Industry News

Date set for biggest ever commercial radio launch

 Date set for biggest ever commercial radio launch 

Launch of 18 national stations signals a new era for digital radio

 London, 3rd February 2016: Sound Digital, the joint venture company formed by Arqiva, Bauer Media and UTV Media in 2014, has today announced its plan to switch on the UK’s second national DAB digital radio multiplex network on Monday 29th February 2016.

The Secretary of State, Rt Hon John Whittingdale MP, will perform the official switch-on of the new multiplex network built by transmission provider Arqiva at a central London event on Tuesday 1st March. This event will also see the launch of the national Big Retune campaign to encourage listeners to retune their digital radios to access the full range of available stations.

The landmark switch-on paves the way for listeners to access 18 national radio stations, representing a huge increase in choice for the British public. This includes four previously unannounced radio stations, with the UK’s only dedicated children’s radio service Fun Kids, a brand new sister station to the popular Magic brand – Magic Chilled, leading Asian broadcaster Panjab Radio and contemporary Christian music channel Premier Praise all agreeing to join the line-up ahead of the launch.

The confirmed stations, all of which will launch either on 29th February or within a month of this date, are:

 

DAB:
 talk 1 talkRADIO UTV Media News and current affairs
 talk 2 talkSPORT 2 UTV Media Live sports and sports talk
 virgin Virgin Radio UTV Media Rock and pop music
 share Share Radio Share Radio Business and financial news
 mellow Mellow Magic Bauer Media Relaxing and melodic music
 chilled Magic Chilled (DAB+) Bauer Media A second sister channel from one of the UK’s most popular music stations
 80s Absolute 80s Bauer Media 80s music
 kisstory Kisstory Bauer Media ‘Old skool’ dance tunes and anthems
 heat Heat Bauer Media Pop music, celebrity gossip and entertainment
 Planet Planet Rock Bauer Media Classic rock music
 sunrise Sunrise Radio Sunrise Radio Asian music and speech programmes
 awesome Awesome Radio Asian Sound New British Muslim lifestyle, music and speech station
 UCB 2 UCB 2 United Christian Broadcasters Christian music
 prasie Premier Christian Radio Premier Media Group Christian music and speech
 praise Premier Praise Premier Media Group A brand new station from one of the UK’s leading Christian broadcasting groups
 panjab Panjab Radio Panjab Radio Delivering extra choice for British Sikhs and Panjabi speakers
 funkids Fun Kids (DAB+) Folder Media National children’s radio station
 jazz Jazz FM (DAB+) Jazz FM Jazz, blues and soul

 

The announcement follows the award of a second national DAB multiplex licence by Ofcom to Sound Digital in March 2015.  The new multiplex will support the continued digital development of radio, with Sound Digital’s line-up of popular and well-loved brands living entirely or predominantly on digital platforms.

UTV Media’s offering includes two original speech stations in talkRADIO and talkSPORT 2, with the media owner also returning the iconic Virgin Radio brand to the British public, under a partnership with the Virgin Group.

Bauer Media will cater to a range of musical tastes with the national launch of quality music stations Mellow Magic and Magic Chilled, as well as the hugely popular stations KISSTORY, eat, Absolute 80s and Planet Rock.

There will also be a range of compelling independent stations to cater for specific areas of interest, including jazz music, financial information, Christian programming, Asian music and children’s programming.

The line-up includes the UK’s first national services delivered via the newer DAB+ standard.  DAB+ is more spectrum efficient than existing DAB, enabling more radio stations to be broadcast with the same amount of capacity.  Currently, the majority of DAB digital radios will only receive stations using DAB, however many newer DAB digital radios can receive DAB+ channels and, over time, that number will grow organically. Jazz FM, Fun Kids and Magic Chilled will all be delivered using DAB+.