Paris Radio Show highlights DAB+ growth

16.06.2022 by Will Jackson & Jean-Marc Dubreuil

New marketing body announced, 50% population coverage by end of year

All parts of the French radio industry came together to celebrate the medium at the second edition of the Fete de la Radio during the Paris Radio Show, held at La Seine Musicale earlier this month.

In his opening speech of “Les Assises de la Radio”, also hosted during the Paris Radio Show, Roch-Olivier Maistre, president of French regulator Arcom said radio’s strength was “knowing how to reinvent itself and project itself into the future. Its ability to imagine new programmes, to use innovative media, to embrace new technologies to attract different audiences, demonstrates this,” he said. “I am thinking of the deployment of DAB+, connected speakers, new applications, such as Radioplayer, and the development of podcasts which are all tangible proof of the actors of the radio ecosystem’s agility and ability to come together.”

Maistre also announced the new marketing association, “Ensemble pour le DAB+” to promote digital radio. “Beyond the support of the public authorities and the regulator, the future of the radio medium also lies… in its ability to bring together its players to jointly identify innovative solutions and jointly face the challenges of sector,” he said. “This is also the point of the association to promote DAB+… this is good news for the sector.”

The new body brings together public broadcaster Radio France with key commercial players Groupe M6, Groupe Lagardère, Groupe NRJ, Altice Media, and SIRTI, which represents independent radio stations. The organisation also has flexibility to include further broadcasters, along with retailers and manufacturers. Formal objectives and the governance structure are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

ARCOM member Hervé Godechot, along with radio executives, updated the Assises attendees on France’s accelerating rollout of DAB+. “The coverage roadmap is solidifying,” he said, “reaching 42% of the population today, and 50% by the end of the year, with 26 additional multiplexes.” Three – in Orléans, Poitiers, and Tours launched on 17 May, and 565 radio stations are now licensed. Radio France added that the national multiplexes would cover 50% of the highway network by the second half of next year, adding a further 3,500km of coverage. This includes more than 30 of the highest density metropolitan areas.

Digital radio had support for it voiced by broadcasters including Anne-Marie de Couvreur of AirZen Radio, a new service available only in DAB+, and Pierre Boucard, Sun Radio, a pioneer of DAB+ – “there is a true belief in DAB+,” said de Couvreur.

Some challenges were identified - the need to communicate radio’s benefits to the next, younger generation of listeners was emphasised, while Arcom’s Hervé Godechot noted that audience research needed an overhaul - in Paris there were now nearly 100 stations available, with no measurement of DAB+ listening.

Elsewhere at the show, there was agreement on the robustness of the radio and audio industry. Sibyle Veil, CEO of Radio France, said that radio’s future was audio before anything else – images would provide support rather than being the primary focus., The CEO of Skyrock, Pierre Bellanger, agreed with Veil, saying radio should be “eyes-free”, with no screen required. He argued that audio should be placed at the heart, with an eco-system built around it using the technology of the receiver.

Meanwhile, the car remains a major challenge, said Jean-Eric Valli, Président of Les Indés Radios. He said radio would win, as the public wants radio – listeners would then decide between formats. Valli described “the war on the dashboard” and wanted the sector to deliver car manufacturers a “radio” solution, avoiding third-party aggregators.

Photos: ©Paris Radio Show 2022 - Linda Viksna