DAB radio stations in the United Kingdom are broadcast on a number of frequency blocks on VHF Band III. The original plan devised in Wiesbaden for the framework of DAB in Europe was to allocate frequency blocks 11B to 12D for UK DAB broadcasting. However, as part of its Review of Radio, Ofcom has expanded the frequency allocations for DAB and has advertised local and a national ensemble licence on blocks outside the original Wiesbaden plan on 10B to 10D and 11A. Block 5A has also been reserved for the launch of local ensembles.
For more information see: Digital Radio Independent and BBC (PDF)
For more information on DAB see: DAB Ensembles Worldwide
For BBC DAB services see: BBC National DAB
Bitrates & Sound Quality
There is much criticism of the poor flat quality of DAB services in the UK, this is due to a policy of ‘quantity over quality’, even on BBC DAB. This along with the continued use of the outdated DAB technology results in a service that has a far inferior sound quality to FM radio. DAB is far less efficient than the newer DAB+ technology.
Joint Stereo – Audio mode in which two channels forming a stereo pair (left and right) are encoded within one bitstream and for which stereophonic irrelevance or redundancy is exploited for further bit reduction.
Mono LSF (Low Sampling Frequency) – Low bitrate encoding with halved sampling rate.
HE-AAC (High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding) – More efficient high-quality multichannel and stereo audio codec used with DAB+.
DAB
Audio codec: MPEG 1 Layer II
Better than FM quality requires 192-256 kbps
Similar to FM quality requires 160-192 kbps
Acceptable, worse than FM 128-160 kbps
(Based on stereo services)
DAB+
Audio codec: HE-AAC v2
Better than FM quality requires 56-96 kbps
Similar to FM quality requires 40-64 kbps
Acceptable, worse than FM 24-48 kbps
(Based on stereo services)
Digital One
Digital One launched in November 1999 and has held the only digital radio licence for national commercial radio in the UK ever since. It broadcasts a broad range of content including traffic data services and some of the UK’s most profitable radio stations.
The company is wholly owned by Arqiva, one of the UK’s biggest communications infrastructure companies which operate across broadcast, satellite and mobile communications markets. Digital One’s head office is in central London alongside other Arqiva businesses.
Digital One is committed to the long-term promotion of digital radio in the UK and beyond. Together with the BBC and the big commercial radio groups, it is active in organisations including Digital Radio UK and WorldDMB (an international partnership of broadcasters, manufacturers and regulators).
Website: www.ukdigitalradio.com
| Digital 1 Network | ||||||||||||||
| Updated: February 26 2020 |
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| Service | Service ID | Bitrate | Audio | Description | ||||||||||
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Absolute Radio
|
C1C0
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80 kbps
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Mono
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Adult contemporary music, carries London output during programme splits, but with national news.
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| Capital UK |
C5DA
|
80 kbps
|
Mono
|
Pop Music.
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Capital Xtra
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C37B
|
40 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Urban & Dance Music. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
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Capital Xtra Reloaded
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CCE9
|
40 kbps
|
Stereo HE-AAC v2
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Urban & Dance Music. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
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Classic FM
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C2A1
|
128 kbps
|
Joint stereo
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Classical music.
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GOLD UK
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CEE8 | 40 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Golden Oldies. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
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Heart Dance
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CFE8 | 40 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Dance Music. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
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Heart extra
|
CFS1 | 40 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Rhythmic AC & Hot AC. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
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Heart 70s
|
CAE9 | 40 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | 70s Music (DAB+) | ||||||||||
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Heart 80s
|
C1DC | 40 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | 80s Music. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
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Heart 90s
|
CBE9 | 40 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | 90s Music (DAB+) | ||||||||||
| KISS | C5C0 | 80 kbps | Mono | A London based station specialising in hip hop, R&B, urban and electronic dance music. | ||||||||||
| KISSTORY | CFE6 | 80 kbps | Mono | Pop music. | ||||||||||
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LBC
|
C0C2
|
64 kbps
|
Mono LSF
|
News & Talk.
|
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| LBC News |
C8EA
|
31 kbps
|
Stereo HE-AAC v2
|
News. (DAB+)
|
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Magic
|
C0C6
|
80 kbps
|
Mono
|
Melodic soft adult contemporary hits.
