If there’s one thing one can say about Noel Mallia, it’s this: he knows his music. And not, I suspect, since he first started out as a rock show presenter on Rediffusion in the early 1970s, has he been so excited about the potential of music radio. This is because he has just overseen the launch of All Rock, a station on digital radio dedicated to rock music 24 hours a day.

“I think digital radio is the future, and having the opportunity to start up an entire station dedicated to rock on the digital system is an amazing opportunity. Never before have there been such specialized music radio stations in Malta, but thanks to this new technology, listeners have a wealth of choice to indulge in,” he told me.

Mallia recently assumed the position of music director at All Music Digital Network, a company set up to create and run stations on the Digi B Network, which holds the license for digital radio broadcasting in Malta. His first project is was the setting up of All Rock (somewhat ironically sub-titled powered by people with long hair) and All Groove, a station dedicated to pop music from the past.

DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting. It features interference-free, high sound-quality reception and a choice of local, international and tailor-made digital-only stations dedicated to particular genres of music. Its advantages over the current analogue FM and AM system have made it a generally accepted fact that digital will eventually become the only type of radio broadcasting in Europe.

Digi B Network established the first DAB+ platform in the world by launching DAB+ in Malta, in October 2008. It has already established itself among nearly 15 per cent of the population (according to surveys). DAB+ is the latest addition to the family of DAB standards, allowing more services to be broadcast at even higher audio quality. The company has also brought to the market the first DAB+ car stereo in the world – the Bluestate RA557. One has to purchase a digital radio set to be able to listen to All Rock and the other stations on the platform.

“I plan to start a whole family of stations with the All- prefix, followed by the style of music the station will play 24-hours a day. All Rock speaks for itself, and the fans of the many different types of rock music in this country have been crying out for a dedicated station for years. All Groove is aimed at the older listener – and anyone who appreciates the golden oldies. Later on, we’ll have country, classical, 80s… the possibilities are endless,” he explained.

“Personally, I think the traditional FM radio scene is a bit restrictive and currently stagnant, both creatively and financially, so I’m confident we’ll have many people following the thousands who have already bought a DAB+ set, for home or for their car, to start enjoying a stream their favourite music undiluted by other types of songs or interrupted by unprofessional presenters and phone-ins,” he smiled.

So, won’t there be deejays on digital, I ask? “There will be DJs – I present some shows, and we have Malcolm Demanuele (of Rock Net fame), Lito and Nigel Camilleri on board so far, but, as those who have listened to my and the few other rock shows that have been around on FM over the years, our presentation does not drown out the main object of the broadcast: the music. Eventually, we’ll be training new presenters and introducing them on the new stations, so DAB+; this is another reason why digital is radio’s future,” he concluded.

The channels available on DAB+ so far include 897 Bay, Bay Easy, Bay Italia, RTK, Magic, Radio Malta, One, Radio 101, Smash, Campus FM, Radju Kottoner, BBC World Service, Radio Uno, Radio Due, Radio Tre, World Radio Network, VOA Music Mix, Radio Deejay (Italy), Deejay 95.6 (Malta), Groove, All Rock, All Smooth, Classic Choice, XFM London and, soon, London’s Capital Radio will also be trialed. The introduction of new channels will see the choice of stations on DAB+ double by the end of the year.

More information is available on the All Rock Facebook page and at: www.dab.com.mt.