Industry leaders at Radiodays Europe unanimous that DAB+ is the future of radio

Industry leaders were unanimous at this year’s Radiodays Europe that DAB+ is the future of digital radio in Europe, enabling broadcasters to provide innovative radio that will remain relevant in the digital era. During the opening session of the conference, Jan-Willem Brüggenwirth, CEO of the number one Dutch radio station Radio 358, told over 1,000 delegates that DAB+ is the next big thing for radio in The Netherlands, where full DAB+ nationwide coverage will be achieved by 1st September 2013 thanks to the tripartite collaboration between the government, public and private broadcasters, and inspired by the Australian DAB+ rollout case study.  The same tripartite alliance was reported as a success factor for the planned 2017 FM switch-off in Norway, according to Marius Lille, Head of Radio at NRK.

Anneke Nyberg presented the EBU “Eurochip” campaign, which advocates free to air broadcast, analogue and digital, in all devices.  She advised delegates that radio must find its way into mobile phones and tablets to ensure the future of radio worldwide, and the Eurochip concept offers a simple answer to that end.

Radio Futurologist James Cridland and Babak Zeini of FORCE Innovations presented statistical evidence which emphasised that now and in the future there will be inadequate bandwidth to carry radio via smartphone. They citied solutions via hybrid models, where the greater part of content is delivered by broadcast and enriched by the internet.  Tobias Wallerius, from leading automotive supplier Visteon, advised delegates that Radio DNS closes the gap between traditional broadcasting and internet radio.

Several speakers presented evidence of the continued market growth of DAB+ digital radio across Europe. Michael Reichert from ARD reported that 240 different models of digital radio receivers are now available on the German market, where it is anticipated that over 1 million receivers will be sold by the end of 2013.  Ford Ennals, CEO of Digital Radio UK, advised that car manufacturer AUDI have just announced they will fit digital radio as standard across all models sold in the UK from April 2013, helping the UK reach its target to enable an announcement on FM switchover later this year.  Mr Ennals said that Digital Radio UK endorses the EBU’s Eurochip initiative, as the UK wants to see a common EU standard for digital radio which will result in lower receiver prices for the consumer.

Next year’s Radiodays Europe will take place 23-25 March 2014 in Dublin, Ireland.

Source: WorldDMB