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As the automotive industry accelerates towards a future dominated by connected vehicles, the EBU is working to safeguard radio’s relevance in this evolving landscape. A new guide – the EBU Connected Car Playbook – is a united call to action for ensuring how radio can – and should – be visible and easy to find in the car, placing user experience at the forefront. In collaboration with key members including Swedish Radio, ARD, BBC, and Radio France, the EBU addresses three significant challenges facing the industry: radio’s relegation; uncertain trajectory of voice interaction; and dominance of global players. Speaking at a specially convened expert panel during the 2024 Media Summit in Geneva, Cilla Benkö, EBU Vice President, emphasised that the Playbook calls for an alignment of strategy across the radio industry and a roadmap for engaging audiences in the connected car space.

‘What will be left of Spanish radio in a decade?’ The author reflects in this Radio Exterior microprogramme on the need for the Administration to promote new legislation to regulate and boost DAB+ digital terrestrial radio as the successor to the analogue technology, from the last century, which continues to be the predominant channel: FM. The National Technical Plan that regulates digital radio in Spain dates back to... 1999. Yes, you read that right. From the last century. And although it was partially modified in 2011 with the aim, and I quote, of ‘optimising broadcast coverage and facilitating access to the digital radio service for a greater number of citizens’, it backfired and population coverage was reduced from 50% to 20%.

Rutland and Stamford Sound is joining the local multiplex owned by Creativity Media Services Ltd. The radio station has been online since it launched after the rebranding of Rutland Sound to Greatest Hits Radio in 2020. The multiplex also now carries Embrace Radio and Massive Hits. Rob Persani, Station Manager, Rutland & Stamford Sound told RadioToday: "We’re excited for our listeners to try us on DAB, and to tell us how they get on. We know SSDAB is still a developing technology and we’re grateful to the team at Creativity Media Services for giving us the opportunity to reach our listeners this way, and to Ofcom for their support."

More than 6.1 million Austrians listen to the radio every day, which corresponds to a daily audience potential of 76.1%. ‘DAB+ has developed into an indispensable third pillar alongside FM and streaming; currently, one third of all Austrians already use DAB+,’ says Joachim Feher, Managing Director of RMS Austria. ‘For listeners, the variety will increase immensely, from Austropop stations to news stations. In addition, many stations can now extend their broadcasting area to the whole of Austria.’ The latest developments in the DAB+ sector include the continuous expansion of the transmitter network in Austria. ‘Last year's amendment to Section 9 of the Private Radio Act has given us the opportunity to become active on DAB+ with additional programmes. We want to use this opportunity to develop from a single-brand to a multi-brand strategy,’ says Mario Frühauf, Managing Director of Kronehit, looking at the latest developments.

The Czech airwaves are enriched with a new radio station, which broadcasts on the DAB+ digital platform. One of the goals of Radio Energic is to attract younger listeners who do not listen to radio because they are unable to choose from the current offer. The pioneer of the use of DAB+ technology within mainstream music hit stations is Radio Energic. Radio Energic is a progressive radio station with a mainstream format appealing to women and men in the 20-40 year old target group. Mainly from cities with an emphasis on Prague and Central Bohemia, North East Bohemia, Brno and Ostrava. The signal is along the entire length of the motorways, and it is in digital quality without the need for re-tuning. "You don't have to be connected to the internet in the car and thanks to the DAB+ tuner, which is already a standard part of car radios, and dynamic music programmed for travelling, you have companions in the car," says Tomas Vesely, Managing Director and Programme Director of Radio Energic, in an interview.

Austria's first jazz radio station is launched with City Jazz. Under the motto ‘Inspire Your Life’, jazz music is broadcast around the clock, supplemented by hourly news. ‘With its focus on jazz, the new station sees itself as a deliberate counterpoint to the numerous mainstream radio stations broadcast on FM,’ says Managing Director Gernot Fischer. City Jazz broadcasts in the greater Vienna area as terrestrial digital radio via DAB+ and can therefore be received via any car radio that has been installed since 2021. This also includes older car radios with the ‘Digital radio reception’ option configured. City Jazz is produced by RTG Radio Technikum GmbH, which already broadcasts a pop music programme that can be received nationwide via DAB+ with ‘Radio ONE-Die neue Hitgarantie’.

Los Jameos del Agua (Lanzarote) is hosting FORTA's 3rd Radio Forum (25-26 April), a meeting at which representatives of the main Spanish radio stations shared their challenges and proposed solutions to guarantee their continuity and continue to defend their relevance in a visual social context. The consolidation of the digital audio broadcasting system DAB+ was addressed by Ángel García Castillejo, director of audiovisual policies, public and international service at RTVE, and Javier Sánchez Pérez, head of strategy at RTVE's innovation centre and member of the EBU's radio committee. The presentation discussed the need to accelerate the process of digitalisation of radio in Spain and to follow the European example in the implementation of the DAB+ system, as well as possible common strategies for positioning and strengthening the digital radio broadcasting service in DAB+.

The French regulator Arcom, and its partners in the 'Observatoire de l'équipement audiovisuel des foyers de France métropolitaine' present the results for the second half of 2023 for television and radio. Although DAB+-compatible equipment remains stable among individuals aged 13 and over (24.5%), an increasing number of those equipped cite equipment receiving DAB+ as one of the three most commonly used media for listening to the radio (+6.1 points compared to 2022). The report profiles DAB+-equipped individuals, noting higher levels for under 25s (21.5% of DAB+ subscribers, compared with 16.9% of all individuals aged 13 and over) and those living outside the Paris region (84.8% against 81.5%).

Not only telecom operators, who will launch their DAB+ multiplexes on the final frequencies in the coming months, but also individuals have decided to send their comments on the Frequency Spectrum Plan, specifically in the range of 174 to 380 MHz, part of which will be used for digital radio. Among them is Karel Mikuláštík, a proponent of the possibility of radio multiplexes for community and non-profit radio for many years. He therefore recommended that the Authority insert several passages in the PVRS that address this possibility. One of these is the possibility of operating a local network with 10 watts of power for a 12-month period. Local radios should then have the option of operating a network of up to 200 watts. Mikuláštík also proposes the possibility of operating a network outside the allocated area with a power of up to 1 kW.

Ángel García Castillejo, Director of Audiovisual Policies, Public Service and International at RTVE, and Javier Sánchez Pérez, Head of Strategy at RTVE's Innovation Centre and member of the EBU Radio Committee, took part in the 3rd Radio Forum, which was held this Thursday at Los Jameos del Agua, in Lanzarote. During the conference 'La implantación del DAB+', the RTVE officials shared their experience at RNE after having broadcast in DAB+ in several Spanish cities. They discussed the need to speed up the process of digitalisation of radio in Spain and follow the European example in the implementation of the DAB+ system, as well as possible common strategies for positioning and strengthening the digital radio broadcasting service in DAB+.