Licensed area United Kingdom Air date 29 February 2016 | Frequency 11A (216.928 MHz) | |
Owner Arqiva (40%)
Bauer Media Group (30%)
Wireless Group (30%) Website | ||
Sound Digital is a semi national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva, Bauer Media Group and Wireless Group. The multiplex covers 73% of the population from a total of 45 transmitters.
History
Following the collapse of the winning 4 Digital Group bid for the second national ensemble in 2008, the capacity was re-advertised in 2014. Two bids were received, Sound Digital and Listen2Digital, a consortium run by Orion Media and Babcock International Group. On 27 March 2015, Sound Digital were selected as the winner.
Between award and launch, Premier Praise and Panjab Radio, a Listen2Digital station, joined the line up along with DAB+ stations Fun Kids and Magic Chilled. Also, BMR and UCB Inspirational were rebranded Awesome Radio and UCB2 respectively and talkBUSINESS was replaced by Listen2Digital station Share Radio.
Test transmission commenced in February 2016, which consisted of Sound Waves and Sound Waves+ for DAB and DAB+ respectively. An official launch took place on 29 February, with the majority of stations launching on this date and the remainder following over the next month.