The BBC and Deutsche Welle (DW) today launched the new Digital Radio Mondiale™ (DRM) digital radio channel for Europe that was scheduled to begin early next year. The channel is an 18-hour daily broadcast of the best international programmes in English from BBC World Service and DW. It also brings to the audience all the advantages of the DRM digital radio including near-FM quality audio, text messages, Journaline and an Electronic Programme Guide (EPG).
This first ever joint BBC-DW DRM radio channel has been launched using six transmitters, which are used in pairs, to cover much of Western Europe. The signal covers France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and other neighbouring countries.
The broadcast can be heard from 0500-2300 UTC on shortwave and on 1296* mediumwave. DRM digital radios can automatically tune into the best frequency using information carried with the broadcasts. The channel has a rich mix of programmes offering global news and current affairs, in-depth analysis, documentaries, cultural programmes and sports including English Premiership football and German Bundesliga.
BBC World Service is represented on the channel with flagship news and current affairs programmes such as Newshour, The World Today and Europe Today as well as Sportsworld, Science in Action and Digital Planet. DW is putting Newslink, Money Talks, Living Planet, World of Music and Eurovox on the schedule.
Erik Bettermann, Director General at Deutsche Welle, said: “This project creates a great opportunity for two of the world’s most-established broadcasters to work together. Along with the BBC, Deutsche Welle will be able to offer first-class content on an innovative platform and reintroduce listeners to DRM technology. This new channel will show European audiences the benefits of good cooperation.”
Nigel Chapman, Director BBC World Service, said: “I welcome the opportunity to reach the new audiences that the coverage from this new DRM service will bring, free of the interference and in an audio quality only available on FM and other digital services. It is also an opportunity for other broadcasters to embrace the benefits that this new technology can bring.”
Ruxandra Obreja, Chair of the DRM Consortium and Controller Business Development, BBC World Service, added: “This exciting new DRM digital radio channel for Europe will give audiences a chance to listen to the best of BBC and DW in clear digital quality. We are looking forward to the response in the region, crucial for this economical and versatile system’s future. We hope that the channel content will stimulate the production and marketing of commercial DRM receivers leading to the graduation of long-distance radio broadcasting into the new digital era.”
(Source: DRM Consortium press release)
* 1296 kHz actually carries RNW programmes in AM mode from 0900-1100 and 1600-1700 UTC, including Euranet at 1600-1630 UTC. RNW is not involved in the BBC/DW project.
A flyer in PDF format with programme details is available on the official DRM website.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 13:17
1296 also carries RNW analogue programas from 09.00-11.00 UTC in Dutch (Onderweg for Truckers) so the DRM service will not be continious on MW, or am I missing something?
One of the postive things of the credit crunch could be the dropping of not viable projects.
But some parties like BBC and DW are still having to much money to waste on noise on the airwaves. Nobody will buy a DRM receiver, even when they hit the shops, if ever (consumer electronics retailers have their own credit crunch problems and the last thing they are waiting for is investing in stocks of DRM radio’s) .
Internet and Wireless Internet is the future. In the coverage area mentioned for this project Wireless Internet is coming, my money would be on that.
For the Benelux I really wonder what this DRM projects offers more in content then the fine BBC programmes we can receive on 648 AM. Excelent sound quality on 95% of all radioos, major part of the 5% with no FM is covered by FM-cable coverage in Holland.
The rest is Internet Streaming Audio., available on all computers.
WHO NEEDS DRM, dear BBC and DW?
Let me tell you a secret: for night coverage in Europe even far beyond the projected coverage area use 1296 in the analogue mode. You might hit real listeners.
For at home reception in better sound quility, Internet Streaming audio, excellent.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 13:39
Thanks Ruud, I overlooked the morning service in Dutch. Colleagues in our Programme Distribution Department were surprised to see the press release. But of course the BBC does not own the transmitter on 1296, so they might think they’re on it 18 hours a day, but in fact it’s only 15 because we rent three hours in analogue mode
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 14:19
I wonder if they will care to announce the shortwaves they will use.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 14:25
I assume that it’s pretty much what’s indicated on this page:
http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2033
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 14:28
BBC and DW needs a fixed frequency on shortwave 0600-2400 in DRM, so we can tune into this service all over Europe, please do it??? RTL is on 6095, but daytime only.
