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"Digital is better," was the conclusion of the discussion forum on digital radio at this year's Medientage München. More and more radio stations in Germany are choosing digital distribution channels.

Everyone agrees with the panel discussion on digital hearing at the Media Days Munich: DAB Plus is the future. Deutschlandradio director Stefan Raue explains himself at the event: "DAB Plus offers us three advantages: firstly, it is more economical compared to FM, secondly our high-quality programs sound much better, and thirdly, it can be received anywhere without an internet connection and we are gradually setting our digitization strategy and rely on DAB +, Webstream and Podcast.

Digital listening was boosted further by increases in online listening and in-car DAB. 52.4% of UK radio listening is now done via a digital platform. According to the latest set of radio audience figures for the third quarter of 2018, total digital listening hours grew by 5.4% year on year, or 27.5 million hours. DAB listening in cars accounted for 11 million hours (or 40%) of all digital listening growth, while listening in home via online/Apps accounted for 13.5 million hours (or 49%) of all digital listening growth.

From 12 to 16 November, all Flemish national radio stations organize an action week, which must convince listeners to finally switch to a digital device. The FM broadcasts will eventually be stopped anyway. At the announcement of the switch-off, the target was 2022-2023.

Digital audio broadcasting (DAB) is growing across Europe and is pivotal to a functioning democratic society, said European Broadcasting Union Head of Radio Graham Dixon at the WorldDAB session at IBC last month. Dixon said: “What we want is a future world in which radio is available, robust and free to air for listeners as Europe’s most trusted source of media.”

"Digital is better," was the conclusion of the discussion forum on digital radio held on Wednesday at MediaDays Munich. Deutschlandradio director Stefan Raue: "DAB+ offers us three advantages: it is more economical compared to FM, secondly, our high-quality programmes sound much better and, thirdly, it can be received anywhere without Internet connection." BLM deputy managing director Reiner Müller said that 5G technology was not a reliable method to transmit radio while many parts of the company did not have the technology available.

At Media Days Munich, Bavarian Centre for New Media (BLM) President Siegfried Schneider has confirmed while FM currently works well in Germany, the future of radio is digital, as it is cheaper to broadcast, and offers more variety.

According to the RAJAR results for Q3 2018, the strength of digital radio has continued to grow - now encompassing 52.4% of all radio listening. That represents an increase of 3.6 percentage points quarter-on-quarter and a 5% growth year-on-year.

Digital listening share has remained above the important halfway mark and increased from 48.8% to 52.4% in the last 12 months. Total digital listening hours grew by 5.4% year on year, or 27.5 million hours. DAB listening in cars accounted for 11 million hours (or 40%) of all digital listening growth, while listening in home via online/Apps accounted for 13.5 million hours (or 49%) of all digital listening growth. The surge in digital listening was supported by growth in national digital listening which exceeded 60% for the first time at 60.9%.

Digital listening surged beyond the 50% threshold to reach a new record share of 52.4%, up from 48.8% in Q3 2017, according to RAJAR Q3 2018 data released today. Total digital listening hours grew by 5.4% year on year, or 27.5 million hours. DAB listening in cars accounted for 11 million hours (or 40%) of all digital listening growth, while listening in home via online/Apps accounted for 13.5 million hours (or 49%) of all digital listening growth.