For nearly a century, Frequency Modulation (FM) has been the bedrock of local audio. It survived the rise of television, the cassette tape, and the CD. However, in the 2020s, the analog world hit a “spectrum ceiling.” Broadcasters faced a dilemma: how to offer more content, better quality, and data-rich services within a crowded, static-prone 88–108 MHz band?
The answer arrived via Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM). While the technology was initially synonymous with AM bands (Shortwave and Mediumwave), its extension into the VHF bands—specifically the FM band—has triggered a “Silent Revolution.” In 2026, DRM is no longer just a technical experiment; it is a global policy standard reshaping the economics of broadcasting.
The Technology: How DRM+ Works
To understand DRM+ Radio in the FM bands (often calledDRM+ or DRM Mode E), one must look at it through the lens of efficiency. Analog FM is essentially a “spectrum hog.” A single station requires 200 kHz of bandwidth to transmit one audio program. DRM+, however, reimagines this space.
Spectral Efficiency and COFDM
DRM usesCoded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM). Unlike the single-carrier approach of analog FM, DRM splits the signal into hundreds of sub-carriers. These carriers are “orthogonal,” meaning they are mathematically arranged to prevent interference with one another even when packed tightly together.
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Bandwidth Comparison: A standard DRM+ signal occupies only 96 kHz.
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The Multi-Service Benefit: Because 96 kHz is less than half the width of an analog FM station, a broadcaster can fit one to four services (typically three audio channels and one dedicated data channel) within a single transmission.
The Audio Engine: xHE-AAC
In 2026, thexHE-AAC (Extended High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding) codec is the mandatory heart of DRM. It is arguably the most efficient audio codec ever developed.
- Dynamic Range: It provides CD-quality audio at bitrates as low as 48 kbps.
- Immersive Sound: It supports 5.1 Surround Sound natively over the air.
- Speech vs. Music: The codec automatically adjusts its encoding parameters based on the content (e.g., switching between speech-optimized and music-optimized modes) to ensure the best possible quality for the listener.
The Impact: Beyond “Just Music”
The transition to DRM is not merely about removing static; it is about turning the radio into a multimedia platform.
Journaline: The Radio Wikipedia
One of DRM’s most powerful features isJournaline. This is a text-based information service that allows listeners to browse hierarchical menus (news, weather, sports, stock updates) directly on their radio screen. It requires no internet connection and supportsUnicode, meaning it can display scripts ranging from Devanagari to Arabic.
Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF)
In 2026, governments are adopting DRM specifically for itsEWF capabilities. In the event of a natural disaster, a DRM transmitter can send a “wake-up” signal to all receivers.
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Automatic Activation: Radios in standby mode turn on automatically.
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Siren and Audio: An emergency siren sounds, followed by an emergency broadcast.
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Visual Instructions: Detailed text instructions (shelter locations, evacuation routes) are displayed via Journaline in multiple languages simultaneously.
Global Status: The 2026 Landscape
The adoption of DRM has been a tale of two worlds: emerging markets seeking sovereignty and established markets seeking efficiency.
India: The Country That Moved the Needle
India’s role in the DRM story cannot be overstated. After successfully deploying DRM across its AM and shortwave infrastructure — reaching an estimated 900 million people through the All India Radio network — the Indian government moved forward with its 2024–2026 Digital FM Policy, which mandated phased DRM+ deployment across the 88–108 MHz band in major urban centres.
The automotive sector responded faster than most analysts expected. By 2026, approximately 15 million vehicles on Indian roads have DRM receivers fitted at the factory level. This figure was enabled largely by a regulatory push that encouraged manufacturers to include DRM alongside the existing AM/FM tuners at minimal additional cost.
The receiver hardware barrier — historically the biggest obstacle to digital radio adoption everywhere — was also addressed head-on. Indian manufacturers OptM and Starwaves released handheld DRM receivers priced below USD 20. That figure matters. DAB+ receivers in Europe sat at EUR 50 to EUR 80 for years before the market scaled. Sub-$20 pricing puts DRM receivers within reach of a genuinely mass audience, not just enthusiasts.
Indonesia, Europe, and the Different Roads to the Same Standard
Indonesia’s national broadcaster RRI has approached DRM from a coverage reliability angle. Its archipelago of 17,000 islands is a difficult RF environment. Analog FM signals that travel over sea paths suffer from what propagation engineers call sea-path fading — the combination of reflections from the water surface and the absence of ground conductivity effects creates a particularly hostile channel. DRM’s layered error correction handles multipath fading significantly better than analog FM, and RRI’s field tests have shown marked improvements in coastal and island reception quality.
Europe presents a more complex picture. DAB+ is the dominant digital radio standard across most of Western Europe, and it has significant infrastructure and automotive penetration. However, DAB+ is not a realistic option for every broadcaster. The standard requires a multiplex — a shared transmission infrastructure that groups 15 or more stations together under a single transmitter. For a community radio station or a regional independent broadcaster, buying into a multiplex is expensive and involves relinquishing control over transmission infrastructure.
