We’re excited that Pulse – the Beat of Somerset – will be joining the Somerset multiplex on the morning of the 3rd December. Most radios will automatically pick it up, but if you can’t see it do an autotune and you should be able to hear this great, local station.

This morning we launched our 6th DAB Digital Radio multiplex – this time for Somerset.

Here’s the press release:

Today at the Somerset County Cricket Club Ground in Taunton, Dave Durdan, Mayor of Taunton Deane, officially switched on new DAB digital radio transmitters, giving over 500,000 listeners new local stations on DAB in the Somerset area. The switch-on means listeners will be able to receive five local radio stations – BBC Somerset, Heart, Capital, Smooth Radio and Triple Hits for the first time on DAB digital radio.

To receive the new services, listeners with digital radios may have to retune their sets. Find out more at getdigitalradio.com/retune.

The big switch-on took place at Somerset County Cricket Club in Taunton. There are three new transmitters launching at Mendip, Taunton and Hutton. Once these transmitters have been switched on, local DAB digital radio coverage for these stations will go from zero to over 71% of households in the area, and they will add over 580km of roads into local DAB coverage for the first time.

Last year the build-out of DAB digital radio brought local DAB coverage to over five million people for the first time, taking local DAB population coverage from 66% to 72%. By the end of 2016, a further 200 local DAB transmitters will have been built making DAB available to an additional eight million listeners across the UK. This will extend coverage to more than 90% of the population and add over 6,700 km of roads into coverage.

The BBC buildout of 162 new digital radio transmitters to improve national DAB coverage for its national network stations is already underway to improve coverage from 94% to 97%.

In Somerset, 44% of the population have access to a DAB digital radio, and in Q2 2014, 37% of radio listening hours are to digital platforms. A cumulative total of over 19 million digital radio sets has been sold to date in the UK. 55% of new cars now come fitted with digital radio as standard (CAP/SMMT July 2014).

Dave Durdan, Mayor of Taunton Deane, said: “I welcome the switch-on of these local stations on DAB in Somerset for the first time – local radio is important and well-loved.”

Jane Ostler, Director of Digital Radio UK, said: “This is great news for over 500,000 people in Somerset as until now they have not been able to receive local stations on DAB. Boosting coverage for this area means listeners can tune into their favourite local stations on DAB for the first time.”

Gareth Cottier-Jansen of Triple MuxCo said: “In Somerset around 44% of households have a DAB radio and our new transmitters will enable them to hear their favourite local stations without having to switch back to FM or AM, plus brand new stations for the county. Favourite stations and new choices – that’s good for all.  Our investment in local radio is also enhanced by our own new station ‘Triple Hits’ extending the listener choice.”

Paul Andrew, Regional Managing Editor Heart Bristol and Somerset, said: “We’re excited  to bring Heart, Smooth and Capital to digital radio in Somerset. We know our listeners love the great music we play, and now they can listen in digital quality.”

Tamsin Curnow, Managing Editor of BBC Somerset said: “We are delighted that BBC Somerset will be available on DAB for the first time. We know that many of our listeners have been looking forward to this and we hope that new listeners will take the opportunity to tune in too.”

Press Coverage:

• BBC
• Radio Today
• Western Daily Press
• Somerset County Gazette

Photos:

Here at MuxCo HQ we’re gearing up for the next multiplex launch – Somerset.

We’ve just started test transmissions on two of our three transmitters – Taunton and Hutton. These consist of a ‘barker’ giving details about the launch. We’ll add these test broadcasts to our third transmitter – Mendip – early next week.

Sometime in that week (edit: actually early next week now) it’s likely we’ll continue tests and use some live or presented audio from our service providers. Like all tests, this is susceptible to interruption.

The official launch of the multiplex will then be on Friday 26th September at around 8.30am.

Last week Ofcom initiated a consultation on our frequency change request for the Somerset multiplex.

To be honest, it’s not really our request. As part of the work we’re doing with commercial radio, the BBC, Ofcom and the Government, analysis has been carried out to judge what the right frequencies are to ensure all the local and national multiplexes can have the most robust coverage. So, as this increases robustness for us, and others, we’ve sent in the request.

The change we’ve asked for is a frequency shift for this multiplex from 10D to 10B.

If everything goes to plan with the consultation we would hope that test transmissions for the Somerset multiplex will start at the beginning of September.