Prince Albert II of Monaco commemorates the 50th anniversary of the RMC transmitter site in Roumoules

Avatar for Marco Hugo-BarsottiMarco Hugo-Barsotti

On Wednesday, September 11, Prince Albert II of Monaco visited Roumoules – in the Alps of Haute-Provence – to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the Radio Monte-Carlo (RMC) transmitting center.

Long Waves and Medium Waves

“Built in 1974 by Lucien Allavena, technical director of Radio Monte-Carlo, the Roumoules transmitting center allowed RMC to greatly extend its listening area in French and Italian territories,” explained the Prince’s Palace in a press release at the beginning of the week.

The broadcasts were on Long Wave on behalf of French RMC (with a power of about 800 kW) and on medium waves, the famous and historic 205 meters of the Principality.

Some inaccuracies…or maybe not

The prince is a known listener of Riviera Radio (in English, 106.5 and 106.3 from Mont Agel), but perhaps he is not (was not) of the Italian RMC from the times when it ended its programs with the famous song “ciao a domani – per ora chiudiamo” – sung by Matia Bazar.

Otherwise, he would have known that on “Italian territories” the 205 meters equal to 1467 Kc did not come from distant Roumoules, but from Mont Agel, about 1000 meters above his palace, even though – actually – the transmitters on 205 meters were at both sites.

Based on a perhaps unique situation, during the day the one from our RMC was active from Agel and in the evening and night the one from Roumoules, with religious broadcasts from TWR “Trans World Radio”.


History repeates itself

Did the prince make a mistake then? Thinking about it, maybe not, or at least that’s what we like to think.

Even if the reason is so indirect that we’re not sure this is the origin of the statement. As you can see from this sticker, in 1964 the only existing RMC, the French one, announced a cadeau, a gift for Christmas: a new long wave broadcast, still from Mont Agel.

By moving to long waves, French RMC freed up its historic transmitter, the 205-meter one: an opportunity seized by Noel Coutisson to create Italian RMC.

Well, the same thing happened 50 years ago: having proved ineffective, the long wave transmitter in Monte Carlo is replaced – precisely – by the one in Roumoules. History repeats itself: what to do with the long wave systems on the French Riviera?

Simple: readapt the LW system to MW once again, for the benefit of RMC in Italian. Thus the famous 701 Kc is born (“Radio Montecarlo Settecentouno“).

And so yes, we could really say that “Roumoules allowed RMC to greatly extend its listening area in Italian territories“: despite not broadcasting to Italy at all.

Silent sites, present antennas

The Romoules site, like that of Agel, is now substantially silent. Long waves turned off, we know of sporadic transmissions on medium waves. Instead, everything is turned off from the position above Monte Carlo.

Turned off, but not demolished: unlike what was decided in Italy, the towers of Monaco Media Diffision are still standing and even, as we have recently seen from some photographs published on a Facebook group, maintained, at least in their structural components.

We are History

So what did Prince Albert go to do at a turned-off transmitting site? Perhaps to give us a testimony, a message: we are history and our Radio Monte-Carlo. Those frequencies transmitted great orchestras before the war, were used by the Nazis during World War II, and accompanied the economic boom of the 1960s.

In some way, the Prince is telling us that transmission sites are historical monuments, just like others.

A message that we would like to be understood also in Italy, where instead a ruling class ignorant of its own history managed in 2013 to destroy even a transmission center, that of Budrio, built by Nobel Prize winner Guglielmo Marconi.

Those who don’t know its history can read it here, while those who want to delve into the reasons for the demolition can search online for what publisher Ing. Anselmo of Challenger wrote about it at the time: one who – like Prince Albert II, remembers and celebrates History.

(M.H.B. for FM-world)

 

 

Luceverde Radio, a station owned by the Automobile Club d’Italia, is using AI for some of its contents

Avatar for Marco Hugo-BarsottiMarco Hugo-Barsotti

Content on Demand now in production. A year after learning that ACI Radio was experimenting with the AI-based content creation system “Content on Demand,” we spoke again with Piermattia Fioravanti Cinci Agricola to see how things were progressing. Unexpectedly, we uncovered a completely unrelated issue linked to DAB, which we consider highly important.

ACI’s Radios

On Thursday, September 5th, we contacted Piermattia Fioravanti, Business Development Manager at ACI Informobility, to get an update on their Content on Demand trial.

