Digital radio in the United Kingdom

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A typical DAB digital radio receiver with the Digital Radio Development Bureau DAB digital radio marketing logo
A typical DAB digital radio receiver with the Digital Radio Development Bureau DAB digital radio marketing logo

In the United Kingdom, the roll-out of digital radio is proceeding since test transmissions were started by the BBC in 1990. The UK currently has the world's biggest digital radio network, with 103 transmitters, with two national DAB ensembles and forty eight local and regional DAB ensembles broadcasting over 250 commercial and 34 BBC radio stations across the UK. In the capital city of London there are already more than 51 different digital stations available. In addition to DAB, radio stations are also broadcast on digital television platforms, Digital Radio Mondiale on mediumwave and shortwave frequencies as well as internet radio in the UK. Digital radio ensemble operators and stations need a broadcasting licence by the UK's media regulator Ofcom to broadcast.

Digital radio in the United Kingdom is being promoted by radio stations and the broadcasting industry on the premise that it provides a wider choice of radio stations, is easier to use, and is resistant to interference to which other broadcasts mediums are susceptible. However, the price paid for the extra number of stations is that the audio quality on DAB is lower than on FM. Also some areas of the country do not presently have DAB coverage, the BBC saying that it may not provide coverage to the final 10% of the population, and may use DRM instead.

19.5% of the UK population own a digital radio and 58% of people have access to digital radio either through a radio set, television or online.[1] RAJAR, who measure radio listening figures in the UK, stated in May 2008 that 31.5% of radio listening in the UK is done through digital platforms.[2] 21.4% of digital radio listening was to digital only stations.[3] 41% of digital radio users listen to digital radio through a television platform.[1]

Contents

[edit] Digital Audio Broadcasting

See also: Digital Audio Broadcasting, List of radio stations in the United Kingdom, and DAB ensemble

Experimental transmissions of the DAB Eureka 147 standard from the Crystal Palace transmitting station by the BBC started in 1990[4] with permanent transmissions covering London in September 1995.[5] With the expansion of its single-frequency network in the spring of 1998,[6] the BBC national ensemble was available to 65% of the UK population by 2001 and to 85% by 2004.[7]

The Broadcasting Act of 1996 allowed the introduction of national, regional and local commercial ensembles in the United Kingdom.[8]

The first national ensemble licence for DAB from the Radio Authority was advertised in 1998 and one applicant applied for the licence. The licence was awarded to the GWR Group, now part of GCap Media, and its current owners and NTL Broadcast, who since the launch were renamed Arqiva.[9] The two companies formed the Digital One ensemble, which began broadcasting on 15 November 1999.[10] The Digital One ensemble has grown and is currently available to 85% of the UK population.[11]

[edit] Growth and benefits of DAB in the UK

Listeners of digital television and Internet radio and owners of DAB radio share
Listeners of digital television and Internet radio and owners of DAB radio share

In the United Kingdom, the uptake of DAB has increased since the launch of the BBC national DAB ensemble in 1995. Lower prices, new radio stations and marketing have increased the uptake of DAB radio in the UK.[12] Digital radios were first sold as car radios in 1997, priced around £800, with hi-fi tuners costing up to £2000 being released two years later.[7] In 2001, Digital One invested in Frontier Silicon to produce a new processing chip which would allow cheaper portable radios to be produced. Roberts, Goodmans and in 2002, Pure Digital's award winning[13] Evoke series of radios broke the £100 price barrier, and DAB take up has increased since.[7] As the result of the increase of uptake of DAB, electrical retailer Dixons announced in 2006 that it would discontinue selling analogue radios.[14]

The BBC and other DAB broadcasters have been encouraging DAB take up by promoting a number of features which are either new or improve upon former technology in their sales literature. The benefits of DAB is that due to the use of multiplexing technology and encoding technology, broadcasters including the BBC and EMAP have been able to launch exclusive digital radio stations alongside existing their analogue radio stations.[15][16] Broadcasters also state that DAB offers better reception, without the problems of interference that is more noticeable through analogue radio.[17] DAB radios also come with features such as station lists, so listeners do not need to retune their receivers, as well as scrolling text, telling listeners information such as breaking news, travel information or the latest track information.[17]

DAB has also been marketed with having two major advantages over analogue radio broadcasting in that using MPEG-1 Audio Layer II lossy audio compression technology, parts of the audio spectrum that cannot be heard by humans are discarded, meaning less data needs to be sent over the air. This, as well as multiplexing technology allows a number of channels to be broadcast together on one frequency as opposed to one channel for analogue radio broadcasts.[18]