We need some DRM stations on mediumwave in the dark hours with good old music.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 14:41
I have got myself a Himalaya DRM2009 and I’m going to try and receive and listen to the new BBC-DW DRM-SW transmissions even though I’m WAY outside the official coverage footprint(I regularly listen to european/international DRM MW/LW/SW transmissions at my home in Accrington,Lancashire NW England;the skywave propagation on SW will probably bounce this thru the ionosphere backward over the UK particularly at night with the winter propagation we currently have). I regularly listen to the RNW 5955kHz DRM-SW transmissions in DRM stereo format aimed at Western Europe from T-Systems tx’s at Wertachtal South Germany and other DRM transmissions from other parts of Europe AND beyond and I’m VERY pleased with the audio quality and the improvement in reception quality. So I HAVE FINALLY proved that DRM DOES WORK AND CAN WORK. I’m NOT dissatisfied with DRM on MW/LW/SW and I BELIEVE IT IS THE FUTURE OF AM RADIO GIVEN THE CHANCE DEVELOPMENT AND EXPOSURE IT DESERVES and as I have told you again and again I will NOT pay for nor want or have Internet WiFi radio.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 14:57
Got to tell you all here, DRM is great on shortwave here in Sweden in my car. No noise, no fading, but some dropouts due to the skywave signals. When you get the groundwave of a mediumwave like 729 khz in DRM and ONE kilowatt in a distance of 140 km from Malmö, Sweden, it\’s great. More music stations on shortwave in DRM mode, i love it, Ruud old friend.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 15:01
Andy, it seems that 1296 kHz is in use not even for 15 but just for 6 hours, 0500-0700 and 1700-2100 UT. In fact the BBC initially used it for 18 hours a day as of autumn 2005, but later they cut it back again to seven and now just six hours while RNW relays in AM mode resumed.
And in next year the airtime contingent Deutsche Welle can provide for this joint project will do down, too. Source: http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_pdf/0,,3444190,00.pdf
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 15:29
Thanks Kai. That appears to be correct, as 1296 was not on the air when checked at 1500 UTC. So the press release is wrong, or at least badly worded.
Regarding changes at DW, the reasoning does appear strange. At RNW, we have a TV service (BVN) exclusively in Dutch for Dutch expats. The reach amongst the (admittedly small) target audience is very high, as are the appreciation ratings. We are providing Dutch people abroad with programmes they can’t get anywhere else, and time-shifting means most viewers can watch their favourite programmes at a convenient time. RNW has found most success by serving niche audiences - e.g. the Dutch soldiers in Uruzgan, and Dutch truckers in Europe (as Ruud mentioned). DW’s English output is, with the greatest respect, considered worthy but dull by most of the people I’ve spoken to who listen to it. It’s good quality, but presented in the style of the old BBC Home Service pre-1967. I don’t believe they will get a huge listener/viewer increase simply by producing more of the same.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 15:47
Those in favour of DRM are DRM owners, those who are against or dont care are non-owners.
I am afraid the second group outnumbers the first by far.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 15:55
Exactly, so there’s little point in repeating the same well-worn arguments over and over again. Each individual is entitled to his/her own opinion. But that’s all it is - an opinion. I report DRM developments not because I am a DRM supporter (I’m neutral on the subject), but because it’s all part of the rich tapestry of media developments.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 16:32
As Radioscape are no longer supplying the RS500 module used in the Morphy Richards and Himalaya receivers, which themselves are relatively expensive, the launch of this service does seem to me somewhat premature.
The promised Uniwave receiver cannot decode DAB/DAB+/DMB-audio limiting its market in Western Europe, which is also in the grip of economic recession.
Without a low cost battery operated receiver covering all digital modes used in Western Europe I can\’t see where all these new audiences are going to come from.
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 19:34
These broadcasts are as usual aimed at a minority audience of the highest order. Will we ever see Radio 538 or BBC Radio 2 broadacsting to the masses in digital of any kind ? Well, according to an article in the Guardian newspaper, the future is the internet.