The interview was more than interesting on the subject in question. But then, we asked a few questions related to our roundtable discussion on the difficulties of listening to the radio while driving in the era of “dashboards” managed by car manufacturers… and Piermattia added an important piece to the puzzle, specifically regarding the attribution of PI codes, highlighting an issue we hadn’t encountered in any press article before.

Too many interesting topics came up, so we decided to split the interview into two parts: today we publish the part concerning Content on Demand, and in two days, we will release ACI’s testimony regarding PI codes and the Automotive issue.

ACI Radio Today

FM-world (M.H.B.): Twelve months (and six days) have passed since our last interview. What has been the evolution of your radio over this year?

Piermattia Fioravanti: We have tried to refine the content and improve the schedule. We changed a few presenters, choosing those who better fit the tone of the station. So, we made some adjustments, but no major upheavals. We still hold the same communication ideas.

And above all, we have enriched the content dedicated to the automotive world. In short, we remain aligned with our initial goal and with what ACI does.

FM-world (M.H.B.): There are also now studios in Milan, as I heard on air.

Answer: Yes, we have studios both in Rome and Milan. The ones in Milan are not owned by us, while those in Rome are, and we have presenters in both cities. This allows us to engage guests from both metropolises. These are two important hubs from a mobility perspective—think about the proximity to Monza—and with so many production companies.

One Publisher, Two Radios

FM-world (M.H.B.): In two words, what differentiates your two radios?

P.F.: They are two very different things. Luceverde is a traffic information radio, closely tied to mobility, providing traffic updates. ACI Radio, on the other hand, covers mobility 360 degrees. So yes, we provide traffic information, but we also talk about alternative mobility, regulations, Formula 1, minor sports, and safety.

Content on Demand

FM-world (M.H.B.): You previously mentioned your use of Content on Demand (COD), which I believe was already in beta testing…

P.F.: Exactly. We use COD for the infomobility news on Luceverde Radio.

The workflow is as follows: the basis is the editorial content created by our editors, the ones who write the pieces we want to broadcast. Then, we input them into COD, which adds pre-roll and post-roll, corrects any errors, and creates the audio part.

FM-world (M.H.B.): Does COD also automatically integrate the contributions into the broadcast system?

P.F.: No, that phase is still done manually, but we are, of course, moving toward automation.

Formula 1 and Jubilee

FM-world (M.H.B.): Other uses?

P.F.: Yes, a crucial one: creating content in other languages. It was essential during the Monza GP and will be again for the Jubilee.

In this case, we took the Italian content, had it translated by the platform using its artificial intelligence, and then had it “voiced” by one of the many available voices, which we selected.

FM-world (M.H.B.): Do you consider yourself in the experimental phase or in production?

P.F.: Production, production. What I’ve told you is in production. But we are also experimenting, as we aim to create news bulletins starting from basic news.

Let me explain: if today COD voices the exact content created by editors in Italian, tomorrow it will generate additional content based on simple agency news. A way to increase productivity, so to speak. Or perhaps to generate more content with the same number of collaborators. We must also remember that the traditional process often involves errors, which this automated workflow allows us to avoid. (M.H.B. for FM-world)

Milan: The Evolution of Radio Design at the ADI Design Museum – Our interview with Davide Vercelli

Avatar for Marco Hugo-BarsottiMarco Hugo-Barsotti

The evolution in the world of receivers, from the first valve radios to the most modern equipment, is on display at the ADI Design Museum in Milan: an exhibition that radio enthusiasts simply cannot miss, to discover devices and the rivalry between Italian and German designs, as well as when the first FM radio was produced in Italy. FM-world interviewed the curator of the exhibition, designer Davide Vercelli.

Radio is Queen

Years ago, the phrase Content is King was popular, suggesting that content is what matters in the media world. Perhaps, but we – and we are sure many of our readers—are or have been passionate about the container too, the “Radio” device itself.
After all, if we look at old covers of Radiocorriere (Italian equivalent of UK “Radio Times”), we see that in the past, the receiver often graced the cover, instead of hosts or singers.

Harmony of Line, Purity of Voice

It is less known that, as you will see in Milan, many of these devices bear the signatures of prestigious designers and architects such as Le Corbusier, the Castiglioni brothers, Zanuso, and many others.
The ADI Design Museum in Milan  has therefore decided to host the first leg of the exhibition titled “Radio Design: The Aesthetic Evolution of Radio Devices“, curated by Davide Vercelli.
We couldn’t resist the temptation to speak with him directly: we requested and obtained the contact through the museum’s management. Here is the account of the interview  that took place on Monday, September 2, 2024. For those who prefer, the  original audio (in Italian) is available here .

