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London DAB stations
London DAB Radio
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London's local radio stations are transmitted in 3 DAB multiplexes - CE London (Channel 12C), Switch London (Channel 12A) and DRg London (Channel 11B). A full list of London DAB radio stations is provided in the table below, with updates following the multiplex changes of October 2009. We list frequencies, channel information, station genres and transmission bitrates.
London DAB Coverage Maps
Several DAB relay transmitters are used to extend DAB digital radio coverage around greater London to a radius of around 25 to 30 miles, subject to terrain. Fill-in DAB relays are situated at Alexandra Palace, Bluebell Hill, Reigate, Guildford, Zouches Farm, Hemel Hempstead, High Wycombe, Stoke d'Abernon and Kemsing and operate on the same multiplex channels as the primary DAB transmitter sites at Croydon and Crystal Palace, but at reduced power levels.
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The coverage area of London DAB radio (including low power relay transmitters) extends beyond the boundaries of the M25 to comfortably include East Berkshire and the Guildford, Slough and Windsor conurbations to the west. Reading is outside the coverage area of London DAB services, although reception may be possible in favourable locations with a clear view to the east and a high gain directional DAB aerial.
London DAB reception may also be possible in Woking, Aldershot, Camberley, Bracknell and Maidenhead although these towns are on the extremity of the Drg London DAB coverage map, and would require a roof-top directional DAB aerial and favourable local terrain for reliable reception of all multiplexes. A separate coverage map for Switch London DAB Radio from the Crystal Palace transmitter is also available.
To the south of London, DAB coverage extends to Reigate, Redhill and Crawley (Sussex); whilst to the east of town Southend in Essex is in an outer fringe reception area.
DAB radio coverage to the north of London is boosted by several relay transmitters, allowing reception of London's local DAB radio stations in Luton, Hemel Hempstead, St. Albans, Hatfield and Stevenage. The outer fringe of London DAB coverage to the north extends out to Letchworth and Hitchin in Hertfordshire and Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. Fringe reception areas would require an roof-top DAB aerial installation (a directional high gain DAB aerial is recommended) and no guarantee of reception reliability is given, especially in valleys or where buildings, trees or other nearby obstructions exist.
London Radio Stations on Sky TV
As an alternative to DAB, London's local radio stations are also available on Sky TV and channel numbers are provided in the table below for convenience.
Given the pitifally low transmission bitrates used on several London DAB multiplexes, there may well be audio quality benefits when listening to digital radio through your Sky digibox rather than via DAB.
Recent Multiplex Changes
One recent improvement saw Heart 106.2's DAB transmission changed to 128kbps from 112kbps on the CE London multiplex, resulting in a noticebly improved audio quality. We can only hope that other stations like Magic 105.4 follow suit, as sound quality fails to match FM reception!
In addition, a new London DAB station, Dabbl offering listener-chosen Live Rock also launched in early November 2009, replacing Fun Kids on the Drg Multiplex. The station is owned and run by Absolute Radio and unfortunately only transmits at a bitrate of 80Kbps in Mono.
