Digital radio in Australia
Digital radio in Australia uses the DAB+ standard and is currently available in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Darwin.[1] The national government owned networks, the ABC and SBS, provide their current services and a few digital-only services on the new platform, while the commercial radio stations in each market have also been given digital bandwidth. Australia uses the AAC+ codec provided with upgraded DAB+ standard.[2]
History
Despite testing in Sydney and Melbourne as early as 1999, the first genuine plan for digital radio was released in October 2005, as Helen Coonan, the then Australian Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, announced that Australia would adopt the Eureka 147 system. The Australian Government had set a launch date for digital radio in the six state capital cities, originally 1 January 2009, but this launch date was subsequently shifted back to no later than 1 July 2009 [3] and the list of cities starting digital radio excluded Hobart. The peak industry body, Commercial Radio Australia, began coordinating the tests as well as organising the commercial multiplexes.
The major radio networks commenced a staged roll-out of commercial DAB+ services during May 2009 with Perth launching on 4 May 2009; Melbourne on 11 May 2009; Adelaide on 20 May 2009; Brisbane on 25 May 2009; and Sydney on 30 May 2009 (later delayed to 15 June due to weather conditions and kept on low power until 30 June). The roll-out of DAB+ services by the Government-owned ABC and SBS networks was delayed until 1 July 2009 due to funding delays and management issues.[4] Testing has been planned for other major cities, with a trial multiplex in Canberra commencing broadcasting on 14 July 2010,[5] and a trial multiplex running in Darwin since 13 August 2010.[6] Similar trials are being considered for Townsville and Hobart, and, as of December 2010, commercial broadcasters in regional markets have begun planning to introduce digital radio into regional population centres, possibly as soon as 2011 or 2012.[7] However, it is expected that it will be some years before digital radio is extended to the bulk of the Australian continent. Australia's vast distances and low population density are not well suited to the propagation characteristics of DAB+ and it is therefore likely that a standard other than DAB+ will be adopted for serving areas outside the major cities (leading to customer acceptance issues with receivers that can only receive one of the likely two standards).
Community digital radio services were rolled out to capital cities in late 2010 to May 2011 and were formally launched in May 2011. [8] The roll out of community digital radio services represents the largest ever infrastructure project conducted by the community broadcasting sector in Australia. The project was managed by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia.
Current services
National Broadcasters
The ABC and SBS operate digital radio services on all current DAB+ broadcasting markets on frequency block 9C (206.352MHz), except for Canberra, where only the SBS services and two ABC stations (666 ABC Canberra and Radio National) are available, on frequency block 10B (211.648MHz), and Darwin, where they are currently unavailable.[9] While most services are national, the ABC provides the local ABC Local Radio station for their respective location.
The local radio services are mostly a simulcast of their AM radio equivalents, however alternate programming is aired pre-empting most sports coverage (which is moved to digital-only station ABC Grandstand). This programming is also on the ABC's online streams, where sporting rights may prevent international coverage. The ABC also have a number of digital only radio stations,[10] including special events station ABC Extra,[11] which is used to provide additional coverage for special events, otherwise not able to be covered.
9C National Multiplex
| Station Name |
Format |
Details |
Owner |
| ABC Local Radio |
Talk, News, Music and more. |
Labelled as the name of the local station, e.g. 702 ABC Sydney or 891 ABC Adelaide |
ABC |
| ABC Radio National |
National talk and arts radio |
AM Simulcast |
ABC |
| ABC Classic FM |
Classical Music |
FM Simulcast |
ABC |
| ABC NewsRadio |
News and Parliamentary Broadcasts |
AM Simulcast |
ABC |
| Triple J |
Youth focused music station |
FM Simulcast |
ABC |
| ABC Dig Music |
Adult Contemporary Music |
Digital Only |
ABC |
| ABC Country |
Country Music |
Digital Only |
ABC |
| ABC Jazz |
Jazz Music |
Digital Only |
ABC |
| ABC Grandstand |
Live Sports Coverage |
Digital Only |
ABC |
| ABC Extra |
Special Event Radio |
Digital Only |
ABC |
| Triple J Unearthed |
Australian independent music station |
Digital Only |
ABC |
| SBS Radio 1 |
Multilingual Radio |
SBS FM Service (Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra), Digital only (elsewhere) |
SBS |
| SBS Radio 2 |
Multilingual Radio |
SBS AM Service (Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra), Digital only (elsewhere) |
SBS |
| SBS Chill |
World Chillout Music |
Digital Only |
SBS |
| SBS Pop Asia |
Asian Pop Music |
Digital Only |
SBS |
| SBS Radio 6 |
BBC World Simulcast. Some opt outs, including sports coverage & special events. [12] |
Digital Only |
SBS |
Commercial and Community Radio
Each region with access to digital radio has a number of multiplexes set aside for commercial and community radio services. In these multiplexes, two-ninths of the bandwidth are reserved for community broadcasters, while the rest is used for commercial broadcasters. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have been provided with two such multiplexes, which broadcast on frequency blocks 9A (202.928 MHz) and 9B (204.640 MHz), allowing a greater number of stations, while Adelaide and Perth currently have just one commercial/community multiplex each, both broadcasting on frequency block 9B. Canberra has only one frequency block, 10B (211.648 MHz) which is shared with SBS, and Darwin's trial multiplex also broadcasts on frequency block 10B.