The Interview

M.H.B.-FMworld: For those who don’t know you, could you give a brief introduction?

Davide Vercelli: I am an engineer deviated towards creativity, meaning I have an engineering background but have never worked as an engineer: instead, I design objects for companies. I also manage part of the collective events for Arte Fiera, always in Bologna. **I am passionate about radio design** and started a collection specifically dedicated to the design of devices connected in some way to music **about 30 years ago**.

M.H.B.-FMworld: We’ve read that the collection of pieces on display is yours, not items found on the market or in other museums…

Davide Vercelli: Yes, that’s right. Over the years, I even had to buy a warehouse to manage the devices I gradually gathered. There is a writer named Walter Benjamin who wrote wonderful things about collecting and compares us to Sisyphus, moving one stone after another to the top of the mountain only to bring it down again. Objects are like that. So, most of the displayed objects are mine, except for two or three for which I involved collector friends.

The Exhibition

M.H.B.-FMworld: Tell us what we can expect in Milan.

D.V.: So, among the many possibilities presented to us, I wanted to tell stories that somehow crossed Italian and European society from the beginnings of radio onwards.

Specifically, there are nine stories covering specific themes. Part of it is an epic of some European companies that have made radio history: **Braun**, which before making toothbrushes, did wonderful things, first with Hans Gugelot, then with the Ulm School, and later with Dieter Rams (read this from CNN), creating beautiful, perhaps unsurpassed, audio products from 1957 onwards.

One of Braun’s most famous creations is the so-called “Snow White’s Coffin” (Braun SK55), a radio-phonograph designed to be placed in the center of a room. It didn’t have a back panel like all other devices, but for the first time used transparent polycarbonate to reveal rather than conceal the turntable, a design element that has since been adopted in all stereo systems still using a turntable.

Ducati

Then there’s **Ducati**, which before becoming famous for motorcycles, produced electromechanical components and  in the 1940s produced a series of three radios in light veneer wood, at a time when everything was dark, walnut, dark wood.

**A perfect line that is still avant-garde today**, and one in particular—one that isn’t mine—is affectionately called the “papal radio.”

It’s a wonderful example of elegance to behold, with a green scale and green knobs, from the 1940s, made of light veneer wood, anticipating Northern European design.

Space Age

Then we tell more intimate stories, not related to big companies but that have crossed society, such as Space Age, the influence that science fiction and space travel had on general design, on radio and device design. Therefore, Sputnik shapes, round forms, or rocket shapes, the use of materials like chrome, glossy plastics—one of the slots is dedicated to Space Age.

 

Giò Ponti

Then we tell the story of Giò Ponti (the architect of the building chosen by Hazan for the headquarters of RMC Italy, Radio 105 and Virgin Radio, now RadioMediaset Ed. Note), who in 1930, thundered in his magazine against radio manufacturers saying that they were only capable of putting an electronic device inside a Tudor or Queen Anne style cabinet suitable only for American cottages, with no need to structure a rationalist architecture.

So he stimulated, with *La voce del padrone* (His Master’s Voice), a manufacturing company, a competition won by Figini and Pollini, two modernist architects who began working with Giò Ponti’s studio and designed this radio called **Domus, a small masterpiece of architecture**.

A Rationalist Building and Variable Geometries

A perfectly squared parallelepiped, white knobs, an extremely basic layout of controls, it looks like a miniature rationalist building with an ebony veneer, making it extremely refined, a total beauty. We are showcasing the January 1933 issue of Domus, where this competition was announced.
We also enjoyed telling stories, there are variable geometries, all those devices like the TS 502, the Radio Cubo, which we deliberately do not represent in the Brionvega slot but in the variable geometries slot because it was the forerunner of these objects that could be modified by the user.


Together with some devices, for example, there’s a stereo system by Wega (designer Werner Panton), a German brand, which also has two portions that rotate on each other to reveal the turntable.

Italy vs. Germany

I would also like to recall the Italy vs. Germany debate on popular radio. While the two regimes needed to spread their ideology and create national unity, in Italy and Germany, the governments moved with very different principles, with effectiveness and extremely opposing aesthetic results, I would say, a significant example of a different design approach between our two peoples that still persists today.

M.H.B.-FMworld: Can you explain better? What do you mean?

