Late last week manufacturers and retailers met with the radio industry to discuss the promotion of digital radio throughout 2010. New additions to the Broadcasters, Retailers and Manufacturers Digital Radio Advisory Group were also announced.
The meeting was the first for 2010. It gave the industry an opportunity to discuss the plans for the year ahead and welcome on new representatives from Sony, Philips, Denon and Target to the Broadcasters, Retailers and Manufacturers Digital Radio Advisory Group.
“Manufacturers and retailers discussed the upcoming release of the much anticipated Digital Radio Industry Report, on-going promotional ideas and the importance of promoting the new DAB+ programming available on digital radio,” said Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner.
“Retailers and manufacturers are supportive of digital radio and we want to continue driving the digital radio uptake by working collaboratively.”
One of the main recommendations raised at the meeting was the continued promotion of new commercial DAB+ stations. Currently consumers can tune into Radar, Choose the Hits Jelli, NovaNation, Koffee, Classic Hits Plus, The Crack, Gorilla, The EDGE, The Buckle, Sky Sports 2, My Perth Digital and Hot Country Perth Digital.
Pop Up or Event Stations also play a big part in creating buzz around digital radio and this is currently evident with the station High Voltage, which is playing AC/DC music for four weeks while the band is touring in Australia.
The current retail members of the Broadcasters, Retailers and Manufacturers Advisory Group include: Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, Clive Peeters, The Good Guys, NARTA, Myer, David Jones, Big W and Target. The manufacturers on board are: Pure, Roberts, Sangean, Bush, Revo, Grundig, Teac, Yamaha, Oxx Digital, Denon, JVC, Sony and Philips.