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From 27 March, listeners in Saxony can receive nine new radio stations via DAB+ in the best quality at home and on the move. With the launch of the state-wide DAB+ platform, Media Broadcast is providing an attractive range of stations, increasing the number of receivable local, regional, state-wide and national programmes from private and public broadcasters in individual regions of Saxony to over 70 digital radio stations.

The key to success is making audio come alive, agree the speakers from the panel on the future of radio in cars hosted by Radioplayer. ​​The discussion started with Laurence Harrison, Director of Automotive Partnerships with Radioplayer presenting their car radio app, which he calls “the future for radio in-car”. The company is connecting radio broadcasters and it provides them contact with partners and, most importantly, car manufacturers.

“Is radio ready for the future?” This was the biggest question in the session with Joe D’Angelo, Senior Vice President of Global Radio and Digital Audio, and Desmond S. Fuller, Senior Director of Hybrid Products, from Xperi company. Joe introduced their technology device in cars DTS AutoStage, which launched in 2020 for Mercedes. Nowadays, the car brands with DTS AutoStage are constantly growing. Not just car brands which use this technology are expanding, countries wanting this technology is also rising. Currently, there are over 125 million registered cars with AutoStage technology and with about 900 million users all over the world.

Car technology and especially user-experience software in cars is thriving. With all the smart new innovations, “the radio should not only be easy to find, but also impossible to miss”, says Gwendolin Niehues from ARD. “The car is a browser,” was the opening statement of the first speaker Roger C. Lanctot, the director of Automotive Connected Mobility in the Global Automobile Practice at TechInsights. According to him, everything you do in the car is an indication of your intent, which makes new cars unique advertising environments.

Countries adapting the DAB+ technology can benefit from its many benefits, however, they also face significant challenges. Ole Jørgen Torvmark from Norway: It was the first country to close off FM and as Torvmark states, “radio there is actually still alive.” The biggest change was the growth of stations in the country. With the FM technology and difficult topographical situation there were only five stations. After the switch to DAB+ this number has grown to 33. “We all believed in digital future and importance of broadcasting for years to come,” he said, but he also stressed the importance of the listener’s initiative. “In the end, people did the biggest job, upgrading their radios and cars to be able to listen to the new radio,” he finished.

Extensive tests are reported from Schleswig-Holstein on DAB+. The private ensemble Kiel (channel 5A) can now also be heard at the Hennstedt location near Itzehoe, while the Lübeck ensemble (channel 9D) went on the air from the Mölln and Bungsberg locations. Meanwhile, the private station Radio Flensburg had announced that they were ready for the start of regular operation, which should take place at the beginning of April.

Radioplayer, the international radio technology platform backed by thousands of broadcasters across 19 countries, and Renault announce the signature of a long-term partnership to power the in-car broadcast radios of the brand. This new deal will see cars from Renault displaying official station information (eg logos, descriptions, now-playing data) from the Worldwide Radioplayer API (WRAPI) to power a state-of-the-art hybrid radio experience.

“Radio is the mothership of the audio industry,” said Stefan Moller, the President of the Association of European Broadcasters, to a round of applause at the official opening of RadioDays Europe. Getting straight to the point, Edita Kudlacova, the ABU’s Head of Radio named some of the most important battle grounds for radio in the evolving media environment: Radio should be easy to find on any device; We will need to be very transparent with how we use date; Data must be everywhere, on air, online and on podcasts; Commercial and non commercial radio companies have to work together to make sure that radio is a first thought for everyone.

Radio Océane, one of the SIPA Ouest-France group's radio stations along with Hit West, is coming to Rennes on DAB+ this Tuesday 28 March, after Nantes, La Roche-sur-Yon and Rouen. Hit West is broadcast on DAB+ in Tours and La Rochelle. Océane, which you listen to on FM from Morbihan, Côtes-d'Armor, Finistère and the Saint-Nazaire area in Loire-Atlantique, is also broadcast on DAB+ in Nantes, La Roche-sur-Yon and Rouen.

OLDIE ANTENNE brings the milestones of music history to four more federal states and to the homes of 15 million people: In the next few days, the technical switch-on begins, and then from April the popular oldies radio station can be heard via DAB+ in Bremen and Saxony. Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein will follow in June. OLDIE ANTENNE mainly plays the greatest hits of the 70s and 80s and is delighting more and more music lovers throughout Germany with its varied programmes. With the additional federal states, OLDIE ANTENNE is now once again expanding its DAB+ broadcast area. In future, the radio station will reach people in Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein.