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Participants in the panel on the digitization of radio broadcasting agreed that digital radio lacks government support in the form of an information campaign or a ban on the sale of radio receivers without a digital tuner. “We were pleasantly surprised that all the digital radio broadcasting networks we managed to acquire through auction have actually begun broadcasting and met the development criteria,” said Jiří Duchač, head of the Frequency Spectrum Management Department at the Czech Telecommunications Office. To ensure this continues, the state should support emerging digital radio stations, which face the same costs as established commercial players—such as fees to copyright collecting societies.

For Fête de la radio, your favourite presenters are rallying behind DAB+. You listen to them every morning, every evening, in the car or in the kitchen. To mark Radio Day, your favourite presenters are coming together with a shared goal: to introduce you to DAB+, the new way to listen to the radio. All these familiar voices have come together in a series of videos to explain, in simple terms, what DAB+ means for you. A rare show of unity, befitting the revolution currently underway: across France, radio is switching to DAB+. Radio stations, united under the banner of ‘Ensemble pour le DAB+’, are launching one of the largest campaigns ever undertaken to raise awareness of this new way of listening.

Radio stations will get clearer DAB carriage pricing under a new Ofcom licence condition. Ofcom has confirmed that local and national digital radio multiplex operators will have to publish up to date rate cards showing indicative payments for carriage on their services. The change follows a consultation on how to implement new requirements introduced by the Media Act 2024, which placed a duty on Ofcom to require more transparency around payments made by radio stations to multiplex operators. The regulator says the new condition will apply to the holders of local and national multiplex licences, with the published prices intended to act as a starting point for commercial negotiations rather than a fixed tariff.

Martin Ajdari, President of Arcom, spoke at Assises de la radio. "Resistance is good, but resilience is even better. This is the challenge facing the transformation and modernisation of the sector and its distribution, starting with DAB+, the benefits of which need no detailed elaboration: sound quality, a wide range of services, and, above all, the absence of a technical intermediary between broadcaster and listener, which is important in a world of proprietary interfaces... Today, 80% of the population is covered, including all towns with over 50,000 inhabitants, as well as 10,000 km of motorway and virtually all of Brittany’s dual carriageways. This is a remarkable achievement, but it is not enough, as demonstrated by the fact that awareness and ownership rates have plateaued at around 35%, which is insufficient."

“We are already very well positioned in central Germany when it comes to DAB+ reception. The focus now is on closing individual coverage gaps and optimising the reception of all MDR radio programmes via DAB+ as a whole,” said Niels Schulze, Head of Programme Distribution at MDR. With the commissioning of the Salzwedel site, MDR is continuing to expand its DAB+ transmitter network. In the Salzwedel urban area, digital radio reception inside buildings is now possible for the first time for around 14,000 residents. In the region around Salzwedel, digital radio reception inside buildings is also being further improved and stabilised for a total of around 28,000 residents.

egta, the international trade body for multiplatform TV and audio businesses, has joined Radio Ready, the global industry-wide campaign focused on ensuring radio remains accessible, prominent and easy to discover in connected cars. The move brings broadcasters, advertisers and media companies together behind a shared goal: keeping radio easy for listeners to find and use as cars become increasingly connected. Radio Ready was established as a unified response by the broadcasting industry to shifts in the in-car entertainment environment. While in-car radio remains vital to drivers and passengers, the way it is accessed is changing, with increasingly complex entertainment systems creating new challenges for discovery, visibility and ease of use.

From 1 to 3 June 2026, MBT Conference 2026 was successfully held at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Skopje, organized by the National Broadcasting Public Enterprise. As a regional platform for cooperation among broadcasting network and infrastructure operators, the MBT Association once again brought together representatives of leading companies, institutions, experts, and partners from across the region and beyond. The conference provided an opportunity for knowledge exchange, discussion of technological trends, and addressing key challenges in broadcasting and electronic communications. The conference covered a range of important topics including DAB+, with WorldDAB President Jacqueline Bierhorst speaking at the event.

Last week, Viaplay Radio launched a major marketing campaign for DAB+. The campaign, “More music – more radio”, will run throughout the summer. “It will run in all cities where we broadcast digital radio, which covers 65 per cent of the population. The campaign will be featured across most available media channels, including digital, outdoor, radio, TV, social media, guerrilla marketing, events and the press,” says Anders Sjöland, Marketing Director at Viaplay Radio. The campaign has been developed in-house by the marketing department and tailored to each city. In the adverts, Viaplay Radio refers to the website dabradio.nu, where listeners can, among other things, search for available digital channels in their area and find out more about DAB+.

On Tuesday 2 June, Arcom hosted a new edition of the “Assises de la radio” at the Authority’s headquarters to discuss the current challenges facing the radio industry and to identify the future developments and challenges that will shape its landscape in the long term. “What is needed today is a more proactive collective approach involving the entire sector, public authorities and the regulator. It is with this in mind that, in the autumn, we will launch a process of consultation and scenario modelling to define, by early 2027, a common platform for the future of radio,” emphasised Martin Ajdari, President of Arcom, during his opening speech.

David Fernández Quijada writes for RedTech International: "Is online the future of radio? The answer is more complex than many so-called radio experts suggest: yes and no. Radio’s identity is expanding beyond linear broadcasting. Hybrid models are central to audience strategy and revenue diversification: broadcast is simple, robust and ingrained in the habits of millions; meanwhile, online offers valuable brand extension and ample room for innovation. The strategic battle is not broadcast vs. online but autonomy vs. dependence on gatekeepers. Online listening is built on infrastructure that radio does not control so it means relying on digital networks, car manufacturers, operating systems, device ecosystems and third-party platforms. Radio is not just surviving; it is essential. Online does not kill audio broadcasting; it amplifies it."