News

According to the annual autumn forecast of VAUNET - Association of Private Media, total sales of audio and audiovisual media in Germany are expected to increase by 4.3 percent to a total of 16.0 billion euros in the current year 2024 (2023: 15.3 billion euros). Sales growth of 2 percent to around 713 million euros (2023: 699 million euros) is expected for radio advertising. This is the result of the 2023 sales statistics and 2024 forecast for the audio and audiovisual media market in Germany presented today by VAUNET in Berlin.

The figures from the Media Barometer show total media sales of NOK 7.29 billion after the first three quarters of the year. One of the winners in this media year is the audio category, which consists of podcasts and radio. This category has grown by 17.1 per cent this year. "Audio media continues to make impressive progress. This media group grew by 16 per cent last year, and is on course for a similar increase this year. It's worth noting that it's not just podcasts that are driving this growth, but that traditional radio - distributed via DAB and the internet - is very much part of the growth," says Harald Eide-Fredriksen, Media and Negotiations Director at Dentsu.

2025 marks a pivotal year for climate change. In accordance with the Paris Agreement, if humanity is to limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak by that year at the latest, before they begin to fall. To support radio stations in their journalistic coverage of this issue, World Radio Day on February 13, 2025 will be dedicated to “Radio and Climate Change”. In the age of artificial intelligence, alongside ubiquitous social networks, quality radio is still universal and popular, considered to be the most reliable medium.

The small-scale DAB multiplex for South Gloucestershire has launched allowing local radio stations to ‘go digital’. Local not for profit company, South Glos Digital Community Interest Company (SGDCIC), has successfully launched the operation covering a large part of South Gloucestershire along with the crossroads. The company is supported by Thornbury Radio, community donations and grants from Thornbury Town Council and Thornbury Rotary, and has Nick Piggott from Muxnet as technical consultant and technical provider. David Wrench, Director of SGDCIC said, “Our DAB transmissions will benefit listeners across South Gloucestershire by bringing them a wider choice of radio stations including a new way to listen to Thornbury Radio.”

On 1 January 2025, a new era will begin in the history of Swiss radio: the programmes of the public broadcaster SSR will be broadcast exclusively in digital form. Analogue broadcasting via FM will be phased out in favour of DAB+ and IP radio. Private broadcasters will follow and the last FM stations by the end of 2026.

WorldDAB Summit 2024 will explore how DAB+ energises broadcast radio markets, offering listeners everything, everywhere, all the time. The flagship event brings together digital radio leaders and experts from around the world in Zagreb, Croatia on 14 November. In a keynote session, WorldDAB President Jacqueline Bierhorst will join Luka Đurić, Vice President, AER – Association of European Radios and Director of the Croatian Radio Forum, and Edita Kudláčová, Head of Radio, European Broadcasting Union, to explore how society, listeners and broadcasters all benefit from securing radio’s digital future. The Summit is an annual event organised by WorldDAB, the global industry forum for DAB digital radio, and this year takes place in person at Hilton Garden Inn Zagreb – Radnicka, with registration now open on the WorldDAB website. Video of the sessions will be available shortly after the event on the WorldDAB website.

Total digital listening share continued to tick up in Q3, according to the latest Rajar figures. Digital listening — inclusive of DAB, DTV, total online and websites, apps and smart speakers — now makes up a 74.3% share of radio listening, compared with just 25.7% for AM/FM. That is a significant difference from a year earlier, when AM/FM still held a 29.7% share. Breaking digital listening down by category, much of the growth has been driven by an increase in listening in DAB, which now holds a 44% share of total listening, up from 42.3% in Q3 2023.

Radio remains as resilient and relevant as ever, with the latest RAJAR listening results showcasing that a record 51m people are listening to their favourite radio stations each week. Commercial stations remain the most popular choice for audiences, with 40.1 million weekly listeners (+2.1% YoY) and Bauer Media Audio UK attracts 23.5 million weekly listeners across its diverse portfolio of brands, including the Hits Radio Network – now celebrating a record 7.2 million listeners, and the Absolute Radio Network which has a record 5.7 million weekly listeners. 52% of Bauer's listening is on DAB. Bauer is also home to four of the top five digital commercial stations, #1 KISSTORY, #2 Absolute Radio, and #4 Absolute 80s and #5 KISS.

Listeners in the south of Gloucestershire, a county in southwestern England, can now tune in to community station Thornbury Radio on DAB following the launch of a new DAB multiplex. The local not-for-profit organization South Glos Digital Community Interest Company (SGDCIC), backed by Thornbury Radio, community donations and support from Thornbury Town Council and Thornbury Rotary, successfully launched its SSDAB service, covering much of South Gloucestershire. “Our DAB transmissions will provide listeners across South Gloucestershire with more radio choices, including a new way to listen to Thornbury Radio,” said David Wrench, director of SGDCIC. “With our network’s capacity, we’re offering smaller commercial stations, charities and community groups the opportunity to establish their own radio services in the area.”

Speaking today at Sweden's Guldörat 2024, Jacqueline Bierhorst said: "In my role as president of WorldDAB I love to evangelise how DAB+ rejuvenates and re-energises radio as a medium, creating new momentum, more opportunities to grow your businesses and gain more income at lower costs. For what I have seen is that especially listeners really appreciate and find their way, either back or with more enthusiasm than they had before, to their favourite or newly-available radio station in the digital spectrum in Band III on DAB+. Some might believe that IP is the only distribution method that matters for the future. For what I have seen throughout the world, I can only say, NEVER let your own broadcast distribution eco system fade out and solely become dependent on third-party aggregators on IP. For one, in times of emergency, IP can fail completely, and a broadcast network is indispensable for communication and or safety."