Editing Digital Audio Broadcasting (section)

=== Launch and early adoption ===
Pilot broadcasts were launched in 1995: the [[NRK|Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation]] (NRK) launched the first DAB channel in the world on 1 June 1995 ([[NRK Klassisk]]),<ref>{{cite web |date=11 May 2007 |title=St.meld. nr. 30 (2006-2007) |url=http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/kud/dok/regpubl/stmeld/2006-2007/Stmeld-nr-30-2006-2007-/14.html?id=466447 |work=Regjeringen.no |access-date=22 May 2011 |archive-date=16 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116131743/http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/kud/dok/regpubl/stmeld/2006-2007/Stmeld-nr-30-2006-2007-/14.html?id=466447 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[BBC]] and [[Swedish Radio]] (SR) launched their first broadcasts later in September in the UK and Sweden respectively<ref>{{Cite web|title=Digital Audio Broadcasting– radio now and for the future|url=https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_265-kozamernik.pdf|access-date=14 January 2022|archive-date=11 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811000748/https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_265-kozamernik.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> while in Germany a pilot broadcast started in Bavaria in October 1995.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Archived copy |url=https://emr-sb.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/EMR-Script_Band-1_Rechtsfragen-des-digitalen-terrestrischen_Hoerfunks.pdf|access-date=1 July 2023|archive-date=26 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626164029/https://emr-sb.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/EMR-Script_Band-1_Rechtsfragen-des-digitalen-terrestrischen_Hoerfunks.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Commercial stations in the UK started broadcasting in November 1999 as [[Digital One]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=EETimes |date=5 April 2002 |title=Digital radio IC makers wrestle with rival standards |url=https://www.eetimes.com/digital-radio-ic-makers-wrestle-with-rival-standards/ |access-date=26 June 2023 |website=EE Times |archive-date=26 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626163304/https://www.eetimes.com/digital-radio-ic-makers-wrestle-with-rival-standards/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Pioneer P900DABWP.jpg|thumb|A [[Pioneer Corporation|Pioneer]] car DAB tuner from 1998. This box connects to its head unit on the car dashboard as well as an external aerial.]]
The earliest DAB receivers in 1995 were semi-professional units for [[Car audio|cars]] with separate boxes fitted in the boot. They were manufactured by [[Automobiles Alpine|Alpine]], [[Bosch (company)|Bosch]], [[Grundig]], [[Kenwood Corporation|Kenwood]], [[Philips]] and [[Sony]], designed for evaluation purposes.<ref>https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_265-kozamernik.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=May 2025}}</ref> These were complex systems based on either a DAB channel-decoder chipset from the JESSI (Joint European Sub-micron Silicon Initiative) project, or on general-purpose [[Digital signal processor|DSPs]].<ref>https://tech.ebu.ch/files/live/sites/tech/files/shared/techreview/trev_272-laar.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=May 2025}}</ref> Prototype consumer grade DAB receivers with improved silicons were first shown in 1997,<ref>https://www.business-standard.com/article/specials/better-radio-or-tvs-poor-cousin-images-197121001104_1.html {{Bare URL inline|date=May 2025}}</ref> but manufacturers were reluctant to release receivers in Europe partly due to the delay of DAB's launch in Germany.<ref>https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1998-18.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=May 2025}}</ref> By 1999, most DAB receivers remained expensive car-based black box units and a handful of [[Hi-Fi]] home tuners.<ref>https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_279-kozamernik.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=May 2025}}</ref> 

It took some more time until further advancements in the [[integrated circuits]] helped to make DAB more accessible: notably [[Texas Instruments]]'s DRE200 chip, released in 2001, significantly reduced the cost and size of the boards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TI Introduces Industry's First Open Software and DSP-Based Solution for Eureka DAB Digital Radio Receivers |url=https://www.ti.com/sc/docs/news/2001/01002.htm |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=www.ti.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=EETimes |date=2002-04-05 |title=Digital radio IC makers wrestle with rival standards |url=https://www.eetimes.com/digital-radio-ic-makers-wrestle-with-rival-standards/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=EE Times}}</ref><ref>https://www.ti.com/pdfs/vf/audio/digrad_dre200.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=May 2025}}</ref> This chip finally made portable DAB radios possible, and the first working prototype of a pocket DAB radio was presented by Roke Manor Research, part of [[Siemens]], using a module named GoldCard II designed with [[Panasonic]].<ref>https://www.worlddab.org/system/news/documents/000/000/049/original/WorldDAB_NL_2001_10.pdf?1586190670 {{Bare URL inline|date=May 2025}}</ref> Eventually the rise of affordable home DAB receivers, notably beginning with the [[Pure (company)|Pure Evoke]] in 2002 (which used an IC made by Frontier Silicon, a company that would power many DAB tuners in the future),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bush |first=Steve |date=2014-10-08 |title=UK company profile: Frontier Silicon and Toumaz |url=https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/finance/uk-company-profile-frontier-silicon-toumaz-2014-10/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=Electronics Weekly |language=en}}</ref> helped to take off DAB to consumers for the first time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame: Pure Evoke-1 DAB Digital Radio - IEEE Spectrum |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-consumer-electronics-hall-of-fame-pure-evoke1-dab-digital-radio |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626163305/https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-consumer-electronics-hall-of-fame-pure-evoke1-dab-digital-radio |archive-date=26 June 2023 |access-date=1 July 2023}}</ref> 

However, adoption remained generally slow for various reasons such as high receiver costs and limited reception, with the exception of the United Kingdom and Denmark. In the UK, DAB radio receivers were high selling and 10% of households owned a DAB radio as of 2005,<ref>{{Cite web|title=DAB digital radio|url=https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_303-howard.pdf|access-date=1 July 2023|archive-date=16 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916145822/https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_303-howard.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> partly due to local manufacturers creating affordable receivers. In many other countries, such as Germany, Finland, and Sweden, DAB was unable to take off.<ref>https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/82580/1/AJR%20article%20post%20peer%20review.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=May 2025}}</ref> By 2006, 500 million people worldwide were in the coverage area of DAB broadcasts. In 2006 there were approximately 1,000 DAB channels in operation worldwide.<ref>[http://www.worlddab.org/benefits.php World DMB forums list of benefits] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017232328/http://worlddab.org/benefits.php|date=17 October 2007}}, worlddab.org</ref>