NOW Home Counties
| Licensed area | Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes & Luton |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 10D (215.072 MHz) |
| Air date | Yet to Launch (Delayed) |
| Owner | Arqiva |
| Website | www.now-digital.com |
Now Digital (Home Counties), is the name of the DAB multiplex operator for the counties of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire as well as the Unitiarian Authosrities of Milton Keynes and Luton, serving an area similar to the analogue area served by BBC Three Counties.
The company was a wholly-owned subsidary of GCap Meida PLC until it was bought in 2009 by Global Radio who later sold the DAB licences to transmitter company Arqiva.
The DAB licence was advertised by Ofcom on December 14th 2006. At the close on March 28th 2007, the reguator had received two applications, one from MuxCo (Home Counties), the other from Now Digital, a wholly-owned subsidary (at the time) of GCap Media PLC. On June 12th 2007, it was announced that Now Digital (Home Counties) had won the licence.
At present, all that's known is that there will be seven transmission sites used although non were listed at the time of the award, or since. All that is known is that of the requirement of having to carry the BBC Local service, BBC Three Counties, on this platform.
Services Expected to be on the platform
[1] (Adjusted to reflect the way UK radio is now)
Unless indicated, the following services are expected to be carried on both frequencies.
| Service | Service Type | Signal | Bit-Rate | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Three Counties | BBC Local service | Joint Stereo | 128 kbps | Also on FM & AM (Various frequencies) |
| Heart Bedford | Chart Music | Joint Stereo | 128 kbps | Also on FM - 96.9 |
| Heart Luton | Chart Music | Joint Stereo | 128 kbps | Also on FM - 97.6 |
| Heart Milton Keynes | Chart Music | Joint Stereo | 128 kbps | Also on FM - 103.3 |
| Gold Bedfordshire | Golden Oldies | Joint Stereo | 128 kbps | Networked from London with local opt-out's. |
| Chill | Easy Listening Music | mono | 96 kbps | Provided by Global Radio. |
| Jack FM | Variety Pop & Rock | mono | 80 kbps | Oxfordshire Service (0600 - 0000 only). |
| UCB UK | Religious | mono | 96 kbps | Currently on Digital One. |
MuxCo
Had the awarding of the licence gone the other way, this is what would've been on offer:
Heart Bedford, Gold Bedfordshire, Heart Milton Keynes, Hertbeat FM, Easy Radio, Jack FM, Mercury Plus (from Adventure Radio), with two further slots for a Hit Music/family focused service and a News, Views & information service.
Transmitter Sites
These are the only confirmed transmitter sites at present: [2]
| Transmitter | KW | AREA |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ? | TBA |
| 2 | ? | TBA |
| 3 | ? | TBA |
| 4 | ? | TBA |
| 5 | ? | TBA |
| 6 | ? | TBA |
| 7 | ? | TBA |
None of the transmitter sites have yet to be announced.