News

Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) has welcomed the GfK Survey 2, 2026 results, with commercial radio reaching a record 12.8 million listeners weekly. For nearly four years commercial radio has sustained audiences exceeding 12 million demonstrating its resilience and stability for brands. Lizzie Young, CEO of CRA, said: "A record audience last survey, topped again this survey. When a medium delivers at this scale, this consistently, it tells you that Australians rely on local, live commercial radio - and brands can too.” The shift to an audio everywhere approach has transformed how audiences consume content anytime, anywhere - with listeners moving seamlessly between AM, FM, DAB+, and streaming.

The 32nd edition of the EBU Radio Assembly took place in Sofia, Bulgaria on 23 April 2026, in the wake of the EBU Media Summit 2026. This year's Radio Assembly focused on two priorities that demand the attention of every EBU radio member. First, critical EU legislation affecting radio's distribution in connected cars is currently under review, and coordinated action across the membership will be essential in the months ahead – the Assembly provided space to address questions and concerns. The Assembly also marked Radio Ready's second year, with plans for the year ahead unveiled. Among the other questions explored was how we can continue to do our work at the highest standard while remaining impartial yet relevant in a space increasingly flooded by misinformation and content created by AI bots.

SBS Audio celebrates the Eurovision Song Contest, connecting audiences with the languages, music, and communities of Eurovision 2026. SBS Audio is also launching SBS PopEuro! For the month of May, SBS PopEuro is playing non-stop Eurovision hits – all the winners, all the 2026 songs and those songs that we’ll never forget. Turn it up from Friday 1 May until Saturday 31 May on DAB+ Radio, SBS Audio, and SBS On Demand.

The legendary radio station from the Benešov region is returning to the airwaves in a modern digital format. Listeners can now tune in to the station under its new name, Ráádio Presstón (formerly Rádio Presston), as part of the COLOR DAB+ radio network. Miroslav Pýcha’s company, JOE Media, is responsible for the technical operation of this network and handles signal distribution. The station uses modern digital distribution via the COLOR DAB+ network with a data rate of 72 kbps. With this step, JOE Media is further expanding its programming portfolio available to listeners with compatible receivers.

The educational radio station EDU Radio has joined another DAB+ network, thereby expanding its reach to listeners. The station has now been added to the multiplex of operator Fiera Touch, which provides digital broadcasting coverage within a defined territory. The station is now available not only in Prague and Central Bohemia but, thanks to this partnership, also covers other regions. As a result of this move, the station’s signal is now available in the Karlovy Vary and Hradec Králové regions, in the Vysočina region, and in Tábor. Media entrepreneur Pavel Hájek, who operates the multiplex, has also included the station in his Regional Network 11.

The 5th Radio Forum of the Federation of Regional Radio and Television Organisations and Bodies (FORTA), held in Cartagena and hosted by RTRM, concluded with the reading of the Cartagena Declaration, a document in which regional public broadcasters demand a guaranteed presence of terrestrial radio in vehicles and mobile phones sold in the European Union. The Declaration calls for the European Digital Networks Act to include a requirement to integrate FM and DAB+ receivers into all vehicles sold in the EU, with direct and prominent access, and to expressly prohibit their concealment beneath layers of commercial applications. The Declaration also calls for mobile phones sold in the EU to be required to incorporate DAB+ receivers with the emergency alert system.

Confindustria Radio Televisioni is renewing its call on national and European institutions to establish a regulatory framework ensuring that FM, DAB+ and IP reception systems are fitted in all vehicles. This initiative follows on from the #RadioInAuto institutional campaign and aims to address recent technological choices made by car manufacturers, which could limit easy access to radio content. The removal of FM and DAB tuners from new cars, replaced by systems based exclusively on an internet connection, would in fact risk depriving listeners of the simplest, most immediate and free way to enjoy radio: an everyday activity would become dependent on network availability, an app and, in some cases, a subscription.

Radio Veronica’s themed channel ‘De Beste 90’s’ is now available via DAB+ and the internet. The channel replaces the themed station Radio Veronica Non-stop. As the name suggests, the themed channel De Beste 90’s plays the best Veronica hits from the 1990s. The radio station can be listened to worldwide via the internet and in large parts of the Netherlands via DAB+. The station takes the place of Radio Veronica Non-stop on MTVNL’s DAB+ network on channel 7D.

Millions of Swedes are now gaining access to a significantly wider range of radio stations. Viaplay Group Radio is launching twelve new digital radio channels in 25 locations across the country, as part of the company’s ongoing investment in DAB+. Once the roll-out is complete this summer, it is estimated that around 70 per cent of Sweden’s population will be able to access the digital channels. Since 2021, Viaplay Group Radio has been broadcasting digital radio in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Uppsala and Gävle. The initiative is now being scaled up, with Viaplay’s digital radio channels expected to reach around 70 per cent of Sweden’s population – in line with the Swedish Media Authority’s requirements.

For listeners within the coverage area of the Augsburg-Hotelturm transmitter, the FM frequencies for five BR stations will change from 28 April: Bayern 1, Bayern 2, Bayern 3, BR Klassik and BR24. This may require listeners to perform a new FM station search. In future, Bayerischer Rundfunk will broadcast its programmes from the Augsburg-Hotelturm transmitter exclusively via DAB+. The reason for the frequency change is the decommissioning of the Augsburg Hotel Tower FM transmitter for economic reasons and to improve energy efficiency in broadcasting. BR’s FM stations (Bayern 1, Bayern 2, Bayern 3, BR Klassik and BR24) can still be received via the FM frequencies of the Grünten or Hühnerberg transmitters.