WorldDAB Summit calls for a shared vision

ZAGREB, Croatia — Croatia has achieved 97% DAB+ population coverage, joining the ranks of nations with extensive digital radio networks. The country currently broadcasts three public and nine commercial DAB+ stations, with more services planned, announced Jasna Vaniček-Fila, director of Croatia’s Directorate for Media and Development of Cultural and Creative Industries, at the 2024 WorldDAB Summit in Zagreb.

WorldDAB President Jacqueline Bierhorst highlighted digital radio’s growth across Europe, Africa and Asia, emphasizing the need to maintain radio’s prominence, particularly in automobiles. “Working together, we can send one message to anyone and everyone around the world who needs to hear it. Broadcast radio must endure. For automakers, radio must remain prominent. We make no apologies for repeating this message, loud and proud.”

Watching the introduction and the subsequent adoption trend of digital radio in various countries, joining efforts and working in close cooperation with the organizations or industries involved proved to be a crucial outcome in almost any considered case, even when the process failed. At the end of the 20^th century, Spain issued a framework for digital radio by law without involving all the industry stakeholders. Javier Sánchez Pérez, head of strategy at RTVE (Radio Televisión Española) innovation center, said that in 2011, this resulted in a decision to roll back the DAB coverage by RTVE from 50 % to 20% of the population. This pushed digital radio out of sight for over 10 years until the same RTVE decided to revive the project by involving authorities and regional broadcasters. This led RTVE to activate additional DAB+ transmitters in February 2024, promoting digital radio with the other parties involved.

A shared vision

Elsewhere, several transition paths to digital that came from a shared vision among the various stakeholders hit the score. The Swiss decision to switch off FM emissions dates to 2014, and it was a joint agreement across the industry. Even if the switch-off is now due in 2026, the public service broadcaster SRG SSR will cease its FM emissions at the end of 2024. “FM-only listening in Switzerland now accounts for less than 10%,” said Adriano Pitteri, program manager of broadcast distribution at SRG SSR. “The present DAB+ coverage is better than the FM one.” He added that the combined effect of the lower advertising revenues and inflation, which occurred after the pandemic, had a remarkable role in the decision. 

Dirk Schrödter, head of the State Chancellery of the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein, endorsed the need to define and finalize an FM switch-off date. He said, “Simulcasting should not be a permanent solution. No one would think of building two train stations next to each other. Two transmission infrastructures generate unnecessary costs and are not sustainable.” Schleswig-Holstein will be the first state in Germany to fully switch from FM to DAB+, and the move will be completed by mid-2031.

France is tuned on the same wavelength. The French regulator Arcom has published its White Paper on Radio, focusing on radio’s future prospects standing in the ever-increasing competition from digital media. Hervé Godechot, president of Arcom’s “Radio and Digital audio” working group, confirmed the long-term decline in radio revenues would continue. At the same time, operating costs will rise due to inflation and FM/DAB+ simulcasting. He said, “The white paper advocates the beneficial transition for the entire FM sector to DAB+.” To this purpose, the white paper indicates “a method and a timeline to follow for ensuring this transition, which must not come at anyone’s expense but rather for the benefit of all.” According to this timeline, the FM switch-off is due by the end of 2033.

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