LONDON � UK Local DAB operator MuxCo is asking Ofcom to authorize a second city-wide multiplex in Manchester.� Listeners in the Manchester now receive the Bauer mux or the small-scale DAB service.
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MuxCo already operates a number of multiplexes in the UK, including those in Wrexham, Chester and Liverpool. They say Bauer Media �has made no attempt to offer solutions such as DAB+ and a second city-wide mux would provide fresh new stations,� according toradiotoday.co.uk.
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�Manchester is a thriving media market and its current multiplex is full. It is inequitable that whilst London has three local multiplexes offering a fantastic array of stations, Manchester has just the one city-wide multiplex. We already have enough interested operators to comfortably make a second Manchester multiplex viable,� said Gregory Watson, Managing Director of MuxCo, in the same article.
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Niocast Digital operates the minimux in Manchester. �We support the case for a second Manchester-wide multiplex. Niocast has proved beyond question that demand exists from new and established operators and we look forward to any new opportunities that may enable us to build on the success of the trial,� said John Evington of Niocast.
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In other UK DAB news, new transmitters have made it possible for an additional 800,000 listeners to receive local DAB in Kent, doubling the number of potential listeners in the coverage area to 1.6 million. Seven stations are available on local DAB in the county: BBC Radio Kent, kmfm, Heart Kent, Smooth Kent, Capital, Gold, and Encore Radio.�
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The launch of the final mux transmitter, located at Turnpike Hill just outside of Folkestone, completes a program to expand local DAB coverage to 95% of households and roads in Kent, according toa516digital.com.� Over the past six months new transmitters were turned on in Kent at Wrotham, Swingate, Etchinghill, Benfleet, Creteway Down, St Marks and Dunkirk. The transmitters have expanded local DAB coverage across the county, and brought local DAB digital radio to listeners in the South East of the county, for the first time, along the coast from Dungeness to Deal, including Hythe, Folkestone and Dover, and across the South Downs, according to the same article.
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Listeners in Kent are encouraged to retune their digital radios to ensure they receive all their available stations, including the county�s local stations, on DAB.
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