D.V.: I mean that at the time, we issued an edict in which we involved 12 companies and gave some general guidelines; the radio had to have these characteristics, receive certain stations, and have this more or less specific shape.

So, what happened? In Italy, everyone made a radio more or less as they wanted, they are distinguishable, recognizable, it’s called a rural radio because of the ornamentation, as the characteristic ornament is a wheat ear in aluminum on the front of the radio, but substantially even from an electrical standpoint, each producer, all 11 or 12 of them, placed inside a device they had slightly modified.


In Germany, being German: the radio must be this, a mold made by Basf in Bakelite, the same for everyone, and the electronic design revolved around a single valve. So, identical housing for everyone, molded in Bakelite, with a single-valve electronic system, and this allowed them, with this extreme rationalization of production, to make a radio that cost very little and distribute millions of them: the Volksempfänger.

So much so that, within a few years, 70% of the German population had a popular German radio in their home.

Our radios, beautiful, are truly wonderful, but with limited production and exclusively dedicated to schools and rural entities, unions, and various things.

So we thought of reaching a young population mainly through schools, while they aimed to mass-distribute the radio.

In terms of effectiveness, we were somewhat on the losing side.

50 kW

M.H.B.-FMworld: So Mussolini was inaugurating “the most powerful transmitter in Europe”, 50 kW in Rome, but in the end, there were no people who could listen to it?
D.V.: Exactly. An interesting thing we did, however, was to direct our radio towards the youth population, so to schools. There was a monthly periodical that scheduled weekly educational broadcasts. The schools followed those broadcasts that aired in the morning, around 10 AM, with topics like Italy’s mission in Ethiopia or the airplane and the aviator. Complete with a magazine and, above all, a huge poster that was hung in schools, graphically illustrating the lesson content.

M.H.B.-FMworld: A fundamentally different philosophy between the two peoples…

D.V.: Exactly. And this different approach to design is also reflected in the comparison between Braun and Brionvega. They are there for that reason: Braun, with Dieter Rams: total minimalism, white colors, total absence of decorative elements, and a production line that, from ’57 until the ’80s, can be easily identified. Brionvega, on the other hand, exploded with vibrant colors, plastics, and identifiable but very different models. This design approach is somehow ours and still belongs to the present times between Italy and Germany.

La La La Radio

D.V.: There’s also a section dedicated to more modern radios, up to the ’80s, with pieces by Philippe Starck, which we placed in the section dedicated to “outsiders”. These are devices that, although important, do not belong to the major groups identified earlier. Starck worked with companies like Alessi and Telefunken, and designed interesting radios like “La La La Radio,” which is essentially a large cone emphasizing the speaker, with very small controls. It was produced in 7,000 numbered units, and we have one on display.

M.H.B.-FMworld: Are these devices operational? Do you run them during the exhibition?

D.V.: Almost all of them are operational because my main interest is to disassemble the devices and restore them conservatively.

However, none of them work here, because they are very old and do not meet current safety standards, so we preferred to consider them as a museum display. But we would like, perhaps at some opening phase, to run one to show how they sounded back then….

M.H.B.-FMworld: …But absolutely! Then in Milan, there are still one or maybe two private stations on OM…

D.V.: Exactly, few stations on OM after RAI stopped broadcasting there on September 11, two years ago, dismantling the antennas. It’s a choice that made many enthusiasts angry.

The First FM Radio

M.H.B.-FMworld: When was FM introduced in Italian devices?
D.V. At the end of 1949, taking advantage of the attention that the frequency modulation sector was attracting (following the emerging development of television), Imca, a company from Alessandria, launched the first series of frequency modulation receiving devices on the market: the radio was called Pangamma, with a very beautiful round mirror scale.

Italian High-Tech Design Today

M.H.B.-FMworld: One last question: devices such as virtual helmets – Metaquest or Apple Vision Pro – are, in a way, the evolution of radio and TV, considering that the “use case” is widely considered to be entertainment. But in these areas, Italy doesn’t seem to have a significant role…
D.V.: Unfortunately, no. There are no Italian, or even European, companies that work significantly in this field. This is also one of the reasons why we don’t get requests to design electronic devices. Since the early ’90s, this crisis has hit all European manufacturing companies, and now everything is in the hands of the large U.S. and Asian tech companies, which often do not approach design as we understand it. It’s sad, but it’s a reality.

M.H.B.-FMworld: To conclude, can you tell us the dates and details of the exhibition in Milan and Bologna? And are there plans to take it abroad?

