In the opening industry keynote at ABU DBS, Joan Warner of WorldDAB
and Commercial Radio Australia warned broadcasters not to ‘languish in
an analogue backwater’, calling on them to make the most of radio’s
strengths by moving to digital.
With more competition from smart speakers and streaming services,
radio needs to continue to innovate, utilising its strength and
expertise in creating engaging and valuable audio content in the digital
space.
Delivering this innovation through analogue isn’t easy as there’s no
space for new services. Moving to digital allows broadcasters to offer
new services and it allows regulators to introduce an accessible digital
platform while offering protection from interference for broadcasters
licensed to use the digital spectrum.
With a high share of listening taking place in cars, it’s important
to consider a digital standard that can support radio’s place in the
dashboard. 47% of new cars in Australia now support DAB+, and in
advanced European markets nearly all new cars are sold with DAB+ as
standard.
With DAB+ going from strength to strength in Europe and the Middle
East, regulators in the Asia Pacific region can learn from these case
studies and do it even better. There are clear economies of scale to be
had from planning digital radio on a regional basis, and ABU and
WorldDAB are working to facilitate these discussions.
Moving to digital represents an unparalleled opportunity –
broadcasters can offer up to three times as many services without
significant additional cost – something streaming competitors would jump
at the chance for.
These new services can attract new audiences and this in turn creates
new revenue opportunities. For example, in Sydney there are 17 services
on FM and AM, but over 40 on DAB+.
Staying analogue is not a viable long-term option of business plan
for broadcasters – but neither is relying only on mobile networks to
deliver our content. Access to digital broadcast spectrum is key for
radio’s future and, given its success around the world, DAB+ is the
platform for radio to use. Moving to digital will help broadcasters
capitalise on radio’s unique ability to create brilliant audio content
and expand that offer across multiple platforms and audiences. The
biggest risk for our industry is not making this move.
F.WDAB
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