DAB+ arrives in the French West Indies

i-médias Group, a media and marketing company based in the Antilles-Guyane (the French West Indies), is adding a raft of DAB+ stations to a multiplex in Martinique. The island is a single territorial collectivity of the French Republic.

i-médias Group, which owns several FM radio stations in the Antilles-Guyane, initiated the five DAB+ stations on Jan. 23 — Fusion DAB+, Fusion Gold, Fusion Salsa, Fusion Compas and Fusion 100% News. It plans to launch four more stations after a 9-month test period: Radio Evangile Martinique, Radio Identity, Mixx FM and Maknet Jazz. The company expects to have 12 DAB+ stations in total, with plans to grow its DAB+ offering throughout the Antilles-Guyane. According to regulations, Martinique is allowed a total of 50 DAB+ stations.

Radio, once a highly popular media format in Martinique, has seen declining audiences in the face of competition from streaming platforms. A full FM spectrum has limited the addition of new FM stations to diversify the analog offering. i-médias Group says the deployment of digital DAB+ could create new opportunities for stations to improve their coverage.