The article pointed out the evidence that we need to predict rather than guess or just support our favourite system, as some on this blog are wont to do.
“Smart, hi-tech and inclusive, pirate stations are paving the way for the future of radio” says the article. “The most recent Ofcom research (2007) shows that 25 per cent of the entire London radio audience tunes into pirates” , it says. Furthermore, we are told that nearly all of this group have little or no interest in DAB or DRM but they like FM and WiFi Internet.
Then close to the end of the article :
“Perhaps new cars will come with digital radios… but it’s already too late. The future of radio is the internet: the pirates have moved online in a big way. All the biggest stations have live web feeds. Combine this with mobile phone internet access and you can use your phone to tune into a London pirate when you’re in, say, Glasgow. Then simply plug your mobile into your car radio, and away you go. Pirate stations instantly move from being local to national and even worldwide. And DAB seems even less relevant.”
Note that this is not the rambling of one biassed commenter; rather, it is well-informed information given by one of Englands main newspapers.
The article is here :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/nov/02/radio-radio
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 19:43
Thanks for the link, Andy. Isn´t it strange that they publish a huge press release without mentioning the exact times and frequencies for the new cooperative program? Do they think all these numbers are way too complicated for the DRM listener who is expected to own a receiver with automatic frequency search? Just kidding, folks.
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 00:41
@9: Note how Germans abroad are even explicitely send away by telling them to use other German online media instead. I can’t recall any media organization doing this before.
And indeed RNW has already been mentioned in discussions about Englische Welle as an example to argue how crazy it is to let down this group of people. Even worse if the English radio service can not really compete. So far this aspect has been discussed only for DW-TV, and here the critics say that it is just ridiculous to consider BBC World or CNN as competitors, because the resources of these stations are for DW completely out of reach.
And another point: On FM the BBC World Service had a weekly reach of 2 percent in Leipzig and 0.5 percent in Dresden, as stated in their mailbag programme. They shut down these FM transmitters because they considered these figures as insufficient. So much for the prospects of this new BBC/DW service and its potential to push the DRM service here in Germany.
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 06:56
Most of the webb radio stations got a few dozen listners only and offers ONE eurospots.
You need a subscribtion to some cell phone network wich got a radius of 5 km only.
If many are connected to a single mast at the same time. there will be several brakes. It’s a two-way communication, not like the AM/FMDAB/DRM = one-way.
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 07:43
If DRM is so doomed and not worthwhile, why are BBC and DW putting in this effort?
I’m happy to listen to this new service, but it puzzles me why BBC/DW would bother, if the prospects for DRM are as grim as most people seem to think.
Surely BBC/DW must know something about international broadcasting and the economics of it? Yesterday when I listened, there were even special trails obviously produced just for this channel. Someone at BBC and DW must think it’s worthwhile, as I can imagine either company has more money than they know what to do with just now.
Kai: in Saxony (afaik) BBC/RFI used 4 transmitters to reach a small target area. This DRM channel is using reportedly 6 transmitters to reach a much larger target area. Is it possible that the ecomonics of DRM to Europe are totally different than FM to Saxony, implying also that the cost-per-listener relationship is probably lower, even if the audience is low (in percentage terms) for DRM?
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 09:31
David, I think it has a lot to do with internal politics within the DRM Consortium. The broadcasters have been telling the manufacturers to get on with producing radios. The manufacturers argue that the broadcasters need to show they’re serious about DRM before they will commit. So, here it is….the last throw of the dice, so to speak.
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 09:55
Andy,
ok…I might buy that. If that’s really the case then it seems to be a desperate last throw of the dice, since none of the content on the DRM channel is new content not available on other platforms. At least (for example) in the UK there are some stations on DAB which are not on FM (even though they are on internet and freeview, too). Probably most of it is not even content which wasn’t already available on DRM in a different form. So I guess it ends up being the question of whether Europeans want radio by radio or by other means like internet, television or satellite, which all have a head start on DRM. But it’s difficult to escape the impression that BBC/DW have some how had their hands forced to invest in something no one expects to work. Perhaps that’s a more usual thing to happen at large corporations than I’d like to think.
