OSLO ��Norway�s public broadcaster NRK has reported to the Ministry of Culture that the change from FM to DAB in Nordland county was completed without major problems.
After Jan. 11, all NRK, P4 and Radio Norway FM transmitters were shut down in that region.�All local stations in Nordland continue to transmit on FM, as will the majority of all local radio stations in Norway.�
NRK also states that there has been no dramatic drop in listener figures, despite the fact that there are no separate figures for Nordland, according toradionytt.no.
Problems with coverage along the roads and in sparsely populated areas were also far less comprehensive than many had feared. Before the shutdowns in Nordland, the Norwegian Automobile Association indicated that their members had registered 100 places in Nordland that did not have DAB coverage. NRK reports that their experts examined all these areas and found only six were not satisfactory, four of which were in Hattfjelldal, on the border with Sweden. Those areas are now fixed, according to this article in klassekampen.no.�
NRK reported receiving 3796 inquiries about DAB in the first week after NRK ended their FM broadcasts in Nordland. The first day there were about twice as many inquiries as normal, totaling 834. But the rest of the week was the number to normal levels nationwide, according to the same article.
NRK�s �yvind Vasaasen says the public broadcaster has succeeded with a comprehensive information strategy up to Jan. 11.�On average the audience saw the DAB message 27 times on television, radio and the internet before the shutdowns occurred.
