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Radioplayer's Mike Hill hosted a session at Radiodays Europe which considered why some car manufacturers are downgrading radio in the car and what the radio industry can do to stop it. VW and Volvo agreed that the differing types of broadcasting, DAB+, AM/FM etc, make it difficult, though not impossible, to create a standard worldwide entertainment unit in vehicles. However radio’s delivery into the car is likely to change in coming years and to be more IP orientated, but for the moment radios will mainly continue to get their programmes from the broadcast antenna.

"Loopreizen Radio" can now be heard nationwide on DAB+. Originating as a website, Loopreizen Radio is the first tour operator with its own radio station for runners, broadcasting without commercials and bringing a "good feeling" 24/7 to runners and non-runners alike.

Over the past ten years, smoothfm’s combined cumulative audience has grown by 227%. Said Paul Jackson of NOVA Entertainment: "With smoothfm constantly evolving over the past 10 years, the power of the brand has provided real opportunity, with the creation of specific DAB+ and streaming versions of the core brand to meet listener demand."

We've published the preliminary programme for this year's WorldDAB Automotive 2022 conference! Find out who's presenting to tell us about how radio is evolving in the connected car, and what they're doing to bring broadcast radio into the future. WorldDAB Automotive 2022 will take place in-person at the stunning canal-side Kings Place conference venue at King's Cross, right in the heart of London, AND online. Wednesday 22 June 2022, 09:30 - 15:30 BST.

Three DAB+ multiplexes started on 17 May, in the extended Orléans, extended Poitiers and extended Tours areas. Arcom has also authorised 13 further radio stations in each of the following areas: Orléans local, Poitiers local and Tours local. The start of their broadcasts is scheduled for 27 June. Digital terrestrial radio or DAB+ is gradually being rolled out in France: 40% of the metropolitan population was covered as of October 2021. This coverage continues to grow steadily with the aim of reaching 50% of the metropolitan population before the end of 2022.

Heart is adding to its splinter brands with the launch of Heart 00s on the national Digital One DAB multiplex in the UK. Heart 00s joins Heart 70s, Heart 80s, Heart 90s and Heart Dance. The news comes as Global reports massive growth for Heart’s decades stations (Heart 70s, 80s, 90s and Heart Dance), all seeing huge audience gains.

The community broadcasting sector’s hard work during the federal election campaign now has Labor, the Greens and the Nationals expressing support for future funding. “This commitment to funding for our sector protects our stations’ base funding, and maintains critical sector-wide projects, like DAB+ community radio,” Jon Bisset said, chief executive of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. “This means we can enhance listeners’ choice and media diversity.”

Michael Hill, Managing Director of Radioplayer, speaks to Wayne Stamm from radioinfo at Radiodays Europe following the session on "Driving radio into the future: Can it still be the star in the car." Hill says: "We found that 90% of the people we talked to said that there has to be a broadcast radio, as standard in all cars, and 80% of people said they would never consider buying a car without a radio... So we’re still number one in the car. That’s a big survey of 6000 people across many markets. It’s a very robust data, but we can’t take our place in the car for granted. We need to work really hard to maintain it."

Cars, cooperation, and a confidence about radio and audio were key themes of the Radiodays Europe 2022 conference. WorldDAB's Communications Manager, Will Jackson, looks back at the event from Malmö, Sweden.

Radio Orient has added Tours to the list of cities across France where the station is now broadcast via DAB+. The company continues to develop its network at a sustained pace and this new deployment brings the number of areas covered by Radio Orient on DAB+ to 33 sectors and 11 on FM. Radio Orient is one of the largest networks currently broadcasting on DAB+ in France. Other new areas will be added in June 2022.