Shaping the future of radio… digitally

Representantes de la Administración y operadores públicos y privados se han dado cita este miércoles en Broadcast IT 2011 para debatir sobre el futuro de la radio en España y el impacto que la digitalización tendrá en el medio.

IFEMA ha acogido este miércoles en el marco de Broadcast IT 2011 una interesante mesa redonda moderada por Antonio Castillo, director de Panorama Audiovisual, en la que se ha debatido sobre el presente y futuro de la radio en España.

Antonio Fernández Paniagua, deputy director general of Spectrum Planning and Management (MITYC), has opened the round table dedicated to radio, ensuring that only global joint actions at the level of the European Union will ensure the viability of the development of digital radio as has happened with digital terrestrial TV. Along these lines, the Council of Ministers approved on June 10 the new Digitalization Plan for Terrestrial Sound Broadcasting in Spain (Royal Decree 802/2011) based on the principle of technological neutrality so that the migration to DAB+ technology can be carried out in line with the agreements adopted by the agents of the sector in Spain, as well as the initiatives that are being carried out in other countries of the European Union. This Plan came to modify the National Technical Plan of 1999.

Como ha destacado Fernández Paniagua, la Secretaria de Estado estudiará las propuestas de las operadores de cara a la posible redistribución de los programas en cada uno de los múltiples actuales. El Plan establece también diferentes actividades de promoción e impulso de la radio digital de cara a incrementar la oferta de aparatos receptores y la generalización de una programación diferenciada en digtal así como la realización de un estudio sobre las condiciones y requisitos necesarios para el establecimiento de una fecha para el apagón analógico.

Fernando Almarza, deputy technical administrative director of RNE, has focused his intervention on what the emergence of DAB+ means as a revitalizer of digital radio with better optimization of coding, tripling or even quadrupling the number of programs within a multiplex. Almarza has highlighted that tests are already being carried out coexisting DAB with DAB+. Almarza has wondered what we didn't do with DAB that we should do on this occasion since "digitization is irreversible and radio is the pending subject, with low transition costs." “On this occasion we should take more advantage of the advantages that digitalization brings and have a network with better coverage, since it is not enough to put it on the air and wait…” he assured.

Isaac Moreno, technical director of Cadena COPE, has assured that "radio cannot face today's world if it is not digitalized, although it is not 'progressing adequately'. Why? Because of the model? Due to lack of coordination between the different countries?... perhaps a little of everything. The Royal Decree is the confirmation of a failure since we have not been able to advance digital radio." “Perhaps dazzled by the success of television digitalization and despite the time that has passed, it does not seem that we are at the end of the road,” Moreno added. The technical director of COPE has highlighted the case of the United Kingdom that, despite being at the forefront of radio digitization, only 20% of the 8.5 million receivers sold last year include a DAB tuner and the coverage of national multiplexes reaches 84.5%, still leaving large areas of shadow.

"However, radio cannot be left out of the digital world. Radio must be present in broadband communications. Without forgetting that the 'digital natives' have surpassed the stage of teenagers," he stated. With respect to the Internet, he has assured that hybrid radio will add the advantages of point-multipoint distribution of traditional radio and the value-added services and synchronized content that the Internet can provide. The use of standards such as Radio VIS, Radio TAG and Radio EPG would allow a more fluid and simple convergence to present content on conventional radio and the Internet at “practically zero cost.”

Jesús García, managing director of Radio Marca, has stated that although digitalization is necessary, we must not forget that today analog radio is still very much alive. García recalled that “about 40% of the frequencies that were called in 2006 have not yet been assigned.”

Luis del Amo, technical director of Cadena SER, has reviewed the different families of audio encoders applied to radio. Del Amo has reviewed the different standards used in recent years in contribution, distribution between studios and dissemination, highlighting that the AAC-H· v2 architecture would be the most efficient coding with the advantage of incorporating parametric stereo. DAB+, DRB, DRM+, DMB, HD Radio, ISDB, DAB-IP and DVB-H have standardized this pattern.

Jorge Montero, director técnico de ABC Radio (Punto Radio), ha hecho un repaso sobre las posibilidades que el uso de las redes IP otorga a la contribución y difusión de señales, haciendo un llamamiento a una armonización de estándares y sistemas entre los diferentes fabricantes.

Finally, Nuria Domínguez, technical director of Onda Cero, focused her presentation on the possibilities that Radio 3.0 will give to the business model with a great role for social networks as a participation channel that provides notoriety and, therefore, audience. "Social networks provide brand notoriety, which becomes an audience. The website is an extension of the product and allows the development of new forms of advertising and the acquisition of new income," he commented.