Why do DAB+ headunits have to be so expensive!
$100 extra just for a CD player and DAB+…
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They’re leasing spectrum from one of the broadcasters - I think ARN
What makes you think it would be ARN?
Joy has no entitlement to the community allocations on 9A and 9B as it is not in the Melbourne RA1 - they would have to be leasing from one of the spare spectrum holders, either SCA or ARN (as RSN is using their additional 32kbps)
Given they appeared on iHeartRadio around the same time - well before the CBAA’s announcement last month - it’s an educated guess.
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Right, but Joy operates under a community radio license, and ARN operates under a commercial radio license. Commercial radio licensees are not allowed to operate a community broadcasting service and visa vera.
Though, perhaps you are right… I’ll ask around! 
In a similar vein to this, is ARN breaching the Broadcasting Services Act by simulcasting The Edge Katoomba in other markets? No, as the ACMA ruled in 2009 - it isn’t
If the framework for DAB licenses was limited in the way you suggest, I can immediately think of three other breaches - KIX Country, a narrowcast station simulcast in Canberra and Darwin; RadioTAB, a narrowcast station simulcast in Darwin; and Rythmos, a narrowband station simulcast in Melbourne. Under their licenses, they aren’t allowed to provide a commercial radio broadcasting service, but in all three cases broadcast on DAB multiplexes using commercial spectrum - either through ownership (KIX) or leasing (TAB, Rythmos).
I could be wrong though. It may be on SCA’s spare allocation instead 
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Pardon the double post, but some three years later I’ve just clicked as to why this is the case:
Music royalties.
Without any terrestrial broadcast, these stations would be considered by APRA/AMCOS and PPCA as internet-only stations which, without a lobby group like CRA, have to pay a higher rate in royalties. For commercial radio stations, APRA/AMCOS fees are capped at less than 4% of total revenue; for example, I can’t imagine that Nova would be making much money in Brisbane off of the Coles Radio Tasmania stream.
Why Brisbane? Coles Radio and Koffee are both programmed out of Commercial Road, Teneriffe.
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What would prevent a community radio station in the Melbourne DAB+ pool from giving Joy capacity?
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Joy are on the community DAB allocation. They must have done a deal with on of the other community broadcasters, CBAA or whoever manages the community allocation. Unlike the commercial stations, each community broadcaster does not get an equal allocation - they run a much more community sharing approach where space is made available as required with some stations running a second station or different bitrate.
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However, there is no legal restriction on a community broadcaster paying a commercial broadcaster to use some of their allocation.
The restriction mentioned above is actually that a commercial organization (broadcaster or otherwise) cannot own or control a community license. This law also says that no organization may hold or control more than one community license. This is to prevent these licenses being misused for non community purposes.
There’s no reason a commercial broadcaster can’t broadcast community content on any medium - commercial broadcaster can broadcast anything they want provided it meets decency and local content requirements.
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I’ve been told two different stories by two different enginners who work at stations (which are on DAB+) in Melbourne.
A:
I’ve just been told by an engineer friend who works at a station in Melbourne (which is on DAB+) that Joy are using the community radio DAB+ spectrum on their own. There was excess capacity on the 9B mux, which the CBAA would make available to a successful non RA-1 applicant (which turned out to be Joy).
B:
Joy use part of SYN’s part of the DAB+ pool.
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That’s quite shrewd of them and makes sense. It also explains the 16 kbps bitrate; they would want to keep it at the minimum possible if it’s purely on air for this purpose (they could probably get away with an open carrier like Zig, though…)
Why have a separate stream for Tasmania at all, though? Purely to advertise specials that aren’t available on the mainland?
Re, Coles Radio and having multiple ultra low bit rate versions on-air in Brisbane: Isn’t the WA version already available on Digital Radio in Perth? And if it isn’t already, surely the Tasmanian version will eventually make it onto Hobart DAB+?
I could’ve sworn the Melbourne RA1 licenses were given 64kbps each - hence LightFM and LightDigital are 32kbps each. Happy to be corrected - appreciate the insight.
It is now, I have suspicion it wasn’t at launch (though I defer to the Perthians on here!).
Appears it is no longer on the Brisbane 9A mux either.
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is it coles in Tas that doesn’t have flybuys but a diffrent much more generous loyalty scheme?
edit: i stand corrected… it’s woolies with the separate scheme for tassie
Brisbane has Coles, Coles CBD and Coles Tas.
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Yeah we only got Coles Radio once NovaNation shut down.
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I’ve just checked and it was Christmas Eve/December 24, 2013 that NovaNation was replaced by Coles Radio here in Sydney. Can’t remember whether the launch timing was similar in the other four metro markets.
Either way, I think NovaNation might’ve survived for a little while as an online-only station after the launch of Coles Radio.
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Till August 2016,
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