Spanish public-service broadcaster RTVE is looking to begin DAB+ broadcasts in early 2024. The move comes as the country marks 100 years of regular broadcasting in Spain.
Although Spain did launch DAB services in Madrid and Barcelona in the 1990s, the technology was never widely implemented. However, in recent years, the number of DAB+ receivers in Spanish cars as grown substantially thanks to Europe-wide regulations requiring new automobiles to incorporate the technology.
Speaking on a panel at Telcom 2023 in Madrid, Ángel García Castillejo, director of audiovisual policies, public and international service, for the Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, said, “We estimate that, by spring next year, there will be three million DAB+ receivers on wheels in our country,” according to a report by Gorka Zumeta.
Given the size of this mobile audience — and the move earlier in the year by Ibertel and the Hola DAB project to provide DAB+ channels to commercial broadcasters — RTVE is now ready to roll out digital radio technology broadly across Spain and is working with government regulators to ensure a proper framework for DAB+ that allows for RTVE to have the maximum coverage allowed. RTVE has criticized Hola DAB for launching without a clear framework for DAB+ broadcasters.
For its rollout, RTVE plans to work with telecom company Cellnex as its technology partner, taking advantage of the large number of transmission sites the company operates across Spain.
Speaking at the same conference, Enrique Laucirica, general secretary of the Federación de Organismos o Entidades de Radio y Televisión Autonómicos, which represents Spain’s regional public service broadcasters, expressed support for RTVE’s DAB+ plans. However, he noted, some regional broadcasters may not have the resources necessary to move as quickly to offer DAB+ broadcasts.
RTVE has been preparing for its announcement for several months. In June, the broadcaster formally joined WorldDAB, noting that “The future of sound broadcasting in Spain depends on the implementation of DAB+, as is happening in most of the countries in our European environment.”
