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Deutschlandradio is participating in the third nationwide "Warning Day" with the programmes Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Deutschlandfunk Nova. All over Germany, sirens will be wailing at around 11 a.m., loudspeaker trucks will be driving through the streets, apps will sound the alarm, and public billboards will provide information. Public and private television and radio stations will also participate in the campaign, which is intended to test the "warning system" nationwide. For DAB+ receivers, a "flag" will be sent, which will allow radios equipped for the warning to switch on automatically or to switch to the Deutschlandradio frequency.

This year's nationwide warning day, which serves to test the different warning systems, will take place on 14 September 2023. On this day, starting at 11:00, a test warning in the form of a warning text will be sent to all warning multipliers (e.g. radio stations and app servers) connected to the federal government's Modular Warning System (MoWaS for short).At 11:15, a warning will be broadcast via the 10D test network of Bayern Digital Radio (BDR).

On 14 September, the next nationwide warning day, DAB+ digital radio will again be an important component, alongside cell broadcast, sirens and other warning means. The members of the Digital Radio Germany Association, i.e. ARD, Deutschlandradio, commercial broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators and state media authorities, have set themselves the goal of defining a new warning system based on the DAB+ data services. Compared to mobile radio, DAB+ is broadcast via transmission masts located at high altitudes, which remain available even in the event of a crisis when the mobile network is overloaded or fails due to severe weather.

Chris Leonard, president of the Hawaii Association of Broadcasters: "All of the (cellular) infrastructure was gone the night of the fires. I'm sitting in my house in Hilo yelling at my television at 11 at night as I'm watching a communications staffer from Maui County talk about the fact that all the the Internet is down, cell service is down, phone service is down, cable is down. I called almost all of the major radio groups on Maui the following morning. “Hey, are you guys all on? How late did you stay on last night? Are you aware of anybody else on the island that's off? And they said, “No, we were on we were on live until late in the evening.”

DAB+ is already loved by listeners for bringing them more of their favourite radio stations in digital quality. Now there’s another compelling reason – a new emergency warning function being developed in Germany could help save lives. DAB+ offers enhanced emergency warnings with precise targeting providing a reliable solution in crisis situations. Future radios will even wake from stand-by to alert people at night.

Just like they used to do with milk cartons, but in a digital version: the photo of Kata, the little girl who disappeared yesterday in Florence, now appears on many car radios thanks to the initiative of 24 local Tuscan radio stations in the Media DAB consortium. The initiative is intended to support the search for little Kataleya Alvarez; the radio stations have replaced the slides of the song covers on air with photos of the missing little girl, and the taxis of the Società Coop Tassisti Firenze (TAXI 4242), are tuned in to DAB+ on one of the radios, so that they can make their customers aware of the search still underway.

Albrecht Audio presents a new, versatile outdoor radio with emergency functions - including hand crank, solar panel and retractable light The new DR 114 DAB+ from Albrecht Audio is the perfect companion for all outdoor and survival fans: as a true all-rounder, the compact radio not only provides listeners on the move with the latest information and music (reception via FM / DAB+ / streaming), but also functions as a camping light at the same time - and that without an external power supply if required.

The Norwegian Communications Authority (Nkom) reports several inquiries from consumers who state that so-called emergency radios or emergency radios are being sold that do not meet the requirements that have been set. If you find a radio dealer or an advertisement that says that an FM radio is a full-fledged emergency radio, this is not correct. A good emergency radio has DAB+ technology, and can be used both on 230V and on batteries. That's what department director at Nkom, John-Eivind Velure, says. He further emphasises: — In Norway, NRK P1 is responsible for broadcasting important messages to the population in a crisis situation. They can break in with important messages on all channels, so it doesn't matter if you listen to P13 or P1+. Local FM networks are only an addition that can be used if other mobile radio and TV networks are down. Nkom has notified the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority and asked them to consider examining the sales communication for products sold as emergency radios.

"Radio is and remains an indispensable component of an overall warning system for the population, but there is still a lot to do." This is the conclusion of today's warning day from the perspective of the broadcasting network operators "Milling Broadcast Services GmbH" and "RegionalRadioBW". Both tested the warning functionalities of the digital radio standard DAB+ today in parts of Rhineland-Palatinate (Bad Kreuznach region), Baden-Württemberg (Heilbronn-Stuttgart) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Rostock).

On the nationwide warning day, DAB+ digital terrestrial broadcasting proved to be an important, robust and reliable channel for transmitting messages in the event of a crisis. The alerting via the so-called "MoWaS" system of the federal government, the transmitting equipment and signal paths worked flawlessly as expected. Public and private stations participated editorially and in some cases with test and active alarm messages.