Hi °C | Lo °C FOUR new RTE radio stations are now available to more than 85pc of the population, after the national broadcaster inked a deal to get the channels onto NTL and Chorus' digital platforms.
The new stations include RTE Choice, a speech-driven channel that compliments Radio 1; RTE Junior, aimed at 2 to 12-year-olds; RTE 2XM, which acts as a sister station to youth station 2fm; and 24-hour dance station RTE Pulse.
The four stations are already available online and can be heard on special digital (DAB) radios in the Greater Dublin area, the North East Coast and Cork and Limerick cities, where RTE's DAB trials continue.
Meanwhile, commercial broadcasters are hoping to get back into the DAB market this summer after leaving RTE's trial last year.
Dusty Rhodes Digital Radio Ltd is pressing ahead to set up his own trial which will include four of his stations plus four commercial stations.
Rhodes confirms that plans are being evaluated by the Broadcasting Commission at the minute, with a decision "hoped for in the summer".
