Cumbria is to get two new DAB digital radio multiplexes in the near future.
Ofcom has announced that it plans to advertise two new muxes, one for the Morecambe Bay area, and one designed to cover North and West Cumbria and Southwest Scotland.
These are full-scale multiplexes, and will be the first time the county of Cumbria has been given such a service.
No timescales or coverage areas have been announced as yet.
RadioToday’s take
Whilst official adverts have yet to appear, RadioToday anticipates the “Morecambe Bay” multiplex will mirror the FM licence previously broadcast as The Bay (now Heart North Lancs and Cumbria), covering an area from Lancaster across Morecambe Bay to Barrow-in-Furness, and north to Ulverston, Windermere and Kendal.
The “North and West Cumbria and Southwest Scotland” will no doubt mirror CFM’s TSA of Carlisle, Whitehaven, Workington and north towards Gretna and Lockerbie.
It was previously anticipated that Cumbria will gain one county-wide multiplex, but this step will still be welcomed by multiplex operators. It’ll be interesting to see if holders of the current FM stations in the area (Bauer in the north, Global in the South) apply for one or both of the areas.
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Posted on Tuesday, May 7th, 2019 at 11:48 am by Roy Martin