National, local and regional DAB ensembles use the same frequency for the area they cover. Using a single-frequency network, an ensemble broadcasting a number of stations can cover the same area as a number of FM frequencies which would be required to cover the same area for one station. The BBC carried out tests in London of a single-frequency network with success prior to launching its national DAB ensemble.[19]

[edit] Criticisms of DAB in the UK

DAB provides low audio quality in the UK due to 98% of stereo stations using a bit rate level of 128 kbit/s[20] with the MP2 audio codec, which provides far worse sound quality than FM-quality (assuming good reception on both DAB and FM).[21] Also, a large and growing number of music stations are transmitting in mono.[22] Indeed, the bit rates used by the radio stations on other digital platforms, such as cable, terrestrial and satellite are usually higher than on DAB, so the audio quality is also higher.[23] For example, all of the BBC stations use higher bit rates on the digital TV platforms than on DAB apart from the BBC World Service on Freeview.

In addition, Ofcom has said that even after extra spectrum has been allocated to DAB, it estimates that around 90 local radio stations will either be unable to transmit on DAB because there is no space for them on a local DAB multiplex or because they cannot afford the high transmission costs of DAB that the multiplex operators are charging.[24] However, Ofcom announced in 2005 that it regarded Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) as being an option for the local stations unable to secure carriage or unable to pay the high transmission costs of DAB.[25]

In the UK, on the 30th of January 2008, a report in the Daily Mail claimed that there are not enough DAB Radios being sold to support the service for the future and that people are favouring their traditional analog radios over DAB. It also reported that unless sales start to rise, DAB in the UK could follow the same fate as Betamax Video Cassettes did in the 1980s.[26]

[edit] GCap Media pullout of DAB

See also: GCap Media

On February 11, 2008 GCap Media chief executive Fru Hazlitt presented a new strategy for GCap to fend off a takeover bid from Global Radio.[27] The strategy for DAB included the closure of national DAB stations Planet Rock and theJazz to close by March 31, 2008 as well as the disposal of Digital One to Arqiva for £1.[28] The chief executive also stated that the DAB platform in the UK was not economically viable and that growth in digital radio would come from FM and Internet Radio,[29] announcing a deal with Apple to stream GCap stations on the iPod touch and iPhone on the same day.[30]

The Digital Radio Development Bureau and the 4 Digital Group defended DAB by stating that DAB was showing signs of growth and would become more attractive to consumers and broadcasters.[31] The BBC and 4 Digital Group issued a joint statement on February 12, 2008 stating their commitment to DAB.[32]

[edit] DAB frequency plan

DAB radio stations in the United Kingdom are broadcast on a number of frequency blocks on VHF Band III. The original plan devised in Wiesbaden for the framework of DAB in Europe was to allocate frequency blocks 11B to 12D for UK DAB broadcasting. However, as part of its Review of Radio, Ofcom has expanded the frequency allocations for DAB and has advertised local and a national ensemble licence on blocks outside the original Wiesbaden plan on 10A to 10D and 11A.[33]

Block Frequency England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland
10A 209.936 MHz None None None
10B 211.648 MHz Local ensembles None None
10C 213.360 MHz Local ensembles None None
10D 215.072 MHz Local ensembles None None
11A 216.928 MHz 4 Digital Group ensemble 4 Digital Group ensemble 4 Digital Group ensemble
11B 218.640 MHz Local ensembles Local ensembles None
11C 220.352 MHz Local ensembles Local ensembles None
11D 222.064 MHz Digital One ensemble Local and regional ensembles None
12A 223.936 MHz Local and regional ensembles (except West Wales) Digital One ensemble None
12B 225.648 MHz BBC national DAB ensemble BBC national DAB ensemble BBC national DAB ensemble
12C 227.360 MHz Local and regional ensembles (except the south coast) Local and regional ensembles None
12D 229.072 MHz Local ensembles (except the south coast) Local ensembles Local ensembles

Under a Maastricht plan in 2002, the UK also has L band allocations for local terrestrial DAB,[34] though there are no plans to broadcast any digital radio stations on L band. Ofcom auctioned spectrum in L band in 2008 for a number of uses, including terrestrial digital radio.[35] On May 16, 2008, Ofcom declared that Qualcomm UK Spectrum Ltd had won the auction of L band frequencies in the UK.[36]

