The radio industry is set to launch the Digital Radio Development Bureau to promote the new medium.
Commercial Radio Companies Association chief executive Paul Brown is acting as temporary chief executive of the DRDB and will lead the search for a chairman and chief executive.
The new staff will work to develop the emerging medium with manufacturers of essentials such as microchips, hi-fis and car radios, and so will ideally come from an electrical goods, retail or manufacturing background.
鈥淭hey will have to get involved in a large number of areas to ensure the successful development of digital radio to a point where it is a mass market medium,鈥 said Radio Advertising Bureau managing director Justin Sampson.
Senior executives from both the BBC and commercial radio companies such as GWR, Chrysalis, Capital, Emap, The Wireless Group and Switchdigital have held discussions about the proposed body. It is hoped that these groups will together put millions of pounds behind the scheme.
Advertisers could also be invited to join the group. 鈥淲e are not excluding anybody who might benefit from digital radio. We just need to get the framework before we can start moving,鈥 said a spokesman for DigitalOne, also a major driving force behind the DRDB under its chief executive Quentin Howard.
Additionally, the Radio Authority this week sent a letter to radio broadcasters urging them to cut down on their automated programming, as this reduces the amount of local and live content received by listeners.
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
