Ofcom has published a summary of licence updates and changes for September 2025.

Ofcom September Updates

 

 

Stockport SSDAB ensemble:

Nifty UK Radio has switched from Protection Level EEP 3-A to EEP 2-A since the previous observation.

Source: Wohnort  

SSDAB Awards: 

Ofcom has today awarded small-scale DAB multiplex licences for seven more areas in the UK.
 

Following a competitive process, where each applicant was judged against specific criteria, multiplex licences have now been awarded for the following areas:

    Banbury and Bicester: licence awarded to Maxxwave Limited
    Enniskillen: licence awarded to UlsterMUX Limited
    Rugby and Daventry: licence awarded to Maxxwave Limited
    Stockton-on-Tees: licence awarded to Red Army Group
    Western Isles: licence awarded to Craoladh Digiteach Ionadail Limited
    Weston-super-Mare: licence awarded to North Somerset Digital Radio Limited
    Worcester: licence awarded to Murfin Digital Limited
 

Source: Ofcom

 

 

London 3 Local DAB ensemble:

Smooth Christmas has been added since the previous observation, using DAB+ at 32 kbit/s.
To accommodate the additional service, the bitrates of existing services Capital Chill, Heart Love, Radio X Chilled and Radio X 00s have dropped from 40 to 32 kbit/s.

Source: Wohnort  

Gloucestershire Local DAB ensemble:

Smooth Glos has ceased.
The packet data service EPG Wolv & Shrop has ceased since the previous observation. 

 

Portsmouth SSDAB ensemble:

Angel Gold has been added since the previous observation, using DAB+ at 40 kbit/s.
Get On DAB Radio has ceased since the previous observation. 

 

Source: Wohnort  

 

Lancashire Local DAB ensemble: 

HITS RADIO Lancs has been relabelled Hits Radio Lancs.
HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride. 

Smooth Country has ceased (last observed September 27th)  

 

Liverpool Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO Lpool has been relabelled Hits Radio Lpool.
HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.   

 

Manchester Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO MCR has been relabelled Hits Radio MCR.
HITS RADIO PRD has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.

 

Source: DigitalBitrate 

Coventry Local DAB ensemble:  

An unlabelled "ghost" service has been removed after many years. 

 

Hereford-Worcs Local DAB ensemble: 

As we noted on September 11th, from a DigitalBitrate.com observation,  Capital UK, Heart UK & Smooth UK have been removed.

Wohnort have pointed out that only the audio elements appear to have been removed with some data, such as programme type, remaining, leaving "ghost" services behind.

 

Northamptonshire Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO NHANTS has been relabelled Hits Radio Nhnts. 

Wolv'ton & Shrop Local DAB ensemble:

Hits Radio BC&Sh has switched from 80 kbit/s Mono to 112 kbit/s Joint Stereo.
The packet data service EPG Wolv & Shrop has ceased. 

 

Milton Keynes SSDAB ensemble:

Pure Dance has been added since the previous observation.

HORIZON RADIO has been relabelled Horizon Radio.  

 

South Durham SSDAB ensemble:

Nation 80s and Nation 90s have been added since the previous observation, both using DAB+ at 32 kbit/s.

Nation Radio has been relabelled Nation NorthEast.  

 

Source: Wohnort  

 

Wohnort snapshots have been updated for the Oxford ensemble. This blog had already been updated for this change with data from DigitalBitrate.com.

In2DAB Bedford SSDAB ensemble:

DIVERSE and Harpur Radio have been removed since the previous observation. 

Source: Wohnort  

Central Scotland Regional DAB ensemble:
Virgin 80s Plus has been relabelled Virgin 80s since the previous observation.

 

Edinburgh SSDAB ensemble:
Edge 3 has been removed since the previous observation.

 

Glasgow SSDAB ensemble:
Jambo! has been removed since the previous observation.

Northumberland SSDAB ensemble:
Radio Nland has been added since the previous observation.
Nation Radio has been relabelled Nation NorthEast. 

 

TynemthSShields SSDAB ensemble:

Spice Radio has been removed since the previous observation. 

 

Source: Wohnort  

 

Wohnort snapshots have been updated for Sheffield and for Humberside ensembles. This blog had already been updated for Sheffield with information provided by UKCG (local observation). The Humberside update duplicates an earlier update on September 9th.

Wohnort snapshots have also been updated for Tayside, Teesside and Tyne & Wear ensembles. This blog had already been updated for these changes with data from DigitalBitrate.com.

Devon Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio Devon.

 

London 2 Local DAB ensemble:
Virgin 80s Plus has been relabelled Virgin 80s.

Surrey-NSussex Local DAB ensemble:
Liberty Radio has been added, using DAB+ 32 kbit/s.

Trial London SSDAB ensemble:

Liberty Radio has replaced Fun Kids.

