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On Feb. 1 Flemish media regulatory body, Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media gave the green light for local DAB+ in Flanders. That same day, local trial broadcasts on DAB+ went on air in the provinces of East Flanders and Limburg.
As of press time, Radio Kamiel, Radio Plus, Radio TRL, Radio RBS, Radio Beverland, Classixx, Familieradio, ClubFM, TROS-FM, and Radio Rivierenland, had ignited their DAB+ signal. City Music, Mooyzo and Radio Ninove are expected to follow suit shortly.
Tom Callebaut of Radiostudio.be, together with David Tourny, of local radio station TRL, facilitated technical setup and trial broadcasts for the stations that are located in East Flanders.
“We had the practical knowledge to ‘talk radio’ and were able to act as an intermediary between the stations and the DAB+ operator,” explained Callebaut. “We’ve spent the last few weeks testing the stations’ on-air equipment and have assisted them wherever needed.”
In the province of Limburg, 10 out of 11 stations (10 FM, BOO, FM Goud Plus, GRK, Hasselt 1, Lorali, LRL, Oldie Radio Tienen, Radio Maaskant and Trendy FM) are also now on air.
“We had the practical knowledge to ‘talk radio’ and were able to act as an intermediary between the stations and the DAB+ operator.”
Tom Callebaut
The East Flanders DAB+ trials use the 10C block — with On Tower Netherlands (part of Netherlands-based Broadcast Partners) as operator. The 10C MUX is broadcast from three transmitter sites — Ghent, Aalst and Sint-Niklaas — with an output power of 1,000 W ERP.
In Limburg, the trial MUX is using the 10D block, using three 1,000 W ERP transmitters in Genk, Overpelt and Sint-Truiden. The Limburg DAB+ broadcasts are operated by Aircast.
