Over 1300 radio industry professionals have been welcomed to Europe’s biggest radio conference by Radiodays Europe general manager Peter Niegel.
The event is taking place in the Czech Republic over three days at the Prague Congress Centre.
After a musical performance from Czech singer Tea Sofia, the hosts Veronika Ruppert and Paul Robinson invited Peter Niegel to the stage: “The conference encourages you to find new audiences and new opportunities, between analogue and digital, between linear and on-demand broadcasting. We have to adapt new technologies to remain relevant.”
Niegel also mentioned the 100th anniversary of the public broadcaster Czech Radio, hosts of this year’s conference in Prague.
“We celebrate the 100th anniversary, but for us 100 years is just the beginning,” continued René Zavoral, the Director General of Czech Radio.
Above all, he mentioned that he feels very proud and thankful for the opportunity to organize the conference with Peter and his team.
The need to focus on new technologies should not overshadow the solid foundation of the radio industry, we were reminded by Richard Dawkins, president of audio at Bauer Media Group. Among those fundamentals are customer centricity, creativity, trust, community and purpose, cultural enrichment, effectiveness and innovation.
The audience welcomed with a standing ovation a special guest who attended last year’s RDE conference via video from his bunker in Ukraine, Andriy Taranov. The Ukrainian public broadcaster implied that nobody should forget about the horrific war going on in Ukraine. People should read, inform and talk about it, so it doesn’t become forgotten. “We want to be winners, not victims”, he said.
Among other speakers were great radio personalities from all around Europe, such as Edita Kudlacova, Head of Radio for the European Broadcasting Union, Stefan Möller, President of Association of European Radios, Daniela Linzer, Kronehit Programme Director from Austria and Noel Curran, Director General of EBU, who appealed for co-operation between public and private sector.
It’s a very big room for the main events @RadiodaysEurope – we’ll get closer to the stage for future sessions otherwise @PaulRobinsonPR and @veronikaruppert will look tiny! #RDE23 pic.twitter.com/4oMjuvf90l
— RadioToday Live (@RadioTodayLive) March 27, 2023
Radiodays kicks off with the traditional ‘tough 9am gig’ slot. This year’s brave performer is Tea Sofia. #RDE23 pic.twitter.com/fuvCYTOJ16
— sparkyannc (@sparkyannc) March 27, 2023
This story first appeared on radiotoday.co.uk