France's public broadcaster has taken another step in building out its digital network. Since 27 October, 21 new Radio France DAB+ transmitters have been on air, allowing around 700,000 additional listeners to receive France Inter, franceinfo, France Culture, France Musique, FIP and Mon petit France Inter in digital quality. The rollout mainly covers medium-sized towns and their surroundings, far from the major cities that were already served.
Medium-sized towns at the heart of the expansion
The list published by the group reads like a map of France's provincial towns: Alençon, Bayeux, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Melun, Millau, Montargis, Nevers, Romorantin-Lanthenay, Amboise and Villers-Cotterêts are among the newly covered areas, alongside smaller communities such as Le Caylar, Marvejols, Razès and Sévérac-d'Aveyron. And the rollout continues: Dieppe, Neufchâtel and Vesoul are due to follow in the coming weeks.
Listeners can check whether their town is covered using the dedicated search tool on the Radio France website.
The case being made for DAB+
Radio France presents digital terrestrial radio as a complement to FM and online listening, not as a replacement. The group highlights four advantages:
- clearer, more stable sound when reception is good;
- free listening with no internet connection or mobile data required;
- stations identified by name, with no need to search for a frequency;
- a wider choice of stations and, depending on the device, programme information shown on screen.
The expansion comes alongside the arrival on DAB+, since 26 October, of Mon petit France Inter, the group's station for children, which brings together the youth programmes produced by its various networks.
What it means for online radio stations
For an online radio publisher, the announcement is a reminder that live listening now happens on several platforms at once. DAB+'s main argument against streaming is that it uses no data, which matters in the car and in areas where mobile coverage remains patchy. The more national networks are present on digital terrestrial radio, the more common compatible car radios and receivers become, and the more listeners get used to choosing a station by name rather than by frequency.
It is also an opportunity. Local multiplexes regularly host community and independent stations, and some online stations with a strong local base may consider applying when the French regulator Arcom opens calls for applications. For stations that remain online only, the priority is to polish what DAB+ puts in the spotlight: a clear name, clean metadata (now playing, logo, description) and a presence on aggregators and smart speakers, where listeners also look for their station by voice or by name.
Competition that also plays out on quality
Finally, the arrival of stable digital sound in medium-sized towns raises listeners' expectations. An over-compressed or unreliable online stream compares poorly. Offering a bitrate suited to mobile, a higher-quality stream for listening at home and continuous availability remains the best response from online stations to this upgrade in over-the-air broadcasting.
Source: Radio France