D.V.: Certainly. The opening in Milan is on September 5th at the ADI Design Museum, running until September 27th. Then we’ll move from October 4th to October 31st to Bologna, at the Fondazione Cirulli. The foundation is a venue that perfectly aligns with the theme, being the former production site of Dino Gavina, designed by the Castiglioni brothers. After that, there are contacts to take the exhibition to other cities, both in Italy and abroad, but I can’t confirm anything yet. We’re looking at 2025 for a third location.

ADI Design Museum The ADI Design Museum is in Piazza Compasso d’Oro, in the Paolo Sarpi area of Milan. The museum is open from 10:30 AM to 8:00 PM; access to this particular exhibition is free. Inside, the museum houses the historical collection of the Compasso d’Oro. (M.H.B. for FM-world)

Tune into Summer: FM-world’s New Beach Radio Bundle

Avatar for Marco Hugo-BarsottiMarco Hugo-Barsotti

FM-world has just launched an exciting new feature: a curated bundle of “beach radios” from around the world, easily accessible through a dedicated icon at the top of the FM-world aggregator. This collection is designed to bring the essence of summer right to your ears, no matter where you are.

Nostalgia for Summer Past

A recent post on Talkmedia featuring footage from RSI (Swiss Radio and Television) sparked a wave of nostalgia. The video showcased scenes from Rimini, Italy, in the summer of 1979 – a tableau straight out of Umberto Eco’s “Diario Minimo.”

For radio enthusiasts, the soundtrack was particularly evocative, featuring a mix of beach loudspeaker announcements and broadcasts from the era’s pioneering italian private radio stations, including the iconic Radio Capodistria from Jugoslavia (of all places).

Rimini was, of course, the ‘low/middle-class’ beach destination of choice in the ’60s and later. Then Italians became richer and preferred Sardinia, but that is another story.

The Evolution of Beach Soundtracks

Anyway, the perfect beach relaxation has always been accompanied by a fitting musical backdrop. In the past, this came from traditional radios. Today, we have apps connected to Bluetooth speakers or wireless headphones.
But what made the old-school radio experience special was the element of discovery – tuning into unfamiliar stations while on holiday, hearing new voices, and breaking away from the predictable.

FM-world’s Summer Bundle

To recreate that spirit of discovery, FM-world has curated a “Summer Radio Bundle.” This selection of “beach radios” is easily accessible from our app’s homepage or your car’s dashboard by selecting “Estate”

Featured Stations

Our bundle includes an eclectic mix of stations that capture the essence of summer from various corners of the globe:

  • Miami Beach Radio
  • Radio Italo Disco Croatia
  • Zucca Radio Greece
  • Turquesa Cancún
  • Turquesa Yucatan
  • Ke Buena Campeche
  • Los 40 España
  • Los 40 Merida
  • Revolution 93.5 Miami
  • Café del Mar Radio Ibiza
  • Studio+ Ibiza
  • FG Chic Ibiza

Your Beach, Your Choice

We’ve kept the list concise, echoing the limited but exciting choices of yestery that encouraged listeners to step out of their comfort zones. Is there an essential summer station we’ve missed? Let us know at [email protected].

This summer, let FM-world be your passport to beaches around the world, one radio station at a time.

(M.H.B. for FM-world)

Xperi: “With us, Radio maintains a central role in connected cars”

Avatar for Marco Hugo-BarsottiMarco Hugo-Barsotti

During the European Digital Forum in Lucca (Italy) we’ve had the opportunity to interview George Cernat, Sr. Dir. Automotive Connected Media / DTS AutoStage for Xperi. The key role of the car entertainment systems for the future of Radio Broadcasting, if and how can radio survive in a “big screen equipped cars” era and the specific of Xperi Solution were among the topics of the discussion.

The interview took place on Friday 7 june 2024.

The Interview

FM-World: First of all, please two words on who  you are and what is your area of interest at Xperi.

Xperi: Sure, my name is George Cernat and I am responsible for DTS AutoStage at Xperi, responsible for broadcast integration worldwide. DTS Autostage is our automotive media platform that puts radio at its center and is designed to help radio stay relevant and be more discoverable in the connected cars of today and the future.

FM-World: There seems to be two different points of view about car entertainment systems: those who prefer standard systems like Apple CarPlay, Google Automotive, and those like General Motors that commit to use their own proprietary OS’s. What’s your opinion on where the market is going?

