ARLA/CLUSTER: Alemanha encerra emissores em Onda Longa (153 e 207 kHz) no fim deste ano passando para DAB+

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

 Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio Kultur to close on LW

The German national public broadcasters Deutschlandfunk and
Deutschlandradio Kultur will disappear from longwave at the end of
this year. Wasteful channels are going off the air due to cost
considerations. The money saved will be invested in digital
terrestrial radio (DAB+). At the end of 2015 the mediumwave
transmitters of Deutschlandfunk will also close.

Deutschlandfunk currently still broadcasts through longwave 153 and
207 kHz and seven mediumwave frequencies including 1269 and 549 kHz.
Deutschlandradio Kultur broadcasts by means of the longwave frequency
177 kHz. The mediumwave frequency 990 kHz went off last year.

Keeping these transmitters on the air costs Deutschlandfunk and
Deutschlandradio Kultur millions of euros a year in electricity costs.
All these stations transmit with a fairly high power. The three
longwave transmitters are each 500 kW, and the mediumwave transmitters
range between 100 and 400 kW.

Meanwhile Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio Kultur can be received
on FM and DAB+ in large parts of the country. Further expansion of
this network is proceeding rapidly. Earlier this year Deutschlandradio
Kultur switched from the obsolete MP2 DAB standard to the modern DAB+,
which is also used in the Netherlands.

In 2010 it was agreed that the public broadcasters will only get
funding for the rollout of DAB+ if they cut down on other distribution
methods. It therefore simply means that the medium- and longwave
transmitters must be switched off. Meanwhile, several regional
broadcasters have already turned off their AM stations. For example,
MDR did so in March 2013.

In the Netherlands, the NPO will scrap the broadcast of Radio 5 via
mediumwave in September 2015. Again listeners are advised to switch to
DAB+

Fonte: Bulgarian DX blog