Source: Wohnort 

At this point there are still multiple ensembles without updated "Hits Radio" details on the Wohnort website:

 

Berks & N Hants (updated from Wohnort 18/10/2025)

Cambridge

Cornwall

Devon (updated from Wohnort 15/09/2025)

Lancashire (updated from DigitalBitrate 28/09/2025)

Liverpool (updated from DigitalBitrate 28/09/2025)

Manchester (updated from DigitalBitrate 28/09/2025)

Norfolk

North Cumbria (updated from Wohnort 14/10/2025)

North Yorkshire

Northamptonshire (updated from Wohnort 27/09/2025)

Nottinghamshire

Oxfordshire

Peterborough (updated from Wohnort 02/11/2025)

Plymouth

Sheffield

Somerset

South Hampshire

Stoke & Stafford (updated from Wohnort 03/10/2025)

Swansea SW Wales

Swindon

Tayside

Teesside

Tyne & Wear

West Wiltshire

 

Source: Wohnort

 

 

Filling in some of the gaps from other sources: 

 

 

UKCG Local Observations:

 

North Yorkshire Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO N YKS has been relabelled Hits Radio N Yks.
HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.
 

Sheffield Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO S Yks has been relabelled Hits Radio S Yks.
HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.

 

Source: UKCG 

 

Checked against DigitalBitrate:

 

Cambridge Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO CAMBS has been relabelled Hits Radio Cambs.

 

Cornwall Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO CRN has been relabelled Hits Radio Crn.

 

Norfolk Local DAB ensemble: 

HITS RADIO NFLK has been relabelled Hits Radio Nflk.

 

Nottinghamshire Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO EMids has been relabelled Hits Radio EMids.

 

Oxfordshire Local DAB ensemble: 

HITS RADIO OXF'D has been relabelled Hits Radio Oxfd.

 

Somerset Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO WEST has been relabelled Hits Radio West.

 

South Hampshire Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO S CST has been relabelled Hits Radio S Cst.

 

Swansea SW Wales Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO S Wls has been relabelled Hits Radio S Wls.

Tayside Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio UK.

HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.  

 

Teesside Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO TEES has been relabelled Hits Radio Tees.

HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.
  

Tyne & Wear Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO NE has been relabelled Hits Radio NE.

HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.
  

West Wiltshire Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO WEST has been relabelled Hits Radio West.

 

Source: DigitalBitrate

 

At the moment we don't have any further information for services marked in red. 

Services marked in blue have been updated in subsequent posts. 

Suffolk Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio Suflk.

 

Source: Wohnort

Wolv'ton & Shrop Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO BC&Sh has been relabelled Hits Radio BC&Sh.

HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.

 

Inverclyde Coast SSDAB ensemble:

Rock.Scot and Wild Country have been added since the previous observation.

 

Source: Wohnort

 

 

Hereford-Worcs Local DAB ensemble: 

Capital UK, Heart UK & Smooth UK have been removed.

Services last seen 10/09/2025 

 

Source: DigitalBitrate

Inverness Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio UK.

 

Source: Wohnort

 

 

SSDAB Licensing - Round 8: 

Ofcom has advertised 40 additional areas in the eighth and final round of small scale DAB licences.

 

The following new areas are included:

• Aberystwyth
• Andover
• Armagh
• Ballymena
• Barnsley
• Barnstaple & Bideford
• Brecon
• Burton-on-Trent & Lichfield
• Bury St Edmunds, Thetford & Mildenhall
• Cheltenham & Tewkesbury
• Chesterfield
• Chippenham & Malmesbury
• Coleraine
• Cookstown & Dungannon
• East Cornwall
• East Edinburgh & South Forth coast
• Falmouth, Penzance & Redruth
• Gairloch
• Girvan & Cumnock
• Grantham & Sleaford
• Grimsby
• Kilmarnock
• Leamington Spa & Stratford-upon-Avon
• Mansfield & Worksop
• Monmouth
• Newbury
• Newquay, St Austell & Truro
• North Powys
• Omagh
• Perth
• Peterlee
• Pitlochry & Aberfeldy
• Scunthorpe
• Skye & Lochalsh
• South Hams
• South Powys
• Stroud
• Telford & Shrewsbury
• Tiverton
• Ullapool

 

With an additional 10 areas being re-advertised from previous rounds:

• Berwickshire & Roxburgh
• Chester
• Derby
• Dundee & North East Fife
• Guildford & Woking
• Lincoln
• Kintyre, Islay & Jura
• South West Fife
• South West Sussex
• Weymouth & Dorchester

 

The closing-date for applications is 5pm on 10 December 2025.

 

Source: Ofcom

BBC National DAB ensemble:

New services: 

BBC Radio1Anthms

BBC Radio1Dance

BBC Radio3Unwind

These new services have been added to the BBC ensemble, all of the new additions are DAB+ 32 kbit/s (Stereo HE-AAC v2).

Although the bitrates of existing services have been reduced to allow the extra services to be added, this is not a change to the current status of the ensemble. It was noted on Wohnort that TEST 1, TEST 2 and TEST 3 had been added to the ensemble on 25/04/2025, which is when the bitrates of existing services will have been reduced. The new services have replaced these tests.

 

Bradfrd&Huddersf Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO W Yks has been relabelled Hits Radio W Yks.

HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.

Humberside Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO E Yks has been relabelled Hits Radio E Yks.
HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.