[edit] BBC National DAB

Main article: BBC DAB National

The BBC's national DAB ensemble broadcasts on frequency block 12B (225.648 MHz) across the United Kingdom,[37] with coverage currently at 85%.[38] The multiplex is owned and operated by the BBC and is transmitted from a number of transmitter sites across the country. The BBC's national multiplex only carries BBC national radio stations. Local BBC radio stations are carried on the relevant local DAB ensemble where commercial DAB licences are operating.[39]

[edit] Commercial DAB multiplexes

There are a number of commercial DAB multiplexes operators in the UK who run 48 local and regional DAB multiplexes across the United Kingdom. operators include the national operator, Digital One, regional operator MXR and local multiplexes operators including NOW Digital, EMAP, UTV, Switch Digital and MuxCo.

[edit] DAB+

DAB+, a new digital radio standard using the HE-AAC encoding standard and announced by the WorldDAB organisation in 2006, is being considered for digital radio broadcasting in the UK. HE-AAC encoding is more efficient than the MPEG-2 Layer II encoding standard currently used for DAB in the UK. DAB+ will either allow stations to broadcast at higher sound quality than currently possible with DAB, or allow more stations at the same quality currently broadcast on an ensemble.[40]

The Digital Radio Development Bureau released a press statement in January 2007 in which they admitted that DAB+ will be used in the UK in future.[41][42] Ofcom have said that the UK will switch to DAB+, but not until the vast majority of radio sets can work with DAB+.[43]

However, the 4Digital Group, led by Channel 4, which has been awarded the licence to operate the new national DAB multiplex, will be launching a podcast service using the DAB+ format when it launches in July 2008.[44]

[edit] Digital terrestrial television

See also: Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom
Transmitters including Emley Moor (pictured) broadcast digital radio via DAB and digital terrestrial television
Transmitters including Emley Moor (pictured) broadcast digital radio via DAB and digital terrestrial television

Digital radio on the digital terrestrial platform started on October 30, 2002[45] with the launch of the BBC's digital only radio services, BBC 1Xtra, BBC Five Live Sports Extra, BBC 6 Music, BBC 7 and the BBC Asian Network as well as existing stations BBC Radio Five Live and the BBC World Service. All the stations broadcast on the BBC's multiplex B.

On the same day EMAP Radio (now owned by Bauer Radio) launched three radio stations, Smash Hits, Kerrang! and Kiss. Two other commercial radio stations also launched, oneword and 102.2 Jazz FM.[46]

The BBC later launched BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3 and Radio 4 FM on multiplex A on February 14, 2003.[47] These channels later moved to Multiplex 1 on October 3, 2007.[48]

Currently, the digital terrestrial platform has twenty seven radio stations broadcasting from broadcasters including the BBC, Bauer Radio, GMG Radio and Virgin Radio.[49]

[edit] Digital satellite

Radio stations broadcasting via Satellite to the United Kingdom usually use the SES Astra 2 series of satellites at 28.2°E or the Eutelsat Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. Radio stations broadcast free-to-air via the Sky Digital, Freesat from Sky platforms and any DVB-S compliant set-top box.[50] The freesat platform has all the BBC's national and regional digital radio stations as well as BBC London 94.9 from the launch on May 6, 2008 on the EPG.

WorldSpace was planning a subscription based digital radio satellite service on the upper frequencies of the L band, if it had secured the frequencies from the Ofcom auction of L band frequencies in 2008.[51][52] However, Qualcomm beat WorldSpace in securing the L band frequencies in the Ofcom auction process.[36]

[edit] Digital cable television

A number of digital radio stations also broadcast through digital cable platforms, including Virgin Media and WightCable.[53]

[edit] Internet radio

In the United Kingdom, over 350 of the UK's radio stations also stream their stations online, not including Restricted Service Licenced radio stations, Hospital radio stations and stations who solely broadcast online.[54] 24.3% of digital radio users listen to radio online.[1] As well as listening through a media player on a computer, a number of British firms, including BT Group, Reciva, Dixons and Acoustic Energy have brought out Internet radio devices which use the Wi-Fi signal from a router to stream Internet radio stations within range of a Wi-Fi router.[55] Apple and GCap Media made a deal in February 2008 for GCap stations to be broadcast through iPhone and iPod touch devices.[30]

In 2006, the Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) announced that it would charge additional royalty fees on UK Internet radio stations if they broadcast outside the UK.[56] Radio stations which stream online including GCap Media and GMG Radio,[57] have implemented IP blocking to prevent listeners outside the UK from listening to their radio stations and therefore avoided the increased fees.[56][58]

In March 2007, a BBC News article reported that the PPL were re-negotiating royalty fees paid by UK Internet radio stations, and the result of the negotiations would be that fees would increase.[59]

[edit] Digital Radio Mondiale

Digital Radio Mondiale is being considered by Ofcom for introduction in Britain in 2012 on the present AM medium wave band.

