We characterize the gravitational radiation present in the general Plebanski-Demianski type D solution with cosmological constant of any sign. We show that radiation escapes towards infinity if and only if the acceleration parameter is non-zero. We calculate the Cotton-York tensor and the boundary stress-energy tensor at infinity for negative , and for positive the D tensor that complements initial or final data at J. In addition, we recast a recent parametrization of this family of metrics into a new form by a simple homothety, correctly identifying , and study the existence and regularity of the possible axes of symmetry, searching for a relation between deficit angles and radiation. We also identify the branch of general non-radiating solutions with non-vanishing Cotton-York tensor at J.