Nova has quietly let its Koffee go cold and replaced it with two new relaxing music formats on digital under the smooth brand.

Following the trend set by other networks, Nova Entertainment has streamlined its brand identity so that the new digital stations align with the main smooth brand, which has rated so well in Sydney and Melbourne.

As smart technology continues to gain pace, digital technology supplier Frontier Silicon has launched a new control card to make sound bars smart.

If you are not a regular reader of our comments section  you may have missed a learned and well informed debate has been raging (well perhaps ‘raging’ is an overstatement) about DAB+ in response to a recent article on ten years since Australia's digital radio launch.
 
It has built up a good cross section of opinions about the success of DAB+ in Australia and about the audio quality of transmission.
 
Here’s your summary of the debate so far:
 

Laurel Edwards has been on air in Briabane for over 25 years and has seen the ups and downs of that radio market, so when she offers an opinion it's worth taking notice of.

“Soundcards are so very 2005.”

Macquarie Media’s Chief Technology Officer Aaron Alphonso, this week delivered a wide ranging technology presentation in Malaysia at the annual Digital Broadcasting Symposium.

He discussed the most important technological considerations when digitising your studio to transmitter chain. Three key areas to consider are:

• Audio Mixing, Routing and Delegation
• Playout Systems
• Systems Integration

Audio Mixing, Routing and Delegation

Europe has mandated that all new cars sold within the EU will now be required to have digital radios.

Car manufacturers have two years to comply with the new directive, that was ratified just before Christmas.

Meanwhile, in France, digital radio penetration has reached a point where it has triggered a law requiring that by the end of 2019, all new consumer radios to include DAB+.

EU Vehicle Directive

In the latest Sydney digital ratings, ABC Jazz suffered big losses in their 25-39 demo, down 19,000 to drop into second place overall with 96,000 cume, a drop of 12,000 overall.
 
Edge Digital was the only station in Sydney to get over 100,000 cume, up by 8,000 to be back at number 1 with 102,000.

Only three months after FM was switched off in Norway, a listener survey (Digital Radio Survey, Kantar Media) shows the new digital stations have up to one third of all radio listening. 

Most radio listeners still tune into radio, and the new digital stations have shown strong growth. 

These are some of the findings presented by a group of Norwegian stakeholders at Radiodays Europe 2018, the radio industry's annual European assembly. A new report from the year of switchover can be viewed online at www.radiodso.com.