National commercial radio stations – talkSPORT2 and talkRADIO – have become the latest national commercial stations to move to DAB+, an upgraded version of DAB digital radio that allows more radio stations to be broadcast and in stereo quality sound.
talkRADIO will continue to available on DAB until the end of June, and both talkRADIO and talksSPORT2 are also available online, via app and on smart speakers. Find out more here.
Overall 23 national commercial radio stations are now broadcasting in DAB+ which is 55% of the total number of national commercial stations.
The full offering of DAB+ national commercial stations are:
Capital, Capital XTRA, Capital XTRA Reloaded, Heart, Heart 80s, Heart 70s, Heart 90s, Heart Dance, Smooth Radio, Smooth Chill, Gold, Radio X, LBC News, JazzFM, Virgin Anthems, Virgin Chilled, talkRADIO, talkSPORT2, Love Sport, Jack Radio, Union Jack, Fun Kids, and BFBS Radio.
There are additionally over a hundred local and small-scale DAB stations broadcasting in DAB+.
The commercial radio shift towards DAB+ has enabled the expansion of consumer choice, which is great news for listeners, but some may not be able to receive the full range of commercial stations available on their existing DAB radio or on some new DAB models.
If listeners cannot find a DAB+ station on their device, they should first re-tune their DAB radio, and if the stations are not available this suggests their DAB radio is not DAB+ enabled. In this case, they can listen online, via app, or on their smart speaker, or alternatively upgrade to a new DAB+ radio.
Whilst many older DAB digital radios will only receive DAB stations, the majority of newer devices can receive DAB+ stations as well as DAB, and there are lots of DAB/DAB+ radios available which will give you access to DAB and DAB+ stations, including from leading manufacturers Pure, Roberts, Ruark and VQ.
Most new DAB radios are DAB+ compliant, but to make sure it is best to check the model specification or look for the Digital Tick Mark, which means the device contains DAB+.