio station, based in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, Scotland and was provided by Radio Clyde. It played country and western music.Its sister stations were Clyde 1 and Clyde 2....	Country music	Closed by Emap EMAP Emap Limited is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...  on March 27, 2007, eventually replaced with Heat Radio
BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is one of two Northern Irish BBC radio stations, the other being BBC Radio Foyle located in the city of Derry. BBC Radio Ulster is located at Broadcasting House in the Ormeau Avenue area of Belfast city centre...	BBC regional service	Still operating
CityBeat Belfast CityBeat Belfast CityBeat is a two-time Arqiva 'Station Of The Year' and multi-Sony Award winning Northern Irish radio station. It broadcasts to Greater Belfast on 96.7 MHz FM and on DAB Digital Radio across all of Northern Ireland. From 5 April 2007, Citybeat became available on 102.5FM for North Belfast,...	Adult contemporary	Still operating
Classic FM Classic FM (UK) Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...	Classical music	Still operating
Cool FM Cool FM 97.4 Cool FM is a commercial radio station, based in Newtownards, Northern Ireland, owned and operated by Bauer Radio and part of the Big City Network. The station began broadcasting in 1990 when its parent station Downtown Radio ceased simulcasting and split its AM and FM frequencies into two...	Contemporary hit radio	Still operating
Downtown Radio Downtown Radio Downtown Radio is an Adult Contemporary music radio station based in Newtownards, County Down, that serves all of Northern Ireland using a network of FM and AM transmitters.- History :...	Regional commercial service	Still operating
Kiss	Dance & R&B music	Replaced in May 2008 with Magic, but later returned
Primetime Radio PrimeTime Radio PrimeTime 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...	50+	Closed after losing capacity on Digital One Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covers more than 90% of the populationfrom a total of 137 transmitters... , later replaced by Talksport TalkSPORT Talksport , owned by UTV radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a sports and talk radio service broadcast from London to the United Kingdom....
Q102.9 Q102.9 Q102.9 "Northwest's Best Music" is a radio station based in Derry, County Londonderry. It broadcasts on FM 102.9 to the north west of Northern Ireland, Q102 also broadcasts via DAB throughout Northern Ireland via the Score NI multiplex. It is part of the Q Radio Network, which also owns a number...	Derry local service	Still operating

External links

• DAB Ensembles Worldwide - Northern Ireland