Xperi: I cannot really comment on the OEM preference or whatever their strategy is, but you observe these two different points of view correctly. As technology advanced and screen size increased, primarily due to safety regulations, car companies looked for ways to leverage these new platforms to extend the media, entertainment and vehicle systems they offered their drivers.

 

Mirroring solutions

Let’s look at Android Automotive and Apple CarPlay, they are mirroring solutions for smartphones which presented an easy, interim, solution to extend media offerings in the car with little direct development or integration

However, the danger is that the software maker, the operating system owner becomes the most important or valuable provider of services to the consumer in the car.

And those vendors can takeover  their relationship with the consumer.

Realignment

I think there is a realignment here: they’ve now changed their view, they want to be more in control of their destiny so that’s why you saw a lot of automakers investing heavily into really owning their operating system. Or at least owning the infotainment experience themselves.

So that’s what’s going on in this space and it is exactly where we as Xperi DTS AutoStage have a lot of experience, working with more  than 20 automakers to help them deliver the infotainment solutions they need.

In the entertainment space in automotive, we started with HD Radio and the United States and we now work with all the major automakers.

FM-World: Can you give more details about how you help automakers with radio and entertainment in cars?

Xperi:

Absolutely. While automakers have a long history of innovation around broadcast radio integration, their real innovation and investments are focused on the drive-train, power systems and operational safety, not media and entertainment integration.

Here Xperi has a lot of experience specifically with the radio industry and more broadly with the entertainment space.  Right now you see a lot of video and gaming coming into the car as the technology gets more diversified: so we help them first understand this space and then we act on behalf of the broadcasters.

When it comes to the radio industry, Xperi is recognized as a good steward and trusted partner of the industry. We believe that broadcast radio is incredibly important for cars, and through our involvement with HD Radio and as active members of WorldDAB, NAB, and other global organizations, we help because the radio industry is regionally fragmented and distributed and  our role is providing a solution that works for the automakers globally, across all markets, large and small.  This global harmonization is critical to radio stay relevant in the cars.

A dangerous moment for the Radio industry

FM-World: Is this more of a consulting or product approach?

Xperi: We’ve developed a platform it’s called the DTS AutoStage that is integrated in the infotainment system of the automakers and it’s really a hybrid radio solution. This is absolutely a product approach.

We want radio to stay central to the infotainment system in the car because for the foreseeable future radio will be the most important entertainment option in vehicles.

But Google, Apple, everybody wants a piece of the on board screen real estate.

This is a dangerous moment for radio because it could be very well be replaced or marginalized in the dash and this is where we come in.

We complement a radio station in the car by adding basic information like visual elements. So you transition to a digital experience, in line with today’s consumer, who expect a certain level of interactivity and a certain design from  their apps. We add lyrics to songs so radio is going to look amazing,

AI

Xperi has done a lot of AI and machine learning work in this space, and the user interface in the cars is getting smarter and will learn from the user choices and present similar content by genre, by music type, by artist type. If you are a radio station that produces on-demand audio and broadcasts video from the studio, that can also be included as part of the in-car radio experience

That’s what we do.

Control to broadcasters

The second objective is to give radio stations control of how they look, how their content looks in the car so we give them access to an interface that allows just that.

And third we want radio stations to understand what their audience looks like in vehicles, so we’ve launched for the first time in this industry an analytics platform. We call that the DTS AutoStage.

Broadcasters can join at no cost and then if they send us the live metadata from their programming we can then give them analytics data about their listeners who are tuning into their radio station in DTS AutoStage equipped vehicles, so they’ll be able to see things like the number of sessions on any given day.  They’ll be able to see the hourly fruition of their content,  on a 24-hour basis

They’ll be able to see a geographical heat map of where their listeners are when tuning in to a station

I mean, without divulging any personal personally identifiable data, we cannot disclose those…

But we can make some good projections and analytics for our customers to see. And not only geographic data: we can provide statistics about single titles, single songs, in any given period of time.

Aggregators

FM-World: Tune-in it probably the most famous aggregator. I’m wondering how from your point of view the aggregators will play a role in this whole stack, from the broadcaster to the end user.

Xperi: We don’t deal with the IP side of the equation right now. These are essentially Internet aggregators, but what we are interested in is actually the broadcast radio experience in the car.

FM-World: Yes, but you’re saying you switch to IP when needed…

Xperi: To us the IP component is a fallback when broadcast radio is not available.