In 2005, tests of DRM on shortwave radio from European transmitters broadcasting into the United Kingdom were performed by Virgin Radio, Classic Gold, Premier Christian Radio, Virgin Radio Classic Rock, Asian Sound and CVC.[60]

The British Broadcasting Corporation BBC started broadcasting the BBC World Service on shortwave and mediumwave radio for a few hours a day[61] across Europe from Orford Ness in Suffolk and Kvitsøy in Norway, the latter being receivable across England, Wales and Southern Scotland.[62][63]

The BBC has announced that it is to undertake a trial of the digital radio mondiale (DRM) technology, which will allow it to explore digital radio using medium-wave frequencies. The trial will broadcast BBC Radio Devon using the new technology in the Plymouth area and will last for a year from the end of April 2007.[64]

[edit] Digital Multimedia Broadcasting

In 2006, National Grid Wireless carried out a technical trial of T-DMB and DAB-IP on the UTV-EMAP Stoke-on-Trent ensemble.[65] The trial assessed the reception qualities of both technologies in urban and rural areas as well as the mobile television and radio services which could be delivered.[66]

[edit] Application and licensing

The United Kingdom media and communications Ofcom (and before the formation of Ofcom, the Radio Authority) advertises and provides the licenses for digital radio services in the United Kingdom, under the Broadcasting Acts of 1990 and 1996.[67]

[edit] Application and licensing procedures

Ofcom awards licenses for digital radio services differently depending on the type of service and the platform.[67] Ofcom advertises the licences of new digital radio ensembles and are subject to an open competition to the highest bidder. Ensemble licence awards are awarded for twelve years. On digital television services, individual stations can apply for either a digital cable and satellite licence to broadcast on the aforementioned platforms,[67] or apply for a digital terrestrial licence to broadcast on digital terrestrial television.[68]

On Digital Terrestrial Television and DAB, broadcasters also need to contact the ensemble or multiplex operator of a local or national DAB ensemble or digital terrestrial multiplex to broadcast within a region, subject to a fee payable to the ensemble operator.[69] On Digital Satellite, radio stations need to secure capacity with a transponder operator and an uplink to a satellite.[70] To broadcast on the Sky Digital platform, a broadcaster must also secure an EPG slot allowing viewers to navigate to their channel using the set-top-boxes provided by British Sky Broadcasting. A request for a EPG slot must be done up to nine months in advance.[71] On Digital Cable, broadcasters need to contact a cable supplier for carriage.

All stations broadcast in the UK must legally hold a music copyright licence from the Phonographic Performance Limited, Performing Right Society and Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society in order for royalties to be paid to the musicians the main bodies represent.[72]

[edit] First national ensemble

On March 24, 1998, the Radio Authority advertised for the first (and at the time, the only one planned) national ensemble to be broadcast on DAB. The three national commercial services on FM and mediumwave had to be included as part of the ensemble, Classic FM, talkSPORT and Virgin Radio.[73] The licence was awarded to the sole applicant, GWR Group and NTL Broadcast to form Digital One.[9] The original licence application included the following stations:[74]

Digital One Ltd (original application)
Classic FM Classical music GWR (now part of GCap)
Classic Gold Rock Rock music NTL
Club dance Dance music TBA
Plays, books and music Comedy, drama and serials TBA
Rolling news service Rolling news ITN
Soft AC Female contemporary music TBA
Sports channel Live sports and comment Talk Radio UK
Talk Radio (now talkSPORT) Talk radio Talk Radio UK (now owned by UTV Radio)
Teen and chart hits Pop and dance music GWR
Virgin Radio Complementary rock music SMG plc

After the closure of PrimeTime Radio in 2006, the original licence was amended to allow the launch of a new classic and contemporary jazz service, theJazz which was launched on December 25, 2006, before the December 31, 2006 deadline set in the licence amendment.[75]

[edit] Local and regional ensembles

The Radio Authority (and subsequently Ofcom) continue to award regional ensemble licences to a number of radio groups with advertising of the licences starting from 1998,[76] and licence awards being awarded from May 10, 1999, with the Birmingham ensemble being the first local licence being issued to CE Digital.[77] The Birmingham ensemble licence award was followed by awards for licences in Manchester, Greater London, Glasgow and South Yorkshire, with more licences being awarded afterwards.

