At IBC2026, WorldDAB and Broadcast Networks Europe called for the proposed Digital Networks Act to mandate terrestrial radio in all new vehicles.
Annex V currently requires any radio receiver integrated into a new category M passenger vehicle to receive digital terrestrial radio. It does not require a fitted radio receiver. “This is not about protecting the technology for the sake of protection. It is about protecting access,” said WorldDAB president Jacqueline Bierhorst.
Vincent Sneed, EBU senior EU policy adviser, clarified, “We want to go from if there is a broadcast reception in the car to there must be a broadcast reception in the car.” The campaign also seeks to cover category N commercial vehicles and L6/L7 minicars. Sneed expects the earliest final EU agreement at the end of 2027.
David Fernández Quijada, co-founder and research director at South 180, provided encouraging data. He estimated that the European Electronic Communications Code brought DAB+ to 30 million vehicles that would otherwise have gone without it. The effect spilled over to 2.9 million light commercial vehicles, while extending the mandate could add 3.2 million more.
Nick Piggott, WorldDAB vice president, reported that 108 U.K. small-scale DAB multiplexes now carry 1,152 services. Türkiye’s Radyo ve Televizyon Üst Kurulu (Radio and Television Supreme Council, RTÜK) outlined plans for 16 transmitters along an Istanbul–Ankara trial corridor, including tunnel coverage.
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