Day One at the Digital Radio Show in London has seen many UK radio figures take to the stage to talk about radio's digital future. They include GCap Media Group Strategy and Development Director Will Harding who hailed scrolling inline text ads on DAB sets, or DABverts, as a success.
Harding said DABverts "seem to be gaining some traction, which is very good news for the industry as a whole. It's about offering something they can't do on analogue radio." He added: "Radio has no choice but to be digital. Fundamentally in a digital world if you're not digital you're not on the menu."
Giving the keynote speech, Arqiva Head of Product Development Simon Mason questioned Ofcom's proposed "technology neutral" approach to licensing. He said: "Ofcom say they want to be technology neutral. Unfortunately the laws of physics don't allow this.
"Poor old Ofcom have a real struggle. They have to find ways of allowing technologies to coexist in the same band. Putting mobile TV and DAB radio in the same band gets Ofcom off the hook."
Meanwhile, using satellite navigation to deliver targeted local audio ads to car radios and providing on-demand audio news bulletins using XML files and text-to-speech software are just two of the features that Eugenio La Teana, Head of Research and Development at Italian
national broadcaster RTL, predicts will allow radio to make itself more relevant to listeners in the digital age.
La Teana said digital radio was "a big opportunity to create a whole new business model". His company has become platform agnostic, providing content for radio, TV and the internet.
The Digital Radio Show continues tomorrow at London's Kensington Olympia, including speeches from Virgin Radio's outgoing Director of Digital Media, James Cridland, Gcap Digital Content Manager Nick Piggott and David Kreuger, Executive Vice President of Ondas Media.
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