Monday 20 October 2014

German Federal State Retaining FM Radio For Ten Year

Flawed DAB+ uptake makes politicians to reconsider switch-off
The media committee in the federal state parliament of Saxonia-Anhalt has decided to change the media law in order to retain FM broadcasting at least until 2025. Today's decision safeguards that the FM radio in the end of this year will not end up as electronic scrap and that radio will continue to be a popular media, says the vice chairman of the CDU parliamentary group Markus Kurze. If most households use analogue radio then this way of broadcasting must be retained he says (Radiowoche.de)

Before there was a decision to force local radio stations (including community radio) to leave FM for DAB+. But radio stations and consumers are not interested to change. The DAB+ network is almost covering the whole country but nationwide radio listening via DAB+ has not reached 5 %  on a weekly basis.

We are accessible for the digital transmission, says Mark Westhusen, MD of community station Radio Corax in Halle. But as long as digital transmission is not successful and accepted as FM, the program of community radio has to be transmitted both ways. Furthermore we are convinced that FM has to be preserved for community radio. 

Facts:  German federal states decide their own media policies and have their own media regulators.  Saxonia-Anhalt has a population of 2,5 Million and is located west of Berlin-Brandenburg.

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