Licensed area | United Kingdom |
---|---|
Frequency | 11A (216.928 MHz)[1] |
Air date | 29 February 2016[2] |
Owner |
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Sound Digital is a semi-national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva, Bauer Media Group and Wireless Group. The multiplex covers 73% of the population from a total of 45 transmitters.[3]
Following the collapse of the winning 4 Digital Group bid for the second national ensemble in 2008, the capacity was re-advertised in 2014.[4] Two bids were received, Sound Digital and Listen2Digital, a consortium run by Orion Media and Babcock International Group.[5] On 27 March 2015, Sound Digital were selected as the winner.[6]
Between award and launch, Premier Praise and Panjab Radio, a Listen2Digital station, joined the line up along with DAB+ stations Fun Kids and Magic Chilled.[7] Also, BMR and UCB Inspirational were rebranded Awesome Radio and UCB2 respectively and TalkBusiness was replaced by Listen2Digital station Share Radio.[8]
Test transmission commenced in February 2016, which consisted of Sound Waves and Sound Waves+ for DAB and DAB+ respectively.[9] An official launch took place on 29 February, with the majority of stations launching on this date and the remainder following over the next month.
On 15 May 2018, Sound Digital announced the planned introduction of additional 19 transmitters – to improve coverage in the South West, East Anglia, Wales and North of Scotland – increasing the multiplex's coverage to 83%, adding nearly 4 million new listeners in more than 1.6m new households.[10]
Service | Service ID | Bit rate | Audio channels | Description | DAB launch date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Absolute Radio 80s | C8D8 | 80 kbit/s | Mono | 80s music | 29 February 2016 |
Absolute Radio 90s | CAC2 | 80 kbit/s | Mono | 90s music | 29 January 2018 |
Fix Radio | CDDA | 64 kbit/s | Mono LSF | Station for the building trade | 3 May 2022 |
Mellow Magic | C5D8 | 80 kbit/s | Mono | Relaxing and melodic music | 15 March 2016 |
Planet Rock | C7D8 | 80 kbit/s | Mono | Classic rock radio | 1 March 2016 |
Premier Christian Radio | CCD8 | 64 kbit/s | Mono LSF | Christian music and speech | 27 March 2016 |
Premier Praise! | CDD8 | 64 kbit/s | Mono LSF | Sister station to Premier Christian Radio | 27 March 2016 |
Scala Radio | CDE6 | 112 kbit/s | Joint Stereo | Classical | 4 March 2019 |
Sunrise Radio | C9D8 | 56 kbit/s | Mono | Asian music and speech programmes | 29 February 2016 |
Times Radio | C0D8 | 64 kbit/s | Mono | News and culture | 29 June 2020 |
Virgin Radio UK | C3D8 | 80 kbit/s | Mono | Rock/pop music | 30 March 2016 |
Service | Service ID | Bit rate | Audio channels | Description | DAB+ launch date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boom Radio UK | C5EF | 24 kbit/s | Stereo HE-AAC v1 | Pop music | 13 March 2021 |
BFBS UK | C5E0 | 24 kbit/s | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Armed forces radio | 24 January 2018 |
Fun Kids | CFD8 | 24 kbit/s | Stereo HE-AAC v1 | National children’s radio station | 29 February 2016 |
Heart Xmas | C4ED | 32 kbit/s | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Turn up the festive feel good! | 23 September 2022 |
Jazz FM | CAD7 | 32 kbit/s | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Jazz music | 29 February 2016 |
Talkradio | CAEB | 32 kbit/s | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | News and current affairs | 9 June 2020 |
TalkSport 2 | C1D8 | 32 kbit/s | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Specialist shows, documentaries, and live sport commentary | 9 June 2020 |
Virgin Anthems | C7E6 | 32 kbit/s | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Classic Rock/Pop Music | 22 December 2018 |
Virgin Chilled | C8E6 | 32 kbit/s | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Chilled Pop Music | 22 December 2018 |
Services previously carried on the multiplex include: