Wednesday 14th February 2024
Winchester Small-Scale DAB returns to the airwaves!
The closure of UK DAB Networks (Operations) Limited towards the end of last year sent shockwaves across the small-scale DAB radio community, and the resultant shutdown of the Winchester DAB transmission yielded a significant impact on local radio stations in the Winchester area.
Despite UK DAB Network’s passionate and altruistic approach, they were forced to wind-down their operation due to the on-going viability of the business. Attempts from a rapidly formed consortium comprising of local radio station operators, Winchester DAB Limited failed to reach an agreement to maintain the existing service operation, and transmissions were ceased at the end of November 2023.
This situation highlighted the fragility of small-scale DAB, and marked the first time that a UK DAB multiplex had closed down, with a domino effect on radio stations clients. This caused many to not only question the viability of small-scale DAB, but also question what could be done to protect radio stations against failed multiplex operators.
All 19 radio stations on the Winchester DAB network were silenced at the end of November, some of which were local businesses broadcasting exclusively on small-scale DAB. Founder of the new consortium, Winchester DAB Limited, and Managing Director of Outreach Radio, Osman Sen-Chadun commented:
“The demise of UK DAB Networks and closure of the Winchester DAB network has had a profound and severely damaging effect on Outreach Radio, particularly as we were entering the Christmas period. The loss of service to Winchester in the heartland of our coverage area meant that crucial revenues from Christmas advertising campaigns on which we financially depend and had worked so hard for many months to secure were cancelled, and a level of reputational damage has now been felt, plus the charities with whom we had fundraising campaigns planned have also lost out. It’s a very difficult and very sad situation, particularly in these already difficult financial times.”
By forming the Winchester DAB consortium comprising of Winchester Radio, (based at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital), Winchester Today, Outreach Radio and Southampton’s Voice FM, the Ofcom licences and equipment from the liquidators of UK DAB Networks were retrieved, and the mission to reinstate the local DAB service began.
“It wasn’t going to be easy, but the objective was clear”, said Osman. “We needed to find a way to bring back Winchester DAB as soon a possible, thus limiting the damage to local businesses and charities.”
“These local radio services operate as social enterprises, charities or not-for-profit organisations and provide a valuable service to those they support across our area. They are not only dependent on the DAB multiplex operation but are also susceptible to the effects of any financial instability that may be incurred by their service provider, who in our case was sadly also a small local business.”
“In order to provide a level of confidence and visibility to the radio stations dependent on the stability of the DAB operator on which they so heavily depend, we have invited local radio businesses to take a seat on the board of Winchester DAB, thus providing them visibility of the financial status and well-being of the business, as well as the opportunity to bring suggestions and requirements to the table. This feels ethically the right thing to do, as we’ve all learnt the hard way, when it was too late for any of us to do anything.”
Winchester DAB’s efforts were also supported by old friends, former Arqiva engineer, Alan Beech from Commtronix and former Ofcom engineer, Rashid Mustafa from Digris; broadcast consultants with a wealth of technical experience in broadcasting and small-scale DAB. Working closely with Osman, also ex-Arqiva with a strong broadcast background, they were able to rapidly develop a new technical plan for the re-instatement of Winchester DAB.
Alan Beech from Commtronix commented:
“The sudden enforced closure of UK DAB’s Winchester operations hit many, both financially and reputationally, ourselves included. Among the ashes remaining it quickly became apparent that the affected services were passionate about returning, and Osman quickly emerged as a driving force behind a new consortium. It was a pleasure to be asked to provide our technical expertise and facilities to the new group, and with sleeves rolled up we all got stuck in. Ofcom normally allow 18 months from award of a licence until launch date but we knew that we had nothing like that amount of time. Everyday day the multiplex was off air, services were losing money and reputation. A new transmission site and technical plan were drawn up and submitted to Ofcom, who, of course, had no precedent to work on when transferring or reallocating licences like this. Somehow, and I’m still not sure how it happened, the situation was turned round in just 2 ½ months and services were back on air. New company, new finance, new transmission site, new technical plan, new antenna system – a lot of midnight oil was burned by many! Mind you, that oil would have been welcome when putting up the antenna on a sub-zero January day! Even more remarkable when you consider there were 2-3 weeks of general Christmas slowdown and holidays included in that time. We now look forward to working with the new Winchester DAB info the future and wish the consortium all the very best going forward.”
