The UK’s media regulator has announced Sound Digital will operate the second national DAB multiplex. Ofcom made the announcement today after two competing bids were submitted in January.
UTV will invest around £4 million in 2016 to set up the stations. Sound Digital has committed to launching the multiplex and new stations within 12 months, indicating that listeners will be able to tune-in to the services in spring 2016.
New stations
talkRADIO will offer news, current affairs and general speech with a target audience of 25 to 54 year olds, whilst talkSPORT 2 will broadcast “Complementary live sport and sports talk”.
talkBUSINESS will offer “business and finance for 25 – 64 year olds”.
Virgin Radio will return to the UK with “rock and pop music for 25 – 44 year olds” and promises “a slight male bias”. Virgin Radio was originally launched in the UK in 1993 and became Absolute Radio in 2008. The new station will licence the name from Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.
Some stations currently on the first national multiplex will move to Sound Digital upon its launch in 2016. These include Absolute 80s and Planet Rock.
“We’re thrilled to have been awarded the licence and look forward to starting work on launching the new stations,” said Scott Taunton, Chief Operating Officer, UTV Media plc.
“talkSPORT 2, talkBUSINESS and talkRADIO will challenge the BBC’s dominance of speech radio while Virgin Radio is a much loved brand returning to the airwaves. Today’s decision by Ofcom is exciting news for UTV, our Sound Digital partners and the radio industry as a whole.”
Sound Digital is a joint venture of transmission company Arqiva, UTV Media, which operates talkSport and local radio stations and Bauer Media, the German media company behind KISS, Magic, Planet Rock and Absolute Radio.