Digital Radio Mondiale DRM endorsed by China for domestic AM Band Broadcasts

The Digital Radio Mondiale™ (DRM) Consortium welcomes the recent announcement by key Chinese authorities to encourage the adoption of DRM for AM domestically and to get provincial transmission stations to broadcast DRM services.

The National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) recommend the further strengthening of in-vehicle audio and video radio broadcast reception, as an essential component of the country’s basic public services.

DRM is seen as a vital part of the infrastructure needed so that the authorities can rapidly and effectively reach the Chinese public with emergency alerts. This can be enabled through DRM’s Emergency Warning Functionality EWF. Therefore, NRTA and MIIT stress the need for the popularisation of “radio broadcasting receiving terminals”. They also promote the inclusion of radio receivers in all domestically produced and imported vehicles to be sold on the domestic market.

The Chinese authorities also express the intention to accelerate the construction of digital radio broadcasting coverage networks with digital AM broadcasting (DRM) transmission systems at local transmission stations.

The aim is to finally build an advanced, fast-transmitting, and reliable digital radio broadcasting coverage network, able to improve the transmission quantity and signal quality of public service programmes available to the listeners. The process of transition from analogue to digital will be gradual and planned in stages.

This news was announced during the DRM IBC Showcase event in Amsterdam. DRM is the only global, open and ITU endorsed digital radio standard to serve all coverage needs for the national and local public radio stations as well as for commercial and community broadcasters.

BCS Bureau