Free Republic

On Wednesday, Norway will become the first country in the world to start shutting down its national FM radio network in favor of digital radio. Norwegians have had years to prepare, but the move is still catching many off guard. FM radio and Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) has existed side-by-side since 1995, but officials with Norway’s Ministry of Culture have decided that the time has finally come to retire the older transmission medium. The FM apocalypse starts tomorrow morning in Nordland, the country’s north. Beginning at 11:11 am local time, the FM network will be taken down in a gradual...

In just a matter of weeks, Norway will tune out FM radio for good and become the world’s first country to switch over to digital-only transmissions. Norway's government has decided that the nation’s FM airwaves will fall silent from January 11, 2017, starting in Nordland and gradually moving south. After nearly a century of the analog system, which revolutionized music listening with high-fidelity stereo sound compared to mono AM transmissions, the changeover to Digital Audio Broadcasting’s advanced version (DAB+) will render the country’s almost eight million radio sets obsolete. Although it has been in the works for years, most Norwegians...

Digital radio receivers without government-approved copy-prevention technology likely would become illegal to sell in the future, according to new federal legislation announced Thursday. Rep. Mike Ferguson, a New Jersey Republican, said his bill--which would enforce a so-called "broadcast flag" for digital and satellite audio receivers--was necessary to protect the music industry from the threat of piracy....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Radio stations around the nation are preparing to adopt new digital technology that would give the medium its biggest makeover in decades by improving sound quality and supplying news and information on demand. Digital radio's rollout could begin in a few months in major cities. Manufacturers plan to sell digital receivers in car stereos and high-end audio systems next year, adding about $100 to the price of a traditional unit. Industry officials and analysts say they expect the Federal Communications Commission to approve on Thursday a digital radio standard created by iBiquity Digital Corp., a company...