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 10:22
It all makes a bit more sense if your consider Europe to be a technological testing ground for the DRM system. Western European listeners do not really need DRM, I believe we can agree on that. As soon as a major Asian broadcaster starts in DRM the BBC-DW project may be history.
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 14:40
I tuned in last night on the various DRM Shortwave frequencies in use on my Himalaya DRM2009 radio,Sines and Skelton offered the best possible reception at my location;the coverage footprint of DW Sines DRM Shortwave station at night spreads a good way across the UK after dark up to Southern Scotland, while Skelton is only up north of NW England in Cumbrian territory and spreads a DRM SW signal southwards across the UK into Western and Central Europe hitting parts of NW England on its way south into Western and Central Europe being in the firing line of the beam. I get occasional dropouts due to the skywave propagation(but that’s not too bad in my view and it still remains reasonably listenable).
on Dec 12th, 2008 at 11:39
Mark Phillips on the drmna group has posted an mp3 of the BBC/DW promo on the service, tag-line Better Radio Altogether, received in New Jersey at 1500 on 13590:
http://www.g7ltt.com/drm/reception/bbcdw-13590.mp3
Scroll down to the bottom of this page and there’s some screenshots including the EPG:
http://www.g7ltt.com/drm/reception
on Dec 12th, 2008 at 13:14
That sounds pretty good for DRM Shortwave Mike, I can’t complain at that for quality and reception. The quality of this just goes to show the doubters of Digital Radio Mondiale and the those who think it doesn’t either to prove with this that it can work and when done properly like this it DOES WORK. Just an couple of dropouts here and there but excellent overall. And the addition of stereo albeit parametric and not the full 20kHz per channel makes it a pleasure to listen to. I get a similar good level of reception listening to the European transmission. I’m gonna have a great DRM christmas with my Himalaya DRM2009 with plenty to enjoy and listen to! Happy DRM listening to all equipped with this revolution in digital radio technology!
on Dec 12th, 2008 at 15:16
Concerning the costs of DRM vs. FM: If I recall the parameters of the now closed BBC/RFI network in Saxonia correct the monthly costs should have been about 8,000 Euro (and it should be about 10,000 Euro for 90.2 MHz in Berlin, by the way). For that they got coverage on any existing radio in an area populated by about 1.5 millions people. Now the “currency” for foreign broadcasting appears to be “listener who tuned in at least once during the last week”. And now the question is how much of these listeners can be kept when they have to pay a three-digit price tag for a new radio that is not good for terribly much else. I guess most of the former listeners are lost, away from those who bother to tune in via satellite or online. And there are much other offerings than BBC WS available, also from the BBC itself, so these people are in doubt lost for BBC WS, too.
on Feb 23rd, 2009 at 19:13
Question to Roy Sandgren, hope you can help. If I was to buy one of the Morphy Richards DRM radios from Germany (129 euros) would I be able to pick up anything. I was very dissapointed when the BBC stopped the WS transmissions to europe.
I agree with Anthony, I don\’t want anything to do with internet radio.
on Feb 23rd, 2009 at 19:14
Sorry, forgot to say I live in Borås
on Feb 24th, 2009 at 07:44
Bad news Richard Dawson,morphyrichards have discontinued their DRM/DAB/FM/AM multiband radio, so you may find it hard to buy anywhere. BUT Sateuropa in the UK are offering the Technisat Multyradio DRM/DAB/FM/MW/SW/LW set at £199.00;go to Sat Europa at http://www.sateuropa.co.uk and enter Technisat Multyradio into the search bar at the top of the page and click Go. You can get various transmissions from RNW,Radio Prague,BBCWS/DW,Radio Romania International,RTL Radio,RNE,RAI,TDP Radio and other european and international broadcasters if you tune up and down the dial in DRM mode on MW/LW and SW. You may need an external antenna of which there is a socket for, should your DRM signal be poor on the telescopic antennae.
on May 6th, 2009 at 13:54
Thanks for your help Anthony, I’ve only just read your mail and will have a look at the Technisat.
on May 6th, 2009 at 15:11
It has a wide ranging spec;you won’t be disappointed and you may like it!
on Oct 1st, 2009 at 21:11
I live in Andalucia, do you know of plans to extend the BBC/DW coverage on DRM over shortwave here?