At the Radio Days Ireland conference last Thursday and Friday, Coimisiún na Meán announced its support for a new DAB trial set to begin in April of this year. The one year trial will expand the diversity of services available for Irish audiences and test DAB+ technology. Speaking at the Radio Days Ireland Conference, Coimisiún na Meán’s Broadcasting and Video-on-Demand Commissioner, Aoife MacEvilly said: “By supporting this innovative new DAB+ trial and facilitating the broadcast of new digital services for Irish audiences, Coimisiún na Meán continues to demonstrate our strong commitment to pluralism and diversity on Irish radio.”

An Coimisiún says it has approved content provision contracts for this trial, ensuring the availability of a diverse and varied mix of voices, opinions, and sources of news and current affairs, as well as music programming.

The DAB trial will facilitate a simulcast of existing radio services while also allowing a variety of new services such as niche and era-specific music services and new speech programming covering various genres such as social affairs, sports, youth-targeted topics and children’s entertainment.

The conference also heard about Radioplayer's initiatives to ensure live broadcast radio remains easily accessible in cars, Newstalk's Jess Kelly hosted a debate on the impact of AI on audio and Ciarán Cunningham CEO Radiocentre Ireland moderated a panel on the future of audio advertising. The panel consisted of Jade Finn, Head of Planning and Investment, dentsu , Emma O’Doherty, Chief Client Officer, Mindshare, Andy Pierce, Group Strategy Director, Core  and  Simon Geraghty, Research and Insights Director, Omnicom Media Group and the areas discussed included the request for the industry to provide for real time data and assist with the ability to plan audio across all platforms, whether it is live broadcast radio, streaming or podcasts. Content from the conference will be made available on the Radio Days Ireland website.

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