For broadcasters of all kinds, DRM could be considered as a godsend

from one country to the next. Imagine, for example, driving across Europe, for pleasure or as part of your job, and being able to stay tuned to your favourite radio station from back home – absolutely no other system can deliver that.

All the benefits of digital radio

A low cost DRM receiver will deliver all the benefits associated with modern digital radios. There is access to an Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) and you can tune in easily by frequency, station name or type of programme (no more frequency advertising!). In addition, the programmes come with associated text information – the name of the station, the title of the programme or track playing etc. And, as most DRM radios can also tune in to both the analogue FM and MW bands and DAB, where available, this will be the one device needed to listen to all your favourite radio content.

Benefits for Broadcasters Expand your reach

For broadcasters of all kinds, DRM could be considered as a godsend.

For major international broadcasters, DRM is the obvious replacement for traditional Short Wave transmissions. DRM allows direct access to millions of listeners in excellent sound quality, without the hindrance of having to negotiate a way through national regulations on licensing or programme content, thus avoiding censorship restrictions and at an excellent cost/ reach ratio.

DRM on Medium Wave is perfect for broadcasters aiming for a national audience, especially in countries covering a sizeable geographical area. In large countries, like Russia or India, DRM has already been adopted as the only means to achieve seamless national coverage in the digital era – and it will certainly be the most cost efficient.

DRM is also the ideal solution for regional Medium Wave coverage, on its own or as a complementary system to DAB.

And, of course, DRM is ideal for broadcasters looking to roll out new, additional digital services and generate new revenue streams without compromising their existing content offer.

Even for small scale broadcasters targeting well defined, urban niches, DRM has an answer - the DRM+ standard. Subject to regulatory approvals, DRM+ will allow community radios or specialised commercial broadcasters to reach their intended audiences, overcoming the present congestion and high costs of the analogue FM broadcasting in Band II.

DRM+ avoids the complications of collaborative cost-sharing in DAB multiplexes by allowing individual operators to retain their original spectral

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DRM+ suffers less from interference than other the other digital systems currently proposed for Band II.

DRM+ is highly spectrum efficient in digital-only mode – offering 12x the stations on FM within the same frequency band. DRM+ also allows the use of Band I – much of which is currently unused in Europe due to signal propagation issues on analogue.

DRM+ also offers significant cost savings for broadcasters – requiring between a half and a quarter of the FM transmission power per programme stream in digital-only mode.

DRM offers a cost efficient solution all along the value chain.

Analogue Short and Medium Wave transmitters can be converted to DRM mode at low cost and the useful life of the equipment significantly prolonged, both from a technical and a financial point of view.

The scope of the capital investment required is also manageable because just a few transmitters can achieve excellent coverage over very extensive territories.

DRM looks like a perfect solution but manufacturers and large numbers of listeners still need to be convinced of all the benefits. The introduction of digital radio is not without cost. It needs vision and support from the authorities, a leap of faith (and investment) from manufacturers and a lot of new original digital content from the broadcasters. Only when all these stakeholders can be aligned, will digital prevail and make the question: “why digital?” totally redundant.

band and invest opportunistically to upgrade their own transmitters. DRM+ also avoids the need to relocate transmission facilities, (maybe buying or leasing new land or masts), or having to accept a change in coverage/ audience as part of joining multiplexes as with DAB.

EMERGING STANDARDS