The 15th RadioDNS General Assembly, held on Feb. 10, provided a thorough look at 2020 developments, as well as details of future plans.
The National Association of Broadcaster’s David Layer, who is also RadioDNS chair, kicked off the meeting by noting the difficult circumstances of the year. Ben Poor from the European Broadcasting Union guided the event in his role as secretary of the organization, and then handed over to Nick Piggott, RadioDNS project director. Piggott offered a comprehensive review of 2020, split into sections about the Operations, Education and Organization.
Andy Buckingham of togglebit is the RadioDNS system administrator. He reviewed the technical operations of 2020, and confirmed the 100% availability of the DNS service during the year. In Education, Piggott explained the impact of nearly all the conferences and events of 2020 being canceled, and how RadioDNS had adapted to more online and digital education resources to help people understand what RadioDNS is as an organization and a set of standards.
In the Organisation review, Piggott also explained how the organization was addressing some the business obstacles to implementing hybrid radio, and as a result published the “Radio Metadata Terms of Use,” which he emphasized, removes the ambiguity over what “acceptable metadata usage” is, and more. In addition, he added that RadioDNS continues to promote Project Logo, encouraging stations to provide consistent basic metadata.
A significant announcement came as part of the Growth review, where RadioDNS revealed a 41% growth in DNS registrations in 2020. “Stations create DNS registrations to link their broadcasts with IP, so registrations are broadly indicative of growth in the number of stations providing their content and metadata using the RadioDNS standards,” explains the organization. That growth was across 10 countries, with the biggest growth from the United States.
Looking forward to 2021, Poor, as the chair of the Technology group, updated members on plans to create a new standard to support detailing analytics of listening to broadcast radio, to add support for newer streaming formats, and to update the dynamic information standard to encompass more detailed metadata. He also disclosed plans to provide guidance on how to handle IPv6 alongside IPv4, and implementing Client ID.
In addition, RadioDNS says it’ll be stepping-up education activities, which were subdued in 2020, planning to be at as many events as possible, virtually and in person, and continuing to support anyone who wants to implement RadioDNS. The organization will also be undertaking a sustainability study, both on its own operations, and more widely on how hybrid radio can contribute to more sustainable distribution for radio and audio.
Finally, four of RadioDNS’ members presented their plans for hybrid radio in 2021. These included Radioplayer, which confirmed its continuing support for providing metadata from its member stations using the RadioDNS standards and the EBU, outlining its work plan for hybrid radio in 2021. Konsole Labs also explained its role in helping radio stations embrace new technologies like hybrid radio, while TuneIn announced it would support automated updating of station information through use of the RadioDNS SI file.