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Radio X
|
C4CD | 40 kbps | Stereo HE-AAV v2 |
Rock Music. (DAB+)
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Smooth Extra
|
C6C0
|
32 kbps
|
Stereo HE-AAC v2
|
Easy Listening. (DAB+)
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Talksport
|
C0C0
|
64 kbps
|
Mono LSF
|
Sport & Talk.
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UCB1 UK
|
C4CA
|
64 kbps
|
Mono LSF
|
Christian music.
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INRIX UK TPEG
|
E1C000BA
|
16 kbps
|
Packet Data
|
Hidden service.
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| Multiplex Label: Digital1 Network Operator: Digital One Transmission Standard: DAB & DAB+ England, Wales & N. Ireland: Block 11D: 222.064MHz Allotment: G__60001 England I Allotment: G__60002 Wales I Scotland: Block 12A: 223.936MHz Allotment: G__60011 Scotland I Transmitter Sites: Digital One Transmitters On-Air: April 1999 |
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Sound Digital
Sound Digital, the joint venture company formed by Arqiva, Bauer Media and UTV Media. The UK’s second national commercial DAB digital radio multiplex network will launch on Monday 29th February 2016. Three of them will be broadcasting in DAB+ – Fun Kids, Jazz FM and a new service called Magic Chilled from Bauer.
There is no information on the bitrates that will be used by the various stations at present.
Tuning to Block 11A
The frequency allocated to the second national commercial multiplex lies outside the range of the seven blocks used during the initial UK DAB roll-out. Some older radios may not include Block 11A in their automatic scans. In this case, select the option “Full Scan” in the receiver’s menus. This may also be called a “Rest of the World” scan, as opposed to a “UK” scan.
| SDL National | ||||||||||||||
| Updated: February 26 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Service | Service ID | Bitrate | Audio | Description | ||||||||||
| Absolute 80s | C8D8 | 80 kbps | Mono | 80s music. | ||||||||||
| Absolute 90s | CAC2 | 80 kbps | Mono | 90s music. | ||||||||||
| ForcesRadio BFBS | C5E0 | 24 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Pop Music (DAB+) | ||||||||||
| Fun Kids | C5D8 | 24 kbps | Mono HE-AAC v2 | National children’s radio station. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
| JACK Radio (UK) | CAE0 | 32 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Pop music. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
| Jazz FM Stereo | CAD7 | 32 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Jazz Music. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
| Love Sport | C3EB | 24 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Sport. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
| Mellow Magic | C5D8 | 80 kbps | Mono | Relaxing and melodic music. | ||||||||||
| Panjab Radio | CED8 | 56 kbps | Mono LSF | Delivering extra choice for British Sikhs and Panjabi speakers. | ||||||||||
| Planet Rock | C7D8 | 80 kbps | Mono | Classic rock music. | ||||||||||
| Premier Christian Radio | CCD8 | 64 kbps | Mono LSF | Christian music and speech. | ||||||||||
| Premier Praise! | CDD8 | 64 kbps | Mono LSF | Christian music and speech. | ||||||||||
| Scala Radio | CDE6 | 112 kbps | Joint-Stereo | Classical Music. | ||||||||||
| Sunrise Radio UK | C9D8 | 64 kbps | Mono LSF | Asian music and speech programmes. | ||||||||||
| talkRADIO | C0D8 | 64 kbps | Mono LSF | News and current affairs. | ||||||||||
| talkSPORT2 | C1D8 | 64 kbps | Mono LSF | Live sports and sports talk. | ||||||||||
| UCB2 | C8D8 | 64 kbps | Mono LSF | Christian Music. | ||||||||||
| Union Jack | C7FF | 32 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | British Music. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
| Virgin Anthems | C7E6 | 32 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Pop music. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
| Virgin Chilled | C8E6 | 32 kbps | Stereo HE-AAC v2 | Pop music. (DAB+) | ||||||||||
| Virgin Radio | C3D8 | 80 kbps | Mono | Rock and pop music. | ||||||||||
| Multiplex Label: SDL National Operator: Sound Digital (Arqiva/Bauer/UTV) Transmission Standard: DAB & DAB+ Block 11A: 216.928 MHz Allotment: G__60004 England II Allotment: G__60032 Isle of Man II Allotment: G__60022 Northern Ireland II Allotment: G__60012 Scotland II Allotment: G__60005 Wales II Transmitter Sites: 45 transmitters across the UK, providing coverage for 73% – 75% of UK households and 63% – 65% of major UK roads. On-Air: February 29, 2016 |
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