Manuel Delgado (RTVE)
The switch-off of Medium Wave (MW) broadcasting by Radio Nacional de España (RNE), after almost nine decades of service, marks a significant moment for RTVE. Like other major European broadcasters before it, the corporation has decided to bring these transmissions to an end in order to focus its resources on the rollout of terrestrial digital radio based on DAB+. The objective is clear: to ensure radio remains free-to-air, universally accessible and available everywhere, without subscriptions, while aligning Spain with Europe’s technological evolution and improving both economic and environmental efficiency.
From a technical perspective, the advantages of DAB+ compared with FM are substantial. It represents the shift from an analogue technology to a digital platform capable of carrying several services within a single multiplex. Beyond improved audio quality, it enables additional features such as images and on-screen text.
DAB+ uses more advanced audio codecs and more robust modulation schemes, reducing the impact of interference and allowing for more consistent coverage and much more stable reception in planned service areas.
Catching up
However, the challenge facing RTVE is not only technological. It is also regulatory, operational, and closely linked to the broadcaster’s public service responsibilities. The Spanish government has promoted a royal decree aimed at encouraging the development of digital radio in Spain. RNE is expected to lead the process and will have access to a full national DAB+ frequency block.
The intention is to support a rapid roll-out capable of reaching high levels of population coverage – around 85% within a short timeframe. Spain has already lost too much time compared with the rest of Europe when it comes to radio digitalization, and the pressure to catch up is now unavoidable. Ultimately, this requires designing and deploying a terrestrial digital audio broadcasting network that, in the longer term, is intended to replace something as universal in Europe as FM.
In infrastructure terms, digitalization is far from a simple ‘switch’. It means planning and deploying a DAB+ network while simultaneously maintaining – and where necessary reinforcing – the existing FM network. This must be done while optimizing investment, ensuring service continuity in the event of failures or emergencies, and delivering the highest possible quality of service to citizens.
Favourable conditions
At the same time, RTVE will have to tackle a major cultural challenge: changing listening habits and encouraging audiences to move from FM to DAB+. In the short term, the priority will be to inform listeners clearly about the different ways in which RNE can be received (FM, DAB+, the RNE Audio app, and DTT). Public information campaigns will be essential.
There is, however, a clear opportunity. Thanks to the European Electronic Communications Code, more than five million cars already on Spanish roads include DAB+ receivers, and that number continues to grow. This creates favourable conditions not only to modernize radio listening, but also to expand RNE’s offering in the future through additional services.
Finally, the transition to digital radio demands internal transformation. DAB+ is not simply about ‘changing frequency’: it requires new capabilities in network planning, quality-of-service monitoring, reception analysis, and content design for a multi-platform environment, where linear radio increasingly coexists with on-demand audio. It also opens the door to public-value services such as integrated early warning systems in receivers and richer real-time information.
Managing this transition, training staff in a technology that is clearly here to stay, and maintaining listeners’ trust is the real challenge. It’s about ensuring RNE can evolve technologically without losing its identity, while continuing to deliver a public radio service that remains accessible to all and valued by citizens.
This article first appeared in the March 2026 issue of tech-i magazine.