The first regional licence[78] to cover a greater area of land compared to a local ensemble was awarded on October 6, 2000 to Switch Digital for Central Scotland[79] Other areas which were awarded and classed as regional licences include:

Region Operator Licence award date On air date
Central Scotland Switch Digital October 6, 2000 June 2001
North East England MXR Ltd December 15, 2000 July 2001
South Wales and the Severn Estuary MXR Ltd January 23, 2001 July 2001
West Midlands MXR Ltd February 9, 2001 August 2001
North West England MXR Ltd March 9, 2001 September 2001
Yorkshire MXR Ltd November 28, 2002 June 2003

In October 2006, Ofcom announced a timetable of locations which would get its own DAB ensemble, where a local ensemble does not currently offer coverage.[80] Three blocks will be made available in VHF Band III. In May 2007, Ofcom replaced the York and Scarborough for a licence which covers the whole of North Yorkshire, and the Guildford plus Reigate and Crawley licences were merged to cover Surrey.[81]

Areas covered are as follows:

Area Advertisement Date Block
Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire December 2006 10D
Derbyshire January 2007 10B
Wrexham and Chester February 2007 10D
Hereford and Worcestershire March 2007 10B
Northamptonshire April 2007 10C
Oxfordshire May 2007 10B
Gloucestershire July 2007 10C
North Yorkshire June 2007 12D
Mid and West Wales August 2007 12D
Surrey September 2007 10C
Lincolnshire October 2007 10D

[edit] Second national ensemble

Ofcom announced in 2005 that they would be advertising for the second national digital ensemble. As a result, GCap threatened to take Ofcom to court after being told by the Radio Authority that there would not be another national ensemble. The court action was dropped after Ofcom assured GCap that none of the stations on the second ensemble would compete with existing stations on the Digital One ensemble.[82]

On December 1, 2006, Ofcom advertised a licence for a second national digital ensemble to launch new digital radio and multimedia services on frequency block 11A (216.928 MHz).[83] Applications needed to be submitted to Ofcom by March 28, 2007.

On March 29, 2007, Ofcom announced that it had received two applications for the second national digital ensemble, from the 4 Digital Group and National Grid Wireless.[84] The radio channels which made up both applications are as follows:[85][86][87]

4 Digital Group
Channel 4 Radio Speech Channel 4 Radio
Closer Female music and lifestyle EMAP
Disney Children's radio The Walt Disney Company
E4 Radio Youthful entertainment and music Channel 4 Radio
Original Album led alternative music CanWest Global Communications
Pure 4 Adult music and speech Channel 4 Radio
Sky News Radio Rolling news British Sky Broadcasting
Sunrise Radio Asian music and community programming Sunrise Radio Group
talkRadio Talk radio UTV plc
Virgin Radio Viva Younger female music station SMG plc
Podcast service Various podcasts Various
National Grid Wireless
BBC Asian Network Asian music and entertainment BBC
Channel 4 Radio Station 1 TBA Channel 4 Radio
Channel 4 Radio Station 2 TBA Channel 4 Radio
Colourful News and Afro-Caribbean community radio Colourful Media Limited
Confidential 50+ radio station Confidential
Confidential Adult-Album Confidential
Confidential Asian radio station Confidential
Confidential Love songs Confidential
Confidential Rolling news Confidential
Fun Radio Children's programming (13 hours) Children's Radio UK Limited
Premier Christian Radio Christian programming London Christian Radio Limited
Radio Luxembourg Youthful alternative and indie music CLT/UFA
Radio Play Interactive participation radio (6 hours) Somethin' Else

On July 6, 2007 Ofcom awarded the licence for the second national ensemble to the 4Digital Group, who are required to launch its services one year after its licence award.[88]

[edit] Digital Radio Development Bureau

The Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB) is a trade body whose primary objective is to promote the use and take up of DAB in the United Kingdom.[89] DRDB's stakeholders include the BBC, GCap Media, Digital One, Bauer Radio and MXR.[90] Part of DRDB's plans to promote DAB uptake is to set up a website for consumers as well as print and radio advertising.[91]