DAB Stations in London
| London DAB Radio Station | Genre | Bitrate | Sky Radio Channel |
BBC National DAB Multiplex - Channel 12B (225.64MHz) |
|||
| BBC Radio 1 | Pop Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0101 |
| BBC Radio 1Xtra | Other Music | 128Kbps Stereo |
0137 |
| BBC Radio 2 | Pop Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0102 |
| BBC Radio 3 | Cultures | 192Kbps Stereo | 0103 |
| BBC Radio 4 | Varied Speech | 128Kbps Stereo | 0104 |
| BBC Radio 5 Live | News | 80Kbps Mono | 0105 |
| BBC Radio 5 SX | 0144 | ||
| BBC Radio 6 Music | Rock Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0120 |
| BBC Radio 7 | Varied Speech | 80Kbps Mono | 0131 |
| BBC Asian Network | Varied Speech | 80Kbps Mono | 0119 |
| BBC World Service | Varied Speech | 64Kbps Mono | 0115 |
BBC National Commercial DAB Multiplex - Channel 11D (222.06MHz) |
|||
| Talk Sport | Sport | 64Kbps Mono | 0108 |
| Absolute Radio | Rock Music | 160Kbps Stereo |
0107 |
| Classic FM | Serious Classics | 160Kbps Stereo | 0106 |
| Planet Rock | Rock Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0110 |
| BFBS Radio | Pop Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0211 |
| Amazing Radio | Pop Music | 128Kbps Stereo | NA |
| Premier Christian | Varied Speech | 64Kbps Mono | 0123 |
CE London Multiplex - Channel 12C (227.36MHz) |
|||
| Heart 106.2 London | Pop Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0111 |
| Chill | Other Music | 64Kbps Mono |
0177 |
| Kiss 100 | Pop Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0178 |
| LBC 97.3 | Varied Speech | 80Kbps Mono | 0124 |
| Capital | Pop Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0109 |
| Traffic Radio (London) | Travel & Touring | 48Kbps Mono | NA |
| Magic 105.4 | Easy Listening | 112Kbps Stereo | 0180 |
| Galaxy (Yorkshire) | Pop Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0112 |
| Sunrise Radio | Varied Speech | 64Kbps Mono | 0133 |
| Jazz FM | Jazz Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0202 |
| heat radio | Pop Music | 112Kbps Stereo | 0179 |
DRg London Multiplex - Channel 11B (218.64MHz) |
|||
| Polish Radio London | Pop Music | 96Kbps Mono | 0213 |
| LBC News 1152 | News | 48Kbps Mono | NA |
| Dabbl | Live Rock | 80Kbps Mono | NA |
| Absolute Classic Rock | Rock Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0201 |
| Choice FM | Pop Music | 112Kbps Stereo | 0114 |
| Kismat Radio | Other Music | 80Kbps Mono | 0173 |
| Passion for the Planet | Varied Speech | 96Kbps Mono | NA |
| Premier London | Varied Speech | 80Kbps Mono | 0123 |
| Gaydar Radio | Varied Speech | 128Kbps Stereo | 0158 |
| Rainbow Radio | Cultures | 64Kbps Mono | 0207 |
| Colourful | Varied Speech | 64Kbps Mono | 0194 |
| NME Radio | Rock Music | 80Kbps Mono | 0184 |
| Q Radio | Pop Music | 112Kbps Stereo | NA |
| Punjab Radio | Varied Speech | 64Kbps Mono | 0130 |
Switch London Multiplex - Channel 12A (223.93MHz) |
|||
| UCB UK Christian | Religion | 96Kbps Mono | 586 (TV) |
| Smooth Radio | Easy Listening | 128Kbps Stereo | 0128 |
| Kerrang! | Rock Music | 80Kbps Mono | 368 (TV) |
| Gold - London | Pop Music (Oldies) | 112Kbps Stereo | 0121 |
| Punjabi Radio | Other Music | 64Kbps Mono | 0187 |
| XFM | Rock Music | 112Kbps Stereo | 0113 |
| BBC London | Varied Speech | 128Kbps Stereo | 0152* |
| The Hits | Pop Music | 112Kbps Stereo | NA |
| Absolute Xtreme | Rock Music | 128Kbps Stereo | 0200 |
| Spectrum Radio | Other Music | 64Kbps Mono | 0185 |
BBC London on Sky (*)
BBC London is only available to London postcodes on Sky TV channel 0152. However as it is transmitted on Astra 28.2E (Sky) on 11.953GHz - Horizontal, Symbol Rate 27500, FEC 2/3, SID 6770 it can be added to your Sky Digibox by accessing "Services > Add Channels" if needed thereby allowing reception anywhere in the UK. The links below provide further help on this topic.
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