The Gold Coast's Juice FM Leads the Way in Going Digital on DAB+

Clare Bruce -

Juice 107.3 on the Gold Coast has entered an exciting new season, becoming one of Australia’s first non-metro community radio stations to launch on Digital DAB+.

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) announced the launch on March 16, with Juice joining two other Gold Coast community stations, 4CRB and Radio Metro, in going digital.

This makes Gold Coast the first place outside of Australia’s capital cities to enter the digital spectrum, as part of a gradual nation-wide rollout being co-ordinated by the CBAA.

An event was held to celebrate the news, featuring speeches by Juice’s station manager Susie Holt, as well as Communications Minister Michelle Rowland MP, Gold Coast City Mayor Tom Tate, and local MP Karen Andrews.

Speaking for Juice 107.3, Susie said the station was thankful for the work of the CBAA in opening this new chapter in broadcasting.

“It’s a huge win,” she said. “Particularly for the Gold Coast to be the first non-metro city to get access to the bandwidth. We love being a non-metro that leads the way.”

“As community broadcasters we’re funded largely by local business and our listening community, so we are grateful that because of the partnership with CBAA we can provide our service on all the available technologies without it costing us.”

DAB+ radio offers listeners advantages including enhanced sound quality, on-screen information, and images. The national rollout of digital radio is being supported by government funding through the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

Stephen Wilkinson, the technical operations manager for Juice 107.3, said he was was thrilled with the move to digital.

“It’s great to be now on DAB+ in the Gold Coast,” he said. “After a long wait for Telstra to install the fibre internet, which is used to get the broadcast to the transmitter, we’ve been able to get on air. Many thanks to the Cbaa for their work in securing funding and the equipment. Juice is now adding a Christian voice to the Gold Coast’s DAB+ transmission. “

There are now 15 Christian channels available on DAB+ around Australia including:

  • Hope 103.2 (Sydney)
  • Inspire (Sydney)
  • Christmas Hope (Sydney)
  • TheLight89.9 (Melbourne)
  • TheLight Mix (Melbourne)
  • TheLight Christmas (Melbourne)
  • Life FM (Adelaide)
  • 96five (Brisbane)
  • Inspire (Brisbane)
  • Christmas Hope (Brisbane)
  • SonshineFM (Perth)
  • 1wayFM (Canberra)
  • Darwin’s 97seven
  • Ultra106.5 (Hobart)
  • Juice 107.3 (Gold Coast)
Above: Susie Holt (left) represented Juice 107.3 at the Gold Coast DAB+ Community Radio Launch