This weekly digest tracks the global broadcast industry: station and channel launches, closures, rebrands, mergers, licence decisions and transmitter-network changes. This launch issue focuses on the past week, with a few recent major stories added.
Top Story
BBC to close three linear services at once.On 20 October the BBC announced that, as part of a plan to save £500 million by 2028, the BBC Three and BBC Scotland television channels and the radio station Radio 4 Extra will stop linear broadcasting in spring 2027, moving to iPlayer and BBC Sounds. Radio 4 Extra, built on comedy, drama and archive programming, began life as BBC 7 in 2002; BBC Three has been here before — it went online-only in 2016, then returned to television in 2022.
China
Heyuan Tourism Radio and Life channel to close on 14 November.Heyuan Radio & TV announced on 4 November that, with the national regulator’s approval, its Life TV channel and Tourism Radio (FM 97.8) will cease broadcasting at midnight on 14 November; their programming moves to the group’s news channel and its general radio service (FM 91.1). The Life channel began in 2006 as Heyuan’s public channel and took its current name only in May 2025; Tourism Radio launched in October 2010.
Yichang Music & Life Radio closes.Yichang Music & Life Radio (FM 100.6) in Hubei formally ceased broadcasting at midnight on 7 November.
China Traffic Radio’s Shaanxi and Shanxi editions disappear.The Shaanxi edition of China Traffic Radio, transmitted from Xi’an (FM 103.5), has recently vanished for unknown reasons; the Shanxi edition (Taiyuan, FM 106.5) has also been off air for some time.
Quzhou Traffic & Music Radio relays another service all day.Quzhou Traffic & Music Radio (FM 97.5) in Zhejiang has, since at least this autumn, relayed the city’s general service around the clock, leaving its own schedule effectively suspended.
Zhuhai’s Doumen district station is back.Local listeners report that the Doumen district radio station in Zhuhai, Guangdong, has resumed broadcasting.
More Jiangsu county sub-channels close.Several county-level television sub-channels in Jiangsu have closed or are about to: Kunshan’s drama and movie channels in Suzhou, Dongtai’s second channel in Yancheng, and Sheyang’s economy & life channel — county media centres continue to shed side channels and concentrate on their main services.
Three Guangxi localities to switch off SD.TV channels in Nanning’s Wuming district, Binyang county and Leye county (Baise) in Guangxi will soon switch off their standard-definition signals as local broadcasting moves fully to HD.
Wuhan Jiangxia transmissions pause for a transmitter-site move.While the Zhupishan transmitter site in Wuhan’s Jiangxia district relocates its equipment room, Jiangxia District Radio (FM 106.4) and the DTMB terrestrial TV services transmitted from the site are off air from 5 to 26 November.
Wanrong county station goes HD.The county broadcaster in Wanrong, Yuncheng (Shanxi), has begun broadcasting in high definition.
Jiangxi’s 701 transmitter off for a month’s maintenance.Jiangxi’s provincial 701 transmitter station on Mount Lu has been off air for maintenance since 1 November, expected to last about a month; the shutdown was formally announced on 6 November.
Inner Mongolia 052 transmitter pauses for maintenance.The regional 052 transmitter in Hexigten Banner will suspend transmissions for equipment maintenance from 08:00 on 11 November to 20:00 on 16 November.
Inner Mongolia 725 transmitter pauses for maintenance.The regional 725 transmitter in Ningcheng will likewise suspend transmissions from 08:00 on 9 November to 20:00 on 11 November.
Kunming Cable renumbers its channels.From 10 November, Kunming Cable in Yunnan is renumbering its channel line-up to implement the national regulator’s unified numbering for simulcast channels.
Asia-Pacific
Radio Free Asia resumes broadcasting to China.On 9 November, Radio Free Asia (RFA) announced it has resumed broadcasts aimed at mainland China after last year’s funding collapse forced it to suspend most services: Mandarin programming returns first as online audio, while Tibetan, Uyghur and other services are back on shortwave and medium wave; its former satellite TV services have not resumed. RFA is carried on this site — listen via the Radio Free Asia page.
Al Jazeera launches Al Jazeera Now.On 1 November, marking 30 years on air, Al Jazeera launched Al Jazeera Now, a new Arabic rolling-news channel developed from Al Jazeera 2, which had launched in April, with a focus on live coverage of major breaking events.
ABC rolls out Local News Briefings.Australia’s ABC has completed the rollout of Local News Briefings across its digital network, delivering short local news updates through its apps and websites.
Japan’s radiko+FM app to shut down.Japanese online-radio platform radiko will remove its hybrid radio app radiko+FM from Google Play at the end of October 2027 and end the service in January 2028; the app’s online listening will stop, while phones’ hardware FM reception is unaffected, and radiko’s main apps continue.
Europe
Germany’s BR Schlager signs off.BR Schlager, Bayerischer Rundfunk’s nostalgic-hits station, ceased broadcasting at 6 p.m. on 9 November, ending both its DAB+ and online streams.
BBC local radio medium wave to be fully switched off by year-end.The BBC’s remaining local-radio medium-wave transmitters in Cumbria, Derby, Gloucestershire, Norfolk and Somerset will all close by the end of 2026, completing the MW exit programme the BBC began in 2011.
Berlin tenders new DAB+ capacity.The Berlin-Brandenburg media authority has opened a tender for new DAB+ capacity on Berlin’s channel 7B multiplex, inviting private stations to apply.
Bomb hoaxes disrupt broadcasters across Europe.On 6 November, Ireland’s RTÉ, Britain’s Sky and Bulgaria’s Nova TV all received anonymous bomb-threat emails; RTÉ evacuated staff and interrupted normal programming with recorded material before the threats were confirmed as hoaxes.
North America
Canada’s private broadcasting sector keeps shrinking.A centenary report from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters shows private radio revenue fell from C$1.6 billion in 2015 to C$1.1 billion in 2025, with 45% of private stations losing money and 171 stations losing more than 20% — putting them at risk of closure or deep cuts; private television lost a cumulative C$2.73 billion over the same decade.
Compiled from public reports. Stations carried on GoradioAI are linked to their listening pages.
