week 50 the RTL Group intranet Newsletter A promising new era Axel Duroux talks about the future of digital radio in France Germany / Luxembourg Background information on the world of digital radio Hungary Pokerface obtains sensational ratings for RTL Klub France M6's information formats pack in the viewers Germany Al Gore gives an interview to RTL Television and N-TV People Barbara Faltermeier leaves RTL II week 50 the RTL Group intranet A promising new era Following the governmental go-ahead on Digital Radio in France, Backstage seized the opportunity to discuss this hot topic with Axel Duroux, CEO of the French radio family (RTL, RTL 2, Fun Radio) Christine Albanel signing the decree France - 6 December 2007 Last Wednesday, Culture Minister Christine Which specific advantages will digital radio Albanel signed a decree establishing the T- offer listeners? DMB standard as the broadcasting norm for In terms of sound, the possibility of broadcasting digital radio in France. Are you happy with that high quality in 5.1 surround sound. There will also decision? be new functions, like the possibility of going back RTL Radio in France has been making digital radio to the start of a programme or pausing it. The one of its strategic priorities since 2005. We've hel- screen on the radio set will enable listeners to see ped a consensus to be reached within the medium content, too, like weather reports or images, and of radio regarding the importance of the digital to interact. Digital radio will also put an end to fre- switchover, and it's that consensus which has got quencies: listeners will simply select RTL by name us where we are today. The minister's choice is on their radio set; no longer will they need to know important for several reasons. It marks the actual RTL's particular frequency in this or that city. beginning of work on digital radio, with a view to its launch at Christmas in 2008, and it authorises Coming back to RTL Radio France, you laun- the use of the T-DMB standard, which was the ched a pre-emptive strike this autumn by star- preferred choice of the digital radio group called ting up RTL Autrement and RTL L'Equipe on Groupement pour la Radio Numérique, represen- the Internet. Have these two radio stations ting 98% of listeners. already won over listeners on the Internet? RTL Autrement is an additional service we are Why the T-DMB standard rather than any other? offering our Internet listeners, enabling them to lis- We're programme makers first and foremost, so ten to the programmes they're interested in when it's not so much the technology itself we're interes- it suits them. RTL L'Equipe, on the other hand, is ted in, but rather the use made of it. The attraction a brand new radio station that combines the of the T-DMB standard is that it offers us the strengths of the editorial teams at L'Equipe and widest range of tools, thereby paving the way for RTL. We're highly satisfied with the success achie- greater creativity. More specifically, the T-DMB ved by these digital stations. standard will enable RTL to produce 'augmented' radio, i.e. radio How will RTL Radio's digital bouquet look like that combines a year from now? Are there any plans for sound with cer- expansion? tain data associa- The Higher Audiovisual Council, or CSA, plans to ted with program- launch a call for tenders for digital radio in the very mes that can then near future. We'll submit the plans we believe to be be viewed on the best suited to the provisions of that call for ten- screen of the digi- ders. tal radio set itself. Digital radio set 2 week 50 the RTL Group intranet Will your competitors in the digital radio scene What are the next steps on the agenda of digi- be the same as those vying with you in the ana- tal radio? What are you expecting the govern- logue radio sector? ment to do? Analogue radio is already highly competitive. For For now, we're waiting for the call for tenders example, there are over 50 competing radio sta- issued by the CSA, which should be launched tions in Paris. There will be new entrants in digital soon. The government has pledged to make radio, but that won't really change anything for us, Christmas 2008 the Christmas of digital radio. since the competition is already so fierce. How do you see listeners’ loyalty being secured on digital radio? Will the same recipes for success apply? Digital radio is still first and foremost radio, and the know-how we put to use today on our various stations will play a key role in making a success of digital radio. Christine Albanel shaking hands with Axel Duroux Frequencies, standards, new features – All about the world of digital radio At the headquarters of RTL Group in Luxembourg, the Digital Radio Strategy team led by Associate Vice President Dan D'Aversa is working all out on the challenges asso- ciated with digital radio. The team's role is to assess the various digital radio stan- dards, compare their features and come up with the best possible advice for each of the group's radio stations, depending on their specific needs. This is no easy task, because there's a bewildering array of standards to choose between. Digital Radio Strategy Project Manager Pierre- Very high frequencies (VHF) and ultra-high fre- Yves Lanneau Saint Léger explained the diffe- quencies (UHF) are traditionally used by analo- rent available technologies (see chart on next gue TV and FM radio broadcasts and cover a page): range of several dozen kilometres. Some of the frequencies freed up by the gradual phasing out “High frequencies (HF) include the tradi- tional frequency bands used by AM radio since the early 20th century. Their physical properties enable a transmitter to cover ranges extending over several thousand kilometres. The consensus reached regarding the digitisation of this sector of the spectrum was to use the DRM standard, with DRM standing for Digital Radio Mondiale. Dan D’Aversa Pierre-Yves Lanneau Saint Léger 3 week 50 the RTL Group intranet of analogue programmes broadcast on these DAB DMB DAB+ wave bands – frequently referred to as the ‘digi- tal dividend’ – will be allocated to the deploy- Audio quality ment of digital radio.” Video quality Radio-specific services The higher the frequency, the better its penetra- tion and the more effective it will be propagated Cost-saving potential inside buildings. The down side here is that the better the signal's penetration is, the more limi- Comparative overview of these various standards ted its range will be. As a result, the relevant transmitters will need to be closer together, pus- 2003 saw the advent of DRM, now a globally hing up broadcasting costs. So while the upper recognised standard for frequencies lower than reaches of the spectrum will be suitable for use 30 MHz, which therefore do not compete with in dense conurbations, they won't be profitable other standards like DAB+, DMB or DVB that are in rural areas, where operators will be better off used for different wave bands. opting for the DRM standard. In 2004, 2005 and 2007, three more standards These terrestrial broadcasting technologies are appeared on the scene, all fiercely rivalling each complemