Sound Digital

Sound Digital Network

Licensed area	United Kingdom
Frequency	11A (216.928 MHz)[1]
Air date	29 February 2016[2]
Owner	Arqiva (40%) Bauer Media Group (30%) Wireless Group (30%) [3]
Website	http://www.sounddigital.co.uk/

Sound Digital is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva, Bauer Media Group and Wireless Group. The multiplex is planned to covers 73% of the population from a total of 45 transmitters.^[3]

Stations carried

DAB

Service	Service ID	Bit rate	Audio channels	Description	DAB launch date
Absolute Radio 80s	C8D8	80 kbit/s	Mono	80s music	29 February 2016
Awesome Radio	CAD8	64 kbit/s	Mono LSF	British Muslim lifestyle, music and speech	29 February 2016
Heat Radio	CFD8	80 kbit/s	Mono	Pop music, celebrity gossip and entertainment	29 February 2016
Kisstory	C4D8	80 kbit/s	Mono	‘Old skool’ dance tunes and anthems	29 February 2016
Mellow Magic	C5D8	80 kbit/s	Mono	Relaxing and melodic music	15 March 2016
Panjab Radio	CED8	56 kbit/s	Mono LSF	Delivering extra choice for British Sikhs and Panjabi speakers	29 February 2016
Planet Rock	C7D8	80 kbit/s	Mono	Classic rock radio	29 February 2016
Premier Christian Radio	CCD8	64 kbit/s	Mono LSF	Christian music and speech	29 February 2016
Premier Praise	CDD8	64 kbit/s	Mono LSF	Sister station to Premier Christian Radio	27 March 2016
Share Radio	C2D8	64 kbit/s	Mono LSF	Business and finance programmes	29 February 2016
Sunrise Radio	C9D8	64 kbit/s	Mono LSF	Asian music and speech programmes	29 February 2016
talkRADIO	C0D8	64 kbit/s	Mono	News and current affairs	21 March 2016
talkSPORT2	C1D8	64 kbit/s	Mono LSF	Live sports and sports talk	15 March 2016
UCB2	CBD8	64 kbit/s	Mono LSF	Christian music	29 February 2016
Virgin Radio UK	C3D8	80 kbit/s	Mono	Rock and pop music	30 March 2016

DAB+

Service	Service ID	Bit rate	Audio channels	Description	DAB+ launch date
Fun Kids	C5D8	32 kbit/s	Stereo HE-AAC v2	National children’s radio station	29 February 2016
Jazz FM	CAD7	32 kbit/s	Stereo HE-AAC v2	Jazz music	29 February 2016
Magic Chilled	CED7	32 kbit/s	Stereo HE-AAC v2	Sister station to Magic	28 March 2016

History

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.

References

1. "SDL National". Ofcom. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
2. "A Dozen Stations Launched On New DAB Multiplex". Radio Today. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
3. "More digital radio stations on their way to UK listeners". Ofcom. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
4. "Two horse race for Digital 2 DAB multiplex". a516digital. 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
5. Martin, Roy (2015-01-29). "Orion Media partners with Babcock for D2 bid". Radio Today. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
6. Martin, Roy (2015-03-27). "Sound Digital wins national DAB multiplex". Radio Today. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
7. Martin, Roy. "Fun Kids to go national as DAB+ radio service". Radio Today. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
8. "Sound Digital: full station list announced". a516digital. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
9. "Sound Digital tests: See how hi-tech your digital radio is". a516digital. Retrieved 29 February 2016.