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 weeks Sunday Business Post (here).

When you add all this to a healthy industry profit margin and a myriad of options available, should cutbacks ever need to be made, radio will surge out the far side of this recession in very healthy condition.

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 have one thing in common; they’re based on the Eureka 147 family of standards.

The EBU unified standard will be known as Digital Radio Receiver Profiles with three profiles in all. The first is Standard Radio Receiver, followed by Rich Media Radio Receiver which will make the most of full colour screens on household radios with advanced text/pictures and the final third profile is Multimedia Receiver for advanced forms of multimedia.

This is a huge step forward allowing broadcasters and manufacturers to work to scale bringing obvious benefits to radio listeners and the industry. With the backing of the mighty EBU it is also another hugely positive message that the future of radio is digital.

Full release is here on the EBU website.

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 announced DAB will be available as standard in their new Kuga Titanium range.

Ford in Ireland are yet to follow suit but to be fair DAB is in it’s infancy here so it’s no surprise. It was good to speak with a rep at Ford HQ in Cork and hear he was aware of DAB and fully confident it will become a standard fit in Ireland also as DAB takes off in the coming years.

Fresh back from the printers is our business plan for all our digital stations on DAB and other digital platforms.

We’re currently in contact with a number of investors and VC’s but if you would like a copy, contact Dusty Rhodes by phone on + 353 1 66 11 999.