Norway will become the first country to switch to digital radio as it begins to switch off its national FM transmitters today.
The switch-over will take place over six regions during 2017, starting with Bodø in Nordland. The final regions to switch-over will be Troms and Finnmark on in December.
At a ceremony this morning a dial was switched from FM to DAB at 11.11am to signify the start of the switch over process.
Ça y est, la Norvège fait son #FMexit 🙂 1er pays au monde qui passe à la Radio Numérique Terrestre. #digitalradio pic.twitter.com/a6qwMWGiGz
— matthieu beauval (@mattbeauv) 11 January 2017
There are two national DAB networks in Norway. One offers public service NRK stations and the other offers commercial stations. The NRK broadcasts reach 99.7% of the population while the commercial network reaches 90%. Three quarters of the 5.2 million population have access to a digital radio. Six regional networks offer local radio stations – up to 15 of these services are available in capital Oslo.
National broadcaster NRK will also switch entirely to the newer DAB+ from 11th January. According to Norwegian media some listeners have found that they no longer receive digital stations because their set does not support DAB+.
The decision to switch to DAB was made by Norway’s parliament in 2011. According to information provided for listeners by NRK the country is making the move early due to Norway’s topography. It says this requires an expensive FM transmitter network and it would rather invest in radio content.
The Dagbladet newspaper conducted a survey last June which found 65% were opposed to the move, with 16% in favour and 19% unsure. Around 70% of the 2.4 million cars in Norway do not have access to digital radio. Motorists are being encouraged to purchase an adapter for their car.
Ole Jørgen Torvmark, CEO of Digital Radio Norway, said: “This is a historical event for the medium of radio. FM-technology lifted radio listening; now radio can continue its development on digital platforms. Norway launches five new channels on the day of the shift to digital, giving listeners 30 national channels.”
Community and some local radio stations will continue on FM for five years after the switch-over.
International interest
The switch-off of FM transmitters in Norway has made news around the world. In many countries FM is the primary method of receiving radio stations as they experiment with digital radio. In Ireland only the national RTÉ services are available on DAB with stations like Today FM and FM104 yet to broadcast digitally.
A potential switch-over in the UK has been mooted for several years with no date set yet. Governments and radio operators are likely to monitor developments in Norway as they evaluate their own plans for similar switch overs.
Other countries in Europe intend to switch to digital radio in the future. Only Switzerland has so far confirmed it will begin a transition in 2020.
In the UK digital radio now accounts for 45.5% of all radio listening, but 58% of respondents to an Ofcom survey last year said it was unlikely, very unlikely or that they were certain not to buy a digital radio in the next year. Although 86% of new cars have digital radio as standard only 35% of radios sold in the last year can receive DAB.
Ford Ennals, CEO, Digital Radio UK, said: “Norway has opted to accelerate the transition to digital radio through a coordinated digital radio switchover. We wish our Norwegian colleagues a successful and smooth transition and will be watching their progress with great interest as we move towards the threshold of 50% digital listening.”