Is radio in trouble with the current credit crunch? Best put, though the crunch is not exactly welcome, we’re well able to handle it.
Fortunately we are in an extremely robust business. This is because radio is one of the most cost-effective advertising solutions around. In good times we do well. In tough times we do well also because budgets move from the more expensive television and print options into radio. Advertisers demand value and radio delivers in spades. This is pointed out by some very notable agency spokespeople in this …

A major step forward was taken today when the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced a unified European standard for digital radio receivers.
The announcement, which has the backing of Europe’s major broadcasters and manufacturers, effectively creates a single digital radio market across the entire continent. So a radio purchased in France will work just as well in the UK despite each country adopting different methods of digital broadcasting.
It puts to rest all the talk of various countries going for various digital systems from DAB to DAB+ or DMB as they all …

Despite less than 20% of radio listening being done in cars, it is seen as a highly visible key factor in the success for DAB.
Today FM and IBI Chief Exec Willie O’Reilly was quoted in today’s Irish Independent saying “It won’t be entrepreneurial skills or Government policy that will decide the success of digital, it’ll be decisions taken by the likes of Ford, BMW and Toyota”.
Those decisions are coming quicker than you think Willie. DAB is becoming a popular “option” in many UK cars and just last month Ford UK …

We are Digital Radio Ltd. Our Managing Director Dusty Rhodes is a constant innovative driving force in the Irish radio industry.
From early days developing his career with Dublins pirate stations in the 80’s, he was a founding member of Atlantic 252, re-introducing the LW band to a whole new generation across the UK and Ireland with a “hot hits” format that single-handedly changed the British industry.
That was followed by ten years with Irelands national RTE 2FM where asides from many ratings successes, he was instrumental in establishing RTE’s first internet …

DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) is the most fundamental advance in radio technology since the introduction of FM stereo radio. The main advantage of a digital signal is its ability to “multiplex” ie carry several simultaneous communications on the same signal. So where a traditional “FM” signal can carry just one station, a similar digital signal could carry ten.
It is this ability to carry more radio services and more choice that is the predominant driving force behind the success of digital radio.
Commercial digital receivers on the market are a joy …

A very short history of radio from invention of AM to todays brand new DAB.
Despite being invented in the very early 1900’s it was fifteen years before radio as an entertainment medium caught the public imagination. Broadcasting on AM the BBC was first established in 1922 followed by RTE here in Ireland in 1926. Ten years later radio began to enjoy it’s pre-television “golden age” in the thirties and forties and the public lapped it up.
However the crackly sound of AM drove engineers to develop a cleaner sounding …

RTE and the Department of Communications have established two concurrent trials on two different platforms over a two year trial to introduce digital radio and television to Ireland. RTE are responsible for DAB Digital Radio while the Department of Communications are trailing Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) which will also include radio stations on set-top boxes.
Existing national radio services are being carried as part of the trial along with new digital only stations operated by RTE and Digital Radio Ltd. These new stations provide new and novel content the …

The BBC launched digital radio in the UK in 1995 followed by national commercial multiplex operator Digital One in 1998. Since then local DAB (digital radio) commercial services have become available offering non-national BBC Radio and ILR on a local basis.
Initially digital radio was offered as a high-quality platform but public take up was slow. This was due to an imperceptible improvement in quality, receivers being expensive and not generally available. In 2002 the radio industry realised that quality in itself was not enough to drive the development …

Worldwide, over 475 million people can now receive almost 1,000 different digital radio services. Commercial digital receivers have been on the market since summer 1998 and there are now hundreds of different receivers available in the €30 to €90 price range.
Digital radio has developed significantly over the past ten years across the main EU Member States. It is widely available in Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
The main drivers of digital radio in the coming two years will be Ireland, Australia, Germany and the United States. …

The Irish radio industry is a vibrant, buoyant and profitable one thanks to a lively advertising market and relatively few stations on air.
Across the entire country there are just six national services, four regional services and twenty-six local services meaning Ireland as a whole has less radio stations than San Antonio Texas. Figures from IAPI show almost €150m was spent on radio advertising and €22m on internet advertising in 2007 with a growth rate of 7% predicted for 2008.
Now the market is changing with the introduction of digital radio to …