There is a feature we call “station following” that allows us to offer a seamless listening experience for when a car goes out of FM / DAB reception range – we switch to IP-listening – but this is a small edge case that is an excellent example of how DTS AutoStage enhances traditional FM / DAB+ listening in vehicles.

FM-World: Back to Radio. The DTS  name of course is a reference for audio. I’m wondering if there’s any interest in bringing multi-channel audio much like the old Quadraphonic Stereo 8 Track, some 40 years ago when…

Xperi: Is this a question?

FM-World: Yes, I come to it. Forty years ago, when the classic Cytroën DS came standard with discrete quadraphonic sound. Does the brand DTS mean your’re bringing back high definition, real multi-channel sound in the car?

Xperi: We have a separate business unit at Xperi that deals with the premium audio part of our portfolio, like DTS audio, and we do offer that in the car as a separate solution from DTS AutoStage. DTS AutoStage is a hybrid radio solution for connected vehicles

FM-World: Anything else you think it’s important for our listeners and readers to know?

Xperi: If you’re a radio broadcaster  and you haven’t joined the DTS AutoStage system yet please reach out to us : it’s a very beneficial and very easy way of getting onto the platform and getting access to the valuable analytics and control over your content. (M.H.B. per FM-World).

Audiradio, in charge of measuring radio audiences in Italy, will measure “Total Audience”: Interview with President Antonio Martusciello

Avatar for Marco Hugo-BarsottiMarco Hugo-Barsotti

Audiradio is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in Italy that, beginning January 2025 will replace TER. So many questions arise: will the JIT structure really benefit the radio industry? Will the new methodology provide audience data consistent with TER, or should we expect another disruption? What will change with an assessment that considers all modes of consumption? And what is the role of the legendary SDK? To learn more, FM-world interviewed the president of Audiradio, Antonio Martusciello.

Antonio Martusciello

Born in Naples in 1962 and graduated in Public Administration, he has always worked in the field of media and communication. From 2010 to 2020, Martusciello was Commissioner of Agcom.

He is the author of numerous articles and scientific contributions on communication: in February 2019, he published the essay “The Chaos of Information” (La Dante Alighieri publisher). In September 2019, he published the essay “The Network: Manipulation or Pluralism” (Armando publisher). In 2020, he authored a study for IULM titled “The Evolution of Political Communication from Traditional Models to New Formats in the New Digital Context,” while in 2021, he published “The Audience Measurement and Its Impact on Public Opinion Formation.”

Martusciello is a professor of “Media Law” at Luiss Rome and, since December 2022, President of the Supervisory Body of Tim’s access network. He was appointed President of Audiradio in April 2024.

The Interview

FM-World (Marco H. Barsotti): We read that ambitions of the new Audiradio are significant: measuring every device, introducing the “total audience,” the idea of shifting the focus from measuring individual stations to a “user-centric” approach. How much of this can we expect from the publication of your first surveys, and how much will take more time?

Antonio Martusciello: The new Audiradio survey will start on January 1, 2025, and to be ready for this appointment, our goal is to adopt the Request for Proposal (RFP) as soon as possible.

We are indeed working diligently in this direction. The company has just been established, but in these days a technical analysis is already underway to prepare the RFP, necessary for choosing the institutes that will conduct the survey.

A Mixed Survey

It will be a “mixed” survey, both quantitative and census-based, through the SDK, a tool that already represents a significant step forward compared to a purely declarative model.

This “hybrid” survey will better capture the increasingly pronounced trend of multi-device and multi-platform radio listening.

Listening will be measured on all devices, across all distribution platforms, and in all modes of consumption (live and on-demand). After all, today the potential audience pool expands significantly, not only thanks to technology but also due to structural changes in content consumption behaviors. In this sense, we will be called upon to choose and define the most appropriate methodologies and technologies to conduct these surveys, considering their economic sustainability. Our goal is to make radio audience research increasingly in step with market evolution.

As for timing, it is premature to estimate today; however, I believe that the commitment and intense teamwork from these early days of activity constitute an excellent start to achieving that result, which I am sure we will be able to concretely realize with timeliness and determination.

The European Context

FM-World: In the past, we have analyzed measurement systems used in other countries considered (at least at the time) more advanced: Netherlands, UK, etc… The question is whether Audiradio and its European counterparts work together in some way (formally or even just technically) to have what is fashionable to call “uniform currency” at the European level, which I imagine would be or would be appreciated by multinational investors.

A.M.: Audiradio was born on April 22 this year and is taking its first steps in organizing a survey that will see, after many years, radio broadcasters and the market working together again. It is clear that it will be in both parties’ interest to also engage technically with European experiences.

