ABU Digital Radio Development Report
An Update on the Latest Digital Radio Development Worldwide
for May 2011
Eureka-147 DAB/T-DMB
Reported on 1 Apr 11: BMW Australia announced on 1 Apr 11 that it would be the first manufacturer
in Australia to offer DAB+ as an option, with availability on 5 Series and 7 Series from May, and the
new 6 Series upon launch.
DAB+, available in capital cities Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth, offers listeners
the ability to tune into all existing commercial, ABC and SBS stations in digital audio quality plus a
wide range of new digital only stations.
BMW has built its reputation in Australia being the pioneer of exciting new infotainment technologies,
and BMW ConnectedDrive showcases BMW’s philosophy for enriching driving experience with the
most cutting edge in-car technologies available today. The option will cost $750 on all 7 Series, and
$900 on 5 Series Touring and Sedan.
Source: www.commercialradio.com.au
Reported on 6 Apr 11: The Hong Kong Government announced that the Chief Executive in Council
(CE-in-Council) has granted new 12-year licenses to three broadcast operators to provide digital audio
broadcasting (DAB) services to serve the territories of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(SAR).
Initial plans call for a population of 13 channels on a new Band III multiplex, which will represent
almost a billion dollars of combined capital investment by the operators during the first six years of
operation.
Among the new licensees are Digital Broadcasting Corporation Hong Kong Limited (seven channels),
Metro Broadcast Corporation Limited (three channels), and Phoenix U Radio Limited (three channels.)
Digital contents plan for the new services will include music, education, news/information, along with
community affairs and ethnic programming. The largest of the three operators Digital Broadcasting
Corporation plans to offer a talk radio channel.
Public broadcaster Radio-Television Hong Kong (RTHK) has also indicated that it plans to add some
DAB+ channels in the near future.
Source: radiomagonline.com
Reported on 13 Apr 11: Frontier Silicon demonstrated its latest reference design, Mercury 4i, at the
Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition). Mercury 4i integrates popular audio features including
WorldDMB Profile 1 Digital Radio, CD, iPod/iPhone docking and FM into a single platform, with all
of these features controlled by the widely adopted Verona2i DAB/DAB+/DMB-R/FM module also
from Frontier Silicon.
Using the multi-threaded RISC/DSP processor included on the Verona2i module the Mercury 4i
platform is able to perform the radio reception (DAB/DAB+/DMB-R/FM) while retaining memory
and processing capacity to perform other functions in the system such as iPod/iPhone docking, CD
control and running the user interface. As these tasks are normally carried out by a separate
microcontroller, using Mercury 4i can offer a significant cost advantage when it comes to adding
DAB/DAB+/DMB-R to this class of product.
Source: www.frontier-silicon.com
Reported on 18 Apr 11: Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) launched a new series of radio and
online advertisements promoting digital radio for Mother’s Day. The radio campaign began in mid of
Apr 2011 on high rotation for three weeks, across 42 commercial radio stations in the five digital
radio metropolitan markets of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, was supported by
online and social media.
Specific retailers had been used in the tagline of the ads to drive listeners into retail stores. Dick Smith
and Myer were being acknowledged specifically in the ad campaign in recognition of extra levels of
support and promotional activity of the digital radio category during the Mother’s Day retail cycle.
Source: www.commercialradio.com.au
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Reported on 28 Apr 11: The French regulator, Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) approved on
28 Apr 11 the ‘RNT Lyon’ project - a consumer focused digital radio demonstration. This nine-month
project will see digital radio services on-air in Lyon, France from April to December 2011.
Fifteen commercial stations will be broadcast on two transmitters covering 75% of the population in
the Lyon area. Stations included on the demonstration are; Africa N°1, Cap Sao, FG DJ Radio, France
Maghreb 2, Impact FM, Latina FM, MFM radio, Nova, Ouï FM, Radio Orient, Radio Scoop, Radio
Vinci Autoroute Sud, RCF, Sol FM, Sud Radio and TSF Jazz. The stations represent a wide diversity
of programs for a broad audience of radio listeners.
Source: www.worlddab.org
Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)
Reported on 14 Apr 11: The strength of the DRM30 mode for LW, SW and MW was amply
demonstrated during the first day at the Continental booth at the NAB. Those presented, including
companies from as far apart as India and Brazil, got an update on the latest DRM international
developments and the efficiency and energy saving features of DRM30. The highlights of the event
were the news about the new SW DRM installed by Saudi Arabia and the unveiling of the new, low
cost, New Star DRM30 receiver.
Those interested in the latest about the DRM+ mode (VHF band) got a riveting presentation on
second day with updates on the recent trial carried out in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. New compact
equipment showed how individual FM station could digitize.
The last item of the DRM event at NAB took the participants to the Thomson booth where the events
centered on the possibility of DRM to carry not only sound and data but also short video (Diveemo).
Source: www.drm.org
HD Radio (IBOC)
Reported on 13 Apr 11: On April 6, Guaranty Broadcasting station WTGE(FM) in Baton Rouge, La.,
became the first FM station to broadcast CAP-EAS messages over HD Radio. The station used a Sage
Digital Endec; CAP-EAS messages were received on the box from GSSNet, a satellite data delivery
system, or the Internet. The messages were processed, converted and transmitted over the HD Radio
broadcast channel, and the alerts were heard on enabled HD Radio receivers.
According to the company, the digital technology is compatible with the Integrated Public Alert and
Warning System (IPAWS) and other emergency notification systems. A live demonstration of the text
delivery was demonstrated at the NAB show.
Source: www.rwonline.com
Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB)
Reported on 4 Apr 11: Bolivia’s state broadcaster Canal 7 Bolivia TV will start ISDB-T broadcasting
trial in June in the regions of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. The receiving devices will be
imported from Brazil, the antennas will be from Spain, and the digital transmitters will be from Japan.
Bolivia adopted ISDB-T in mid of 2010.
Source: www.digitaltvnews.net
Digital Satellite Radio
Reported on 12 Apr 11: The merger between Sirius satellite radio Canada and XM satellite radio
Canada has received approval from the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC). The merger carries several conditions, but in many ways mirrors the path taken
by the FCC in their approval of the satellite radio merger stateside.
The combination of operations in Canada should help ease the moves the overall satellite radio makes.
While certain unique conditions apply in Canada as well as the United States, satellite radio can now
create stronger branding, united hardware platforms, and better flow with car manufacturers.
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The Merger remains subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions and is scheduled to close
by June 2011.
Source: siriusbuzz.com
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