WorldDab Summit Announces Keynote Speakers

Some of the broadcast industry’s top specialists will be keynote speakers at this year’s WorldDAB Summit on Nov. 9 . 

Sibyle Veil, CEO of Radio France, and Hervé Godechot, board member of Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, will discuss why France’s public and private radio broadcasters are embracing DAB+ digital radio as a core pillar of their distribution strategy to protect the future of French radio. Their presentation will come on the back of a significant step-change in the deployment of DAB+ in France. On 12 Oct., the country will launch 25 national radio stations – 19 commercial and six public — on DAB+. The stations will cover the major motorway corridors of Paris-Lyon-Marseille and are in addition to the hundreds of stations already available regionally and locally on DAB+. 

From the United Kingdom, Ian O’Neill, head of television and programme director of radio at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the BBC’s Lindsey Mack, senior manager of DAB and BBC Sounds External Affairs, will talk about the UK’s Digital Radio and Audio Review, now nearing completion. The review has examined future trends, considering how radio should adapt to the growing challenges and opportunities from the latest audio technologies and the impact of new consumer behaviors such as streaming. Ian and Lindsey will focus on the review’s key findings and what those mean for the UK’s radio sector.

Patrick Hannon, the president of WorldDAB, has a unique vantage point on the evolution of digital radio. He’ll provide an update on the global progress of DAB+, including the latest status on the implementation status of the EECC Directive, which mandates digital terrestrial radio in all new cars in Europe.

Erwin Linnenbach has decades of experience in the German media market. He established Regiocast, one of Germany’s largest nationwide radio networks and, more recently, founded Teutocast, a group of companies developing the connection between special-interest audio and national digital broadcast. Recent Regiocast launches have included the national DAB+ programs Femotion Radio, dpd Drivers Radio and Sportradio Deutschland. He will explain why he firmly believes DAB+ is the future for the commercial radio sector in Germany. 

This event is free to attend, however pre-registration is necessary.