If we look at reports such as the Radio Audience Measurement by EGTA (Association of television and radio sales houses) and EMRO (European Media Research Organization), even today, at the European level, declarative methodologies are still the most commonly used, while passive systems are still being experimented with.

European Media Freedom Act

Then there is the recognition of the centrality of audience measurement systems in the complex ecosystem of digital media, which falls within the scope of the new TUSMA regulations and is attested by the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) regulation. This provides for greater transparency and comparability of the methodologies used in measurements, as well as the reference to shared standards and techniques, possibly within JIC.

The JIC and Listeners

FM-World: The advantages of the JIC structure for market operators, who are all represented, are clear. I wondered if any association of public representatives could bring additional value to your organization.

A.M.: The JIC, in the model approved by Agcom, constitutes the prevalent form of entities dealing with audience measurement and already indirectly represents the interests of listeners. This is because the system is based on what we might call a sort of “convention” between publishers and the market. In this scenario, it is the market that performs a function of guaranteeing the correct allocation of advertising where the highest audience ratings are recorded.

The SDK Issue

FM-World: Let’s move on to a point considered essential, the famous SDK. In many interviews and articles, it has been discussed, giving the impression that it is a ready-made system that you will use. But as we know, “SDK” is instead a Nielsen toolkit that allows app developers to record user behaviors and send them to Nielsen.

This implies – I believe – modifying client applications to integrate SDK libraries and activate their functionalities, potentially providing a type of reporting worthy of Google Analytics.

Two questions: first, if it is a completed process (and if so, with which operators), or if it is in progress or activation phase.

A.M.: The SDK (Software Development Kit) system is an analytical marker already used in audience measurement systems, which provides census data on the volume of online content consumption distributed through different platforms.

The system, therefore, allows for integrating measurement tools into digital content regardless of the device used for content consumption.

As I mentioned, the RFP is under analysis, and Audiradio will be called upon to make a choice on defining the most appropriate methodologies and technologies to conduct the aforementioned census surveys.

Transparency and Certification

FM-World: Second question about SDK. Since by definition what is created through SDK is an invasive system: will the libraries be embedded only in the clients of your sample or will they be included in the general tools used for listening by the general public?

A.M.: The RFP – as I mentioned – is still under analysis and I find it quite premature to define these aspects.

What I can say, however, is that transparency in the measurement processes and the guarantee of an objective, third-party-certified system are indispensable elements to ensure the credibility and reliability of the data collected.

 

Discontinuity?

FM-World: Last question, when  the transition from the old researches (Audiradio and GFK Eurisko) to TER took place there was a discontinuity in the data regarding the top positions, which saw for the first time Rai Radio 1 lose a historical record that it had held since forever.

It could have been a change in listeners’ tastes during that gap, but it could also have been the result of the change in sample and methodology.

  Will the data collected and presented by Audiradio be comparable to TER data or should we expect new discontinuities (or perhaps non-comparable universes?)

A.M.: TER had the advantage of continuously providing radio audience data during the period following the liquidation of the first Audiradio. The greatest criticality of TER, which led to the need for its evolution, was the MOC model, no longer compliance, as indicated by AGCom. In this regard, I would like to remind you that the TUSMA, in art. 71 paragraph 5, letter. b), provided “(…) that the surveys of the audience and readership rates of the various means of communication, on any distribution and diffusion platform, conform to criteria of methodological correctness, transparency, verifiability and certification by independent entities and are carried out by bodies with maximum representativeness of the entire reference sector (…)”.

Similarly, the EMFA, in art. 24, in particular, requires that suppliers of audience measurement systems guarantee a survey and a methodology that respects the principles of transparency, impartiality, inclusiveness, proportionality, non-discrimination, comparability and verifiability.

Today, the JIC that was formed highlights the centrality of the publishers’ front, representatives of radio pluralism in all its components (national and local, private and public). The entry of the market (UPA and UNA) marks the expansion of the corporate structure and makes it representative of the entire reference sector. A union that allows – once again – the concrete implementation of the principle of correctness of audience survey, already typical of TER’s experience.

… or continuity?

As I explained before, the need for innovation led to the choice of a new format, that of hybrid research based on a combination of sampling and census.

Our objective, therefore, is not continuity or discontinuity with the TER data, but research that, starting from the experience gained, is able to grasp the degree of innovation of the radio market. (M.H.B. for FM-World)