BBC World Service and Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle have announced plans to launch a joint radio service to Europe on DRM Shortwave.
Broadcast in clear digital quality, it will be available from early morning till late at night targeting Western and Central Europe and a potential audience of 170 million listeners with global news and current affairs and a rich mix of in-depth analysis, documentaries and cultural programmes.
Mike Cronk, Controller, Future Media, Technology & Distribution, BBC World Service, said: "This is an important time for DRM and a huge opportunity for broadcasters across Europe to look at the potential for new services and reaching new audiences. With this announcement, two of the most important players in international broadcasting are re-affirming their faith in the DRM standard."
Eric Betterman, Director General at Deutsche Welle, said: "It is great that two of the world's most established broadcasters can work together on a project of this scale. This is an exciting venture that will offer European listeners top class content and provides the perfect opportunity to reintroduce listeners to DRM."
The new stream, which will be entirely in English, is expected to go live in early 2009. Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) is the digital broadcasting system for the broadcasting bands below 30MHz (long, medium and short wave). DRM has near-FM sound quality plus the ease-of-use that comes from digital transmissions, combined with long range and low power consumption.