Sound Digital

Last updated

Sound Digital
Licensed areaUnited Kingdom
Frequency 11A (216.928 MHz) [1]
Air date29 February 2016 (2016-02-29) [2]
Owner
[3]

Sound Digital is a semi-national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva, Bauer Media Group and News Broadcasting. The multiplex covers 73% of the population from a total of 45 transmitters. [3]

Contents

History

Following the collapse of the winning 4 Digital Group bid for the second national ensemble in 2008, the capacity was re-advertised in 2014. [4] Two bids were received, Sound Digital and Listen2Digital, a consortium run by Orion Media and Babcock International Group. [5] On 27 March 2015, Sound Digital were selected as the winner. [6]

Between award and launch, Premier Praise and Panjab Radio, a Listen2Digital station, joined the line up along with DAB+ stations Fun Kids and Magic Chilled. [7] Also, BMR and UCB Inspirational were rebranded Awesome Radio and UCB2 respectively and TalkBusiness was replaced by Listen2Digital station Share Radio. [8]

Test transmission commenced in February 2016, which consisted of Sound Waves and Sound Waves+ for DAB and DAB+ respectively. [9] An official launch took place on 29 February, with the majority of stations launching on this date and the remainder following over the next month.

On 15 May 2018, Sound Digital announced the planned introduction of additional 19 transmitters –to improve coverage in the South West, East Anglia, Wales and North of Scotland –increasing the multiplex's coverage to 83%, adding nearly 4 million new listeners in more than 1.6m new households. [10]

In September 2023 Bauer announced that Mellow Magic, Planet Rock, Scala Radio, Absolute 80s and Absolute 90s would transition to DAB+ from that October, freeing up capacity for the addition of Absolute Radio Country, Absolute Classic Rock, Magic Chilled, Magic Soul, Magic at the Musicals, Heat Radio and Kerrang! Radio to the Sound Digital lineup. [11]

Stations carried

DAB

ServiceService IDBit rateAudio channelsDescriptionDAB launch date
Fix Radio CDDA64 kbit/sMono LSFStation for the building trade3 May 2022
Premier Christian Radio CCD864 kbit/sMono LSFChristian music and speech27 March 2016
Premier Praise! CDD864 kbit/sMono LSFSister station to Premier Christian Radio 27 March 2016
Sunrise Radio C9D856 kbit/sMonoAsian music and speech programmes29 February 2016
Times Radio C0D864 kbit/sMonoNews and culture29 June 2020
Virgin Radio UK C3D880 kbit/sMonoRock/pop music30 March 2016

DAB+

ServiceService IDBit rateAudio channelsDescriptionDAB+ launch date
Absolute Radio 80s C8D832 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v280s music16 October 2023
Absolute Radio 90s CAC232 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v290s music16 October 2023
Absolute Radio Classic Rock C7C932 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Classic rock music16 October 2023
Absolute Radio Country CCE732 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2 Country music 16 October 2023
Boom Radio UK C5EF24 kbit/sMono HE-AAC v1Pop music13 March 2021
BFBS UK C5E024 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Armed forces radio24 January 2018
Capital Anthems CAFC32 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2 Contemporary hit radio 12 September 2024
Capital Xtra Reloaded CCE940 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Non-stop old skool24 October 2022
Greatest Hits Radio 60s CFFA32 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v21960s music16 September 2024
Hits Radio Chilled CEE632 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2"Laid-back" pop and R&B from 90s to now16 October 2023
Jazz FM CAD732 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Jazz music29 February 2016
Kerrang! Radio C6CF32 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Rock music16 October 2023
Kisstory R&B CFF932 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2 Rhythm and blues 16 September 2024
Magic at the Musicals CAEA32 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Showtunes and soundtracks16 October 2023
Magic Classical CDE632 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Classical16 October 2023
Magic Soul C3D932 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Soul, funk and disco16 October 2023
Mellow Magic C5D832 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Relaxing and melodic music16 October 2023
Planet Rock C7D832 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Classic rock radio16 October 2023
Radio X Classic Rock [12] C5F632 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Classic Rock music16 February 2023
Smooth 80s CAFB32 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v21980s music12 September 2024
Talkradio CAEB32 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2News and current affairs9 June 2020
TalkSport 2 C1D832 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Specialist shows, documentaries, and live sport commentary9 June 2020
Virgin Anthems C7E632 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Classic Rock/Pop Music22 December 2018
Virgin Chilled C8E632 kbit/sStereo HE-AAC v2Chilled Pop Music22 December 2018

Former services

Services previously carried on the multiplex include:

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "SDL National". Ofcom . Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "A Dozen Stations Launched On New DAB Multiplex". Radio Today . 29 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 "More digital radio stations on their way to UK listeners". Ofcom . Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "Two horse race for Digital 2 DAB multiplex". a516digital. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Martin, Roy (29 January 2015). "Orion Media partners with Babcock for D2 bid". Radio Today . Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Martin, Roy (27 March 2015). "Sound Digital wins national DAB multiplex". Radio Today . Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Martin, Roy (3 February 2016). "Fun Kids to go national as DAB+ radio service". Radio Today . Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "Sound Digital: full station list announced". a516digital. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Sound Digital tests: See how hi-tech your digital radio is". a516digital. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  10. ↑ Martin, Roy (15 May 2018). "SDL to extend coverage of national DAB mux". Radio Today . Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  11. ↑ Bauer Media, 2023-09-26
  12. ↑ "Global launches brand-new station Radio X Classic Rock". RadioToday. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Global launches Capital Chill radio station on national DAB". RadioToday. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
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