[edit] References and notes

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  3. ^ Plunkett, John. Digital radio attracts more listeners. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  4. ^ Milestones - 1990s. BBC Research and Development. Retrieved on 2007-04-17.
  5. ^ The Status of T-DAB implementation in Europe. The Catalyst. Retrieved on 2007-04-17.
  6. ^ So how does the BBC fit in?. BBC Research and Development. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
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  20. ^ DAB Around the World
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  30. ^ a b Allen, Katie (2008-02-11). GCap to pioneer 'listen and buy' radio for iPods. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
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  34. ^ L-band Allocations. Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
  35. ^ 1452-1492 MHz (L Band). Ofcom. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
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  44. ^ Channel 4 proposes to use DAB+ on new national commercial multiplex. Digital Radio Tech.
  45. ^ Although not strictly classed as a digital radio service, BBC Parliament broadcast on digital terrestrial in audio only up until the launch of Freeview on October 30, 2002
  46. ^ Freeview to launch on 30 October. BBC Press Office (2002-10-03). Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
  47. ^ Wilkes, Neil (2003-02-12). Freeview launch for Radio 1 - 4. Digital Spy. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
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  49. ^ Freeview - Radio. DTV Services Limited. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.
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  51. ^ WorldSpace bids for L-band spectrum in UK. Radio Netherlands International (2008-04-19). Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
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  53. ^ Digital cable. RJ Productions. Retrieved on 2007-04-16.
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  56. ^ a b Hilton, Kevin (09 2006). UK streamed radio blocked by copyright (pdf). Pro Sound News Europe. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
  57. ^ The exception to this is jazzfm.com, which continues to be streamed outside the UK
  58. ^ Will licensing kill the radio star?. The Guardian (2006-05-04). Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
  59. ^ Royalties threaten internet radio. BBC News (2007-03-08). Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
  60. ^ DRM UK. DRMRadio. Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
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  65. ^ Mobile media test at Stoke (T-DMB and DAB-IP service) (pdf). National Grid Wireless. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
  66. ^ National Grid Wireless begins DAB-IP and T-DMB trial. National Grid Wireless (2006-09-09). Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
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  69. ^ Broadcasters. Digital Radio Development Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  70. ^ HOW TO SECURE YOUR CAPACITY. Eutelsat. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  71. ^ How to Launch A Channel. SES Astra. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
  72. ^ Frequently asked questions about UK Radio. RadioAndTelly.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-02-25.
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  75. ^ ANNEX - PART I - Conditions relating to simulcast services and digital sound programme services (doc). Ofcom. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
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[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Official sites

[edit] National and regional multiplex sites operators

[edit] UK Internet radio

[edit] Other sites

v • d • e
Digital radio in the United Kingdom
National Multiplexes
Regional Multiplexes
MXR North East  · MXR North West  · MXR South Wales and Severn Estuary  · MXR West Midlands  · MXR Yorkshire  · Score Northern Ireland  · Switch Scotland
Local Multiplexes (England)
NOW Berkshire & North Hampshire  · CE Birmingham  · NOW Bristol  · NOW Bournemouth  · NOW Cambridge  · EMAP Central Lancashire  · NOW Cornwall  · NOW Coventry  · NOW Essex  · NOW Exeter and Torbay  · EMAP Humberside  · NOW Kent  · EMAP Leeds  · NOW Leicester  · EMAP Liverpool  · CE London  · Switch London  · DRG London  · CE Manchester  · NOW Nottingham  · NOW Norwich  · NOW Peterborough  · NOW Plymouth  · NOW South Hampshire  · EMAP South Yorkshire  · UTV-EMAP Stoke-on-Trent  · NOW Sussex Coast  · NOW Swindon  · EMAP Teeside  · EMAP Tyne and Wear  · UTV-EMAP West Yorkshire  · NOW Wiltshire  · NOW Wolverhampton
Local Multiplexes (Scotland)
Switch Aberdeen  · Arqiva Ayr  · Score Dundee  · Score Edinburgh  · Score Glasgow  · Score Inverness
Local Multiplexes (Wales)
NOW Cardiff & Newport  · UTV-EMAP Swansea
Future Multiplexes
NOW Derbyshire  · NOW Home Counties  · MuxCo North East Wales & West Cheshire  · MuxCo Hereford & Worcester  · NOW Northampton  · NOW Oxford  · MuxCo North Yorkshire  · MuxCo Gloucestershire  · MuxCo Lincolnshire
See also