 

Leeds Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO W Yks has been relabelled Hits Radio W Yks.
HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.

  

Leicestershire Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO EMids has been relabelled Hits Radio EMids.

 

Lincolnshire Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO Lincs has been relabelled Hits Radio Lincs.

 

N. Ireland Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO NI has been relabelled Hits Radio NI.

 

South Hampshire Local DAB ensemble:

Nation Radio has been relabelled Nation South since the previous observation. 

 

Wolverhampton SSDAB ensemble:

Blue Dot Radio has been removed since the previous observation.

 

Source: Wohnort

London 1 Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO LDN has been relabelled Hits Radio LDN.

HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride. 

  

Sussex Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio Sussx since the previous observation.

 

Loughborough SSDAB ensemble:

Twenty two audio services are currently being broadcast.
A full listing is beyond the scope of this blog but the current snapshot can be found here.

 

Source: Wohnort 

Hereford-Worcs Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO H&W has been relabelled Hits Radio H&W.

  

North West Wales Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio N Wal.

 

Blackpool SSDAB ensemble:

Red Rose Radio has been removed since the previous observation.

 

Source: Wohnort

Central Scotland Regional DAB ensemble:

Virgin Pride has now been removed. 

 

Birmingham Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO Bham has been relabelled Hits Radio Bham.

HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.

 

Coventry Local DAB ensemble: (listed in the updated snapshot but not on the changelog)
HITS RADIO C&W has been relabelled Hits Radio C&W.

  

Derbyshire Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO EMids has been relabelled Hits Radio EMids.

 

Edinburgh Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio UK.

HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.

 

Glasgow Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio UK.

HITS RADIO PRIDE has been relabelled Hits Radio Pride.

 

South East Wales Local DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio S Wls.

  

Surrey-NSussex Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio Surr.

FunKids Windrush has been removed. 

 

Cheshire Mid SSDAB ensemble:

CheshireONE appears to be running without an audio stream at the time of observation.

 

Stirling & Falkirk SSDAB ensemble:

Edge 1 and Edge 2 have been removed since the previous observation.

 

Observation from Wohnort DAB: 

The Scottish transmitters using Block 12A were reported briefly to be transmitting a distinct ensemble labelled D1 Scotland with a different EID (albeit with the same services lineup) compared with D1 National in the rest of the UK on Block 11D. 

Since then, Block 12A in Scotland has reverted to broadcasting the same ensemble as rest of the UK.  

During its brief appearance, D1 Scotland appeared to be using the same EID as the local ensemble Wolv'ton & Shrop.  

 

Source: Wohnort

SDL National DAB ensemble:

HITS RADIO  CHIL has been relabelled Hits Radio Chil.

 

Bristol Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO WEST has been relabelled Hits Radio West.

 

Gloucestershire Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio Glos.

 

Surrey-NSussex Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio Surr.

FunKids Windrush has been removed. 

 

Source: Wohnort

Bournemouth Local DAB ensemble: 
HITS RADIO BMTH has been relabelled Hits Radio Bmth.

 

Source: DigitalBitrate 

Essex Local DAB ensemble:
Radio Essex has switched from 80 kbit/s Mono to 112 kbit/s Joint Stereo.
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio Essex. 
 

Herts Beds Bucks Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio BBH. 

 

Kent Local DAB ensemble:
HITS RADIO UK has been relabelled Hits Radio Kent. 

 

Portsmouth SSDAB ensemble:

Bitrates changed for 4 services. 

 

Source: Wohnort

Bauer rebrands:

This month Bauer is rolling out service rebrands across its Hits Radio portfolio.

This involves switching from an all upper case format to mixed case e.g. HITS RADIO PRIDE becomes Hits Radio Pride. This is being repeated across the regions e.g. HITS RADIO EMids becomes Hits Radio EMids.

Bauer is taking advantage of the removal of regional programmes by renaming some of the regions which, hitherto, carried the HITS RADIO UK service name. With new regional names such as Hits Radio NWal (in North Wales), Hits Radio BBH (in Beds, Bucks & Herts), Hits Radio Kent, Hits Radio Essex, Hits Radio Glos, Hits Radio Surr, Hits Radio Sussx replacing the UK brand names on regional ensembles.

In Scotland, where Bauer legacy brands are still used, the service is now labelled Hits Radio UK.

 

New Regional Hits Radio Brands: 

Hits Radio (Berkshire & North Hampshire)
Hits Radio (Bucks, Beds & Herts)
Hits Radio (Devon)
Hits Radio (Essex)
Hits Radio (Gloucestershire)
Hits Radio (Kent)
Hits Radio (North Wales)
Hits Radio (Northamptonshire)
Hits Radio (Peterborough, Stamford & Rutland)
Hits Radio (Suffolk)
Hits Radio (Surrey & East Hampshire)
Hits Radio (Sussex)
Hits Radio (Swindon)

These pseudo-regions have been eked out of Hits Radio UK brands in regions where a legacy Hits Radio brand didn't exist.

 

Source: UKCG 

 

 

London 2 Local DAB ensemble:

Virgin Pride has now been removed (last seen 31/08/2025).

Source: DigitalBitrate