Thursday, 3 March 2005

Radio France are to unveil plans for an all-digital distribution network, at
the Digital Radio Mondiale TM (DRMTM) consortium's annual General Assembly
meeting in Paris next week.

Radio France, a DRM member since 2001, will transmit special preview DRM
medium-wave/AM broadcasts of France Culture audio and multimedia content
from March 7-11, to mark the announcement.

The new Radio France distribution network will provide listeners with a
range of digital broadcasting technologies including DRM. Radio France will
host DRM's General Assembly, Steering Board and committee meetings at its
headquarters, Maison de la Radio, from March 7-10.

DRM members TDF and Thales are assisting with Radio France's special preview
DRM broadcasts. TDF will transmit the Radio France broadcasts from its
Villebon transmitting station, which is located approximately 20 kilometres
southwest of Paris. TDF and Thales have modified an existing 300 kW medium
wave solid state transmitter, from Thales' S7 family, for the DRM
broadcasts.

"France's upcoming migration to digital radio necessitated our investment in
a new distribution network that will work seamlessly with any digital
broadcasting system, such as DRM, DAB, DVB and wireless Internet," says
Sylvain Anichini, Deputy General Manager of Radio France. "We have designed
a flexible networking system that allows for a range of options, without the
constraints of long-term technological choices. This will enable Radio
France to move forward in line with digital broadcasting's evolution,
including domains such as source coding and datacasting." Over the past few
years, Radio France has digitalized its production and archive sectors,
following the same principle of designing open systems.

DRM Chairman Peter Senger heralded Radio France's news, saying, "The
prospect of DRM broadcasts on Radio France is a significant development in
the system's growth within Europe. I am delighted that DRM's members - who
are broadcasters, network operators and manufacturers from around the
globe - will have the opportunity to experience Radio France's DRM preview
in Paris next week."

http://www.ukradio.com/news/articles...8598A627D7.asp