The future of radio in the car was a key focus of this year’s WorldDAB Summit in London on Nov. 17.
Speakers emphasized the need for continued collaboration between the radio and automotive sectors to ensure radio’s continued dominance of in-car audio and to optimize the listener experience. Diana Franganillo from Strategy Analytics said that “radio remains royalty” in the car. To strengthen this position and remain relevant, Franganillo advised providing content for younger listeners as the next generation of car buyers, synergizing with other services to provide a holistic user experience for drivers and remaining alert and creative to the advent of autonomous vehicles.
David Holroyd, director of technology for Europe’s largest radio group, Global, in conversation with Lindsay Mack from BBC Sounds, said that Global provides a range of metadata, such as station names and logos, for in-car use through DAB and RadioDNS hybrid radio. Holroyd added that while he was cautious about making in-car screens too busy, program and schedule data could also add value for listeners alongside ‘now playing’ information.
Gregor Pötzsch from CARIAD, part of Volkswagen Group, showed how this looked in-car. He said he expected that future dashboard devices would feature recommendations for listening and greater incorporation of podcasts and online broadcasts.
Joe D’Angelo from Xperi spoke about the challenge of personalizing radio services and the growth of tuning and location data available from receivers available to broadcasters. DTS Autostage captured 3.6 billion “measurement events” in 2022, and D’Angelo expects this to increase to over 90 billion next year.
You can download these and the other presentations from the Summit here.