Commercial services on digital radio include simulcasts of both AM and FM stations, as well as new digital-only services. While most commercial radio services in Australia are provided by a small number of companies, there are no true national commercial stations. However, since these commercial broadcasters have been given extra bandwidth on the digital platform, some new digital-only stations are available nationally, including NovaNation (DMG), Radar (Austereo) and The Edge Digital (ARN).
Community Radio stations with a city wide licence have reserved spectrum, equalling 2/9s of the capacity on each commercial multiplex.[13] The Federal Government has promised $10.1 Million in funding to help community broadcasters with the costs of beginning digital broadcasts. During late 2010 and early 2011 most of the eligible community stations in Melbourne and several in Sydney and Brisbane began test transmissions. Melbourne's community radio stations officially launched their digital services on 14 April 2011,[14] followed by Adelaide's community radio stations on 15 April 2011,[15] Brisbane's on 14 May 2011,[16] and Sydney's on 24 May 2011.[17] Services in Perth are broadcasting in digital. Community Digital Radio services were formally launched by Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy on Friday 13 May 2011 in Melbourne. [18]
Adelaide
Brisbane
9A Brisbane Multiplex
| Station Name |
Format |
Details |
Owner |
| 4KQ |
Classic hits |
Simulcast of 693 AM |
ARN |
| 97.3 |
Hot adult contemporary |
Simulcast of 97.3 FM |
ARN/DMG joint venture |
| The Edge Digital |
Rhythmic contemporary |
Digital only, related to Edge 96.1 |
ARN |
| 4KQ Plus |
Classic hits, monthly featured artist |
Digital only |
ARN |
| Mix 80's |
80's Music |
Digital only |
ARN |
| Chemist Warehouse Mix 90's |
90's Music |
Digital only |
ARN |
| Nova 106.9 |
Top 40 (CHR) |
Simulcast of 106.9 FM |
DMG |
| NovaNation |
Dance music |
Digital only |
DMG |
| Koffee |
Chill-out music |
Digital only |
DMG |
| Radio TAB |
Horse racing, sport |
Simulcast of 1008 AM |
UNITAB |
| Switch 1197 |
Various |
Simulcast of 1197 AM |
Community |
| 96.5 Inspire DAB |
Christian |
broadcast of inspire Digital |
Community |
| Global (4EB) |
Ethnic |
Simulcast of 98.1 FM |
Community |
Canberra
Darwin
10B Darwin Trial Multiplex
| Station Name |
Format |
Details |
Owner |
| Hot 100 FM |
Top 40 (CHR) |
Simulcast of 100.1 FM |
Grant Broadcasters |
| Mix 104.9 |
Hot adult contemporary |
Simulcast of 104.9 FM |
Grant Broadcasters |
| Top Country NT |
Country music |
Simulcast of 92.3 FM* |
Grant Broadcasters |
| Radio TAB |
Horse racing, sport |
Simulcast of 1242 AM* |
UNITAB |
| Classic Rock Digital |
Rock music |
Digital Only |
Grant Broadcasters |
| Note: Top Country and Radio TAB broadcast on limited licenses, and as a result are treated as digital only stations. |
Melbourne
Perth
Sydney
References
External links