Rashid Mustafa from Digris commented:
“It was a pleasure to support Osman and Alan in their mission to restructure and reboot Winchester after they were unable to negotiate continued use of the transmission site used by the previous operator. Digris supported them with advice, navigating the regulatory process, and technical planning for their new transmission arrangements. Digris are delighted that the resulting section 54A variation request was agreeable to almost all consultation respondents, given that even minor site moves often result in some degree of change in coverage. The resulting 10k increase in adult population being served by Winchester DAB is a happy outcome for participant services too.”
With support and guidance from Ofcom, for whom this was also an unprecedented situation, new technical plans and coverage predictions were agreed – with the added complexity of ensuring signals in the South of England did not interfere with France. Due to the slight change in coverage, legislation dictated that a public consultation was required.
During the consultation period, and despite the sub-zero temperatures which happened to hit on the very days in January planned for the installation work, the Winchester DAB team preemptively prepared the new transmission site in the hope that the outcome of the consultation process would not require them to carry out further changes.
The Ofcom consultation process ended on the 30th January, and Ofcom published the outcome report on the 7th February. With the majority of responses being positive in nature, Winchester DAB was given the green light to proceed.
The following day, Osman & Alan carried out the final site commissioning tests, ensuring all technical parameters met with Ofcom requirements. By lunchtime of the following day, the Winchester DAB service was back on the air, carrying Winchester Radio, Winchester Today, Outreach Radio, Outreach Dance, and Southampton’s Voice FM, Awaaz FM and Fiesta FM.
Nigel Dallard, a Trustee of Winchester Radio commented:
“We’re very pleased to have Winchester Radio available, once again on DAB digital radio. Whilst we’ve remained available on 94.7FM across the city and the immediate-surrounding villages, the Winchester DAB network allows us to be heard over a wider area that has close affiliations with Winchester. The speed with which the new Winchester DAB consortium was established when the previous operator had financial difficulties was a great example of organisations coming together to save a community asset. And the speed with which service was restored from a new transmitter site – just a day after Ofcom agreed to the new transmission arrangements – was remarkable.”
Xan Phillips, Station Manager of Southampton’s 103.9 Voice FM commented:
“Having invested time and money into establishing our presence on the Winchester multiplex, it was a shock to loose when the service was suddenly removed. However, we’ve been very impressed with how Osman and Alan have quickly returned the multiplex to the Winchester area, and that our Southampton listeners can make their “Voice” heard further up the M3!”
Osman Sen Chadun also commented:
“This has been an unprecedented and extremely demanding process to achieve in such a short timescale, from establishing a new multiplex operations company to acquiring Ofcom licences and equipment, seeking a new landlord and viable transmission site, developing a new business model, arduous technical and coverage planning, through to the new site preparation and installation – a process that new licensees typically have over 18 months to complete, we’ve managed to achieve in around 2.5 months!”
“We’ve had to look very closely at the operating costs of this business in order to ensure that we developed a model that could operate sustainably. Bearing in mind the population reach, service costs to radio customers – especially whilst in difficult financial times – and the realistic potential for the number of services we might see on the Winchester DAB multiplex, our feeling is that we’ve struck the right balance.”
“To have successfully reached this stage, I am very grateful to all those who have helped and supported us. As a local person, I’m over the moon to see the local radio stations back on the air and once again serving the people of Winchester. I look forward to continue to work with and support them and wish them all the very best of success going forward.”
To find our more about Winchester DAB, please visit https://www.winchesterdab.co.uk, email us at info@winchesterdab.co.uk or call us on 01962 250 255.
Press Contact:
Osman Sen-Chadun
Winchester DAB Limited
Office: 01962 250 255
osman@winchesterdab.co.uk