News

High level speakers from the broadcasting and automotive industries are coming together at WorldDAB Automotive 2021 on 23 June to discuss the future of radio in the car. These include Google’s Guru Nagarajan, Martin Koch from the Volkswagen Group, Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner as well Caroline Beasley, one of the most influential radio executives in US radio.

In 2020, 13% of French people had a DAB+ digital radio consumer receiver, while 12.8% of drivers whose cars include a radio have a DAB+ automotive receiver. France is also preparing the launch of national DAB+ services this summer.

Klassik Radio will now be available to listeners on DAB+ in Germany, Austria and Belgium. According to its CEO, DAB+ is a great opportunity for advertising partners to reach specific target groups across German-speaking markets.

As the current crop of new cars come on-stream, they feature ever increasing levels of connectivity with much of it built into the dashboard. In-car listening is essential to the future of radio and a significant example of how/why the industry needs to work together. In this podcast, Radioplayer’s founder and MD Mike Hill discusses the future of radio in the car.

The media regulator for the southwestern German state has assigned Media Broadcast as the operator for the new stat-wide multiplex, which is set to launch in Q4 2021.

Italian network operator MediaDAB has switched on a new regional multiplex in Liguria, bringing ten new DAB+ stations to listeners in the region.

NGroup has launched Nostalgie+, a fully digital Dutch-language radio station for the Flanders region of the country. The new station targets the active older audience and offers a musical format focusing on a ’60s to ’80s repertoire. It broadcasts 24/7 via DAB+, digital TV, the station’s website and an app.

"Thanks to digitisation, we can offer our listeners a new station after 11 years, which will bring a lot of top world sporting events, and at the same time will focus in depth on Czech and world sports. The new station combines both the 97-year-old tradition of sports broadcasting and the latest broadcasting opportunities, "said René Zavoral, CEO of Czech Radio.

This year's MBT looked at how to run a successful DAB project from the perspective of network operators and broadcaster, and provided an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences related to the deployment of commercial DAB+ services in southern Europe.

A total of 12 licences will be advertised as part of the call for tenders, with applications open from 22 June and licences valid until 2033.