News

Initially scheduled to take place in Prague, this year’s WorldDAB General Assembly reshaped itself as a virtual gathering. The main topics of the 2020 edition included how to build an audience through digital radio, reaching the listener on DAB+, digital radio in the car, as well as an update on the latest DAB+ developments from around the world.

The 2020 WorldDAB General Assembly took place yesterday, marking the first time the event dedicated to DAB digital radio was held virtually. The conference featured over 50 speakers delivering the latest news and developments on DAB+ from around the globe. Here are some of the key highlights.

The deployment of DAB+ services continues in France, with launches taking place in Toulouse and Bordeaux this Thursday and Friday respectively. DAB+ services will cover 30% of the country following these launches. National DAB+ is set to be rolled out in France in 2021.

In order to facilitate the switch to DAB+, the Swiss media regulator OFCOM has announced the financial support offered to broadcasters switching to DAB+ will higher than originally outlined.

DTS, the wholly owned subsidiary of Xperi, hasannounced the launch of DTS Connected Radio in the Daimler MB User Experience, currently coming to market in the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Available in 48 countries, DTS Connected Radio’s content is sourced from 48+ thousand radio stations, 40+ million tracks, 4+ million albums, 1+ million artist bios, and more.

The study considered energy use across all available platforms — AM, FM, DAB, digital television and internet streaming — to discover which ones had the largest footprints. DAB had the smallest footprint, at 9 watt-hour per device per hour.

Some Tesla owners who lost AM, FM and DAB radio functions after upgrading some internal hardware now have the option to restore the facility. The original Tesla Model S cars came with AM, FM and DAB+ as standard when they went on sale in 2014 in the UK, but the option earlier this year to upgrade the Media Control Unit, or MCU1 to MCU2 meant the radio stopped working.

Digital Radio UK has launched a brand new digital radio Retail E-Learning site for radio and audio retailers and their staff. The site is part of the Radio’s Digital Revolution campaign, which has been developed by Digital Radio UK to help retailers and manufacturers communicate the great content offering and radio devices from the UK’s radio and audio broadcasters.

Here's an early look at the development of Radioplayer's Hybrid Radio App (FM, DAB+, IP) in Android Automotive OS, shown working on automotive grade tuner hardware. According to Radioplayer and its broadcaster supporters, hybrid radio should become the standard Android Automotive radio experience.

The new proposed law put forward by political party Compromís - which aims to enable the development of DAB+ digital radio in Spain in line with the rest of Europe - will now be debated at a Plenary sitting on Tuesday 3 November.