Month: March 2022

The DRM Consortium will hold its virtual General Assembly on March 30 with the participation of members and guests from Indonesia, Pakistan, UK, Germany, Romania, Australia, India, Canada, Brazil, Romania, South Africa and USA.The first session, which is open to members only, will review the progress made by DRM in the past year and then confirm the election of the new officers of the Consortium and their role in the Steering Board and other bodies of the Consortium for the next two years (2022-2024).The following open session, open to all members and guests, will be an opportunity to take stock of the DRM rollout in the world, of new developments and practical applications of the standard. It will also showcase new prototypes announced by receiver and chipset manufacturers including Cambridge Consultants/CML, Gospell, RF2Digital, Inntot, NXP, Fraunhofer IIS and Starwaves. They are now supporting the full DRM standard (AM and FM) and all the DRM features set giving extra benefits, like EWF (Emergency Warning Functionality), distance learning, extra content in various languages.The agenda also includes a presentation on the facts and data gathered during the India DRM FM trial and the recent initiatives of the strong DRM India automotive group. The keynote speech will touch on the revival of radio and shortwave in the current general climate.The online meeting will give members and guests a chance to share news and ideas and to contribute to the strategic directions of the Consortium. It will continue to strengthen the links with the automotive and receiver industry and will enhance the general communication, be it virtual or face to face, in new, transparent and innovative ways.According to DRM Chairman, Ruxandra Obreja: “The Consortium is strong and looking with confidence to the future. Even in these difficult months, Digital Radio DRM has proven to be flexible, green, smart, as DRM digital broadcasts can be easily deployed for large coverage or be inserted even in what looks like a full FM band spectrum. We are practically demonstrating that DRM can offer audio and data, vital information, distance learning, and disaster warnings at low energy costs. DRM is part of the digital landscape making it possible for everyone, no matter where they are and, whether they are connected to modern technology or not, to stay informed, educated and safe.” […]

According to a recent global survey by  YouGov quoted in Variety, Indonesia, UAE, India and China are top four countries where listeners are interested in paying for podcasts over the next 12 months.The survey was conducted between January 18 and February 4, 2022, among 18,855 adults aged 18+ across 18 countries including Great Britain, US, Mexico, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, India and UAE. All samples were composed of consumers who said they listened to podcasts, and they were asked how likely, if at all, would they be to pay or donate money to access/listen to a podcast in the next 12 months?68 percent Indonesians, 65 percent from UAE, 59 percent from India and 55 percent from China said they were Very or somewhat likely.When asked how often they listened to podcasts, UAE, Mexico and India, were the top three countries where respondents listened to podcasts once or a few times a day.This could encourage podcast companies to pursue a model where they could generate subscription revenue through international channels. It would, however, also be affected by varying degrees of internet freedom and censorship across territories.With an expanding listener base, tech platforms have also shown interest in courting more podcast listeners across regions. Apple Podcasts has launched subscriptions last year in over 170 countries, and YouTube is reportedly offering grants of up to $300,000 to podcast networks to help podcast producers create filmed versions of their programs and Twitter may soon have a tab to allow listeners to listen to podcasts. […]