In October 2021, a DRM test experiment in the FM band was launched in Copenhagen, Denmark. The frequency allocated is 86.5 MHz with a bandwidth of 200 kHz, which makes room for two DRM signals. Each DRM signal has a capacity of 186.4 kbps (16QAM, CR 5/8) and accommodates three audio stereo channels and multimedia services. Thus with the bandwidth of 200 kHz, a total of six digital radio stations can be broadcasted.
The test is done a bit below the regular FM band (band II 87.5-108 MHz), as there is no space for such in this dense region. The new receivers for FM/DRM can handle 64-108 MHz.
Open Channel is working on expanding the FM band in Denmark from 85 – 87.5 MHz, so that the Danish FM band goes from 85 to 108 MHz and thereby create more space for the introduction of digital radio on the FM band.
The test broadcasts is a collaboration organised by Open Channel, an independent Danish network operator in Copenhagen together with Canadian Nautel (Transmitter), German RFmondial (DRM modulator & Measuring instruments), Fraunhofer IIS (Content server) and Swedish Progira (Network planning).
DRM+ offers those broadcasters a different model. A single station can own and operate its own low-power DRM+ transmitter, maintain its own frequency licence, and broadcast independently. That operational autonomy matters a great deal in independent and community media, and it is driving DRM+ adoption in exactly those segments across several European countries.
The Power Consumption Argument
Energy costs have become a dominant operational concern for broadcasters at every scale, and DRM has a measurable advantage here that is easy to quantify.
A conventional 100W analog FM transmitter, when you factor in amplifier efficiency, cooling, and ancillary systems, draws significantly more than its rated output in mains power. A DRM+ transmitter delivering equivalent or better coverage can operate at 20 to 50 percent of that total power draw because the signal’s robustness — courtesy of COFDM error correction — compensates for lower transmit power. A DRM signal with 2 kW of effective radiated power can cover the same area as a 5 kW to 10 kW analog FM installation in many terrain conditions.
Across a large national network, those numbers compound into a significant annual cost reduction. For broadcasters operating on licence fees or government budgets, the financial case for DRM is increasingly difficult to argue against.
SDR Enthusiasts: The Grassroots Who Proved the Demand
It would be a genuine omission to discuss DRM in 2026 without acknowledging the role that the Software Defined Radio community played in validating the technology years before commercial receivers appeared on shelves.
The Dream decoder — an open-source DRM demodulator available for Windows, Linux, and macOS — has been decoding DRM AM broadcasts since the mid-2000s. Used with a basic RTL-SDR dongle or any capable SDR receiver, it provided anyone with a computer and a few dollars of hardware the ability to receive DRM transmissions and evaluate audio quality directly. For a technology that needed real-world listening tests and community feedback, this grassroots infrastructure was genuinely valuable.
The SDR community also built GNU Radio-based DRM decoders, contributed signal quality data from hundreds of locations, and documented reception reports that gave broadcasters concrete evidence of their coverage footprint. That accumulated body of practical data accelerated hardware development and regulatory confidence in the standard.
By 2026, the progression from RTL-SDR dongle to embedded DRM chip in a car radio is not as long a distance as it might seem. The underlying architecture — a software-defined receiver tuned by parameters rather than physical components — is common to both ends of that spectrum.
The Honest Challenges
There is no useful technology analysis that ignores the obstacles, and DRM+ Radio in the FM bands has genuine ones.
Legacy hardware is the most stubborn problem. The installed base of analog FM radios worldwide numbers in the billions. None of them will receive DRM. That reality mandates a simulcast period — broadcasting the same content on both analog FM and DRM+ simultaneously — that could last a decade or longer in any given market. Simulcasting doubles transmission costs and negates much of the energy efficiency argument until the analog layer is eventually switched off.
Spectrum licensing is the second challenge. Regulators designed FM band plans around 200 kHz channel spacing. Inserting a 96 kHz DRM+ signal into the gaps between existing analog allocations — the so-called “digital white space” approach — requires careful interference modelling and regulatory rewriting in every jurisdiction. Some spectrum plans simply do not have enough clean white space to make this practical without coordinating with neighbouring stations.
Consumer awareness remains low outside India and a handful of markets. Building the listener habit around a new feature set — navigating Journaline menus, understanding the multi-service model — requires sustained broadcaster investment in education and marketing that many stations have been reluctant to commit to.
Where This Goes Next
The trajectory from here points toward what the DRM Consortium describes as the hybrid radio model. A DRM receiver of 2028 or 2030 will not be a standalone broadcast device. It will maintain a broadcast tuner for primary audio and emergency reception while simultaneously using an IP connection — cellular or Wi-Fi — to pull supplementary content, station logos, artist imagery, and on-demand streams. When the IP connection fails or is unavailable, the broadcast layer continues seamlessly. When the broadcast layer is out of range, the IP layer fills in.
That is a fundamentally different proposition from either pure streaming or pure broadcast. It is resilient in the way neither option alone can be, and it delivers it to a device that costs less than a smartphone and runs on batteries for days.
The FM band has been declared dead several times over the past thirty years. In 2026, what is actually happening is more interesting than its death — it is a quiet, technically sophisticated renewal that most people will not notice until they reach for the tuner in their next car and realise they are getting three channels, on-screen text news, and emergency alerts where there used to be one station and static.
That is what a silent revolution sounds like.
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