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“If you're in radio, you know that the number one listening location for radio has always been the car, and hopefully it will always be, but no question that in recent years, the car has changed,” said Fred Jacobs, President of Jacobs Media, who moderated a session on listening data at NAB. The way consumers listen to audio in the car has changed with the advent of streaming, podcasts, and satellite radio. "We promised that we would deliver back to the industry analytics and metrics on how people are listening to the radio. And we would do that at no cost to the industry,” Joe D'Angelo Senior VP, Broadcast Radio & Digital Audio, Xperi.

The DAB+ offer is growing continuously - especially in the north and east of Germany where several new stations became available at the start of the month. There was an expansion of DAB+ services also in Bavaria, and more new services are imminent in North Rhine-Westphalia where the State Media Authority is preparing a tender for a state-wide, regionalised DAB+ multiplex. There are now 300 DAB+ programmes that can be received in different regions across Germany, more than 100 of them exclusively via DAB+.

A new report from the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) on hybrid radio, metadata and service providers is to be unveiled during the Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference (BEITC) session. “This document can be an excellent tool for radio broadcasters to learn more about using metadata to support hybrid radio and to provide a high-quality experience for their listeners in their automobiles,” says Julie McCambley, NABA Radio Committee chair.

Revolutionary changes in the Saxon radio airwaves have brought greater competition in the field of digital programmes intended for children and families. "Radio Teddy has been conquering one important place after another in the German radio landscape step by step for years. Now listeners can receive us in 13 federal states via FM or DAB+," added Katrin Helmschrottová, executive director of the thematic program.

On Wednesday, the press group, headed by Marc Feuillée, announced the launch on Monday 17 April of its two new channels Le Figaro TV Île-de-France and Le Figaro Radio, which will complement its online offering Le Figaro Live created in 2017. Le Figaro Radio is broadcast on DAB+ in Paris, Marseille and Nice, then rolled out to other cities. Le Figaro Radio "wishes to offer a place for analysis and insight, in order to better understand today's debates," said Laurence de Charette, deputy editorial director in charge of audiovisual and social networks.

Spain is getting its first nationwide network on DAB+, after all. Operator Hola DAB and Spanish telecoms player Ibertel Telecom, which operates some 600 masts, are working together to, in a first phase, roll out DAB+ in 18 Spanish urban regions before the summer. The government in Madrid has still not recognised DAB+ as an official standard, even though Spain, followed the EECC directive, to mandate DAB+ in new cars. It means that currently a quarter of Spain's car fleet is already equipped with DAB+. So even if the country leaves it hanging administratively, there are radio stations and an audience ready to take advantage of existing opportunities.

Manx Radio has been granted a three-year licence to test and trial digital audio broadcasting, or DAB. The Communications and Utilities Regulatory Authority has announced it's given the station the go-ahead to use the digital platform for the first time. CURA says other stations on the Island may also take part, and adds that the licence has been granted to gather the required technological and demographic data.

Wolverhampton DAB has soft launched its multiplex, which will reach over 380,000 people across the area. Having taken 53 days to build from the award of the licence, it’s said to be the fastest time yet for a DAB multiplex in the UK. Chris Hurst, Director of Wolverhampton DAB, thanked Ofcom for its support from a regulatory standpoint, and Viamux and Optimux for delivering the multiplex on time and within budget. “We’re thrilled to have launched the Wolverhampton DAB multiplex in record time,” Hurst said. “We believe this represents a major milestone for the UK digital radio industry, and we’re looking forward to hearing an ever-expanding diverse range of radio services that will be offered to the people of Wolverhampton and the surrounding areas.”

A recent media campaign for Flemish DAB+ promotion body Digitale Radio Vlaanderen breathed life into dead music stars. Brussels-based media agency Lucy designed the campaign — named “Artificial Icons.” It used voice AI to get Prince, Kurt Cobain, and Biggie to “tell” audiences about their passion for music and why everybody should choose digital radio.

Thanks to a new effort by telecom infrastructure company Ibertel, DAB+ is getting a jump start in Spain. After the initial roll out of digital radio in Spain in the late 1990s, the technology has largely stalled with DAB on the air in only a few markets. In recent years, however, the calls to implement DAB+ in the country have grown louder. In response, the Hola DAB project has quietly been moving forward to put in place the infrastructure needed to bring DAB+ to the whole of Spain. The initial phase of Hola DAB aims deploy DAB+ networks in 18 provinces across Spain, and then gradually growing to reach 95% of the Spanish population. Ibertel currently provides transmission services from 600 sites across Spanish territory. Despite being widely used elsewhere in Europe, Spain has not officially authorised the use of DAB+ in the country.