Three Asian radio stations go national on DAB

Three Asian commercial radio stations have become the first to go national on DAB digital radio.

The longest running Asian commercial station in the UK, Sunrise Radio went live at midnight with a special two-hour programme to mark the launch. It was fronted by the founder of Sunrise Radio, Dr Avtar Lit between midnight and 02:00. The special show also included past and present personalities from Sunrise Radio. Furthermore, Sunrise Radio commenced broadcasting from its new Hounslow studios, as exclusively revealed on BizAsiaLive.com via Industry Whisper last week.

Panjab Radio, the UK’s longest serving Punjabi digital radio service, along with the first Muslim infotainment station, Awesome Radio also launched nationally today.

The three Asian stations have joined 15 other English services on the new Digital 2 multiplex. The list of stations that are now available on the platform are Talk Radio, Talk Sport 2, Virgin Radio, Share Radio, Mellow Magic, Magic Chilled, Absolute Radio 80s, Kisstory, Heat Radio, Sunrise Radio, Planet Rock, Awesome, UCB 2, Premier Christian Radio, Premier Praise, Panjab Radio, Fun Kids and Jazz FM.

Steve Holebrook, Managing Director of Arqiva Terrestrial Broadcast, said: ���Since the licence was awarded in March 2015, Arqiva has been working hard building the new national transmission network and we are delighted to have delivered this in record time. We are also pleased to be able to be bringing next generation DAB+ to the market for the first time as well as additional diversity of channels such as Jazz FM, Fun Kids, Asian and Christian channels.�۝

Up until now, the BBC Asian Network is the only Asian radio station to be available nationally. The first lot of data for the new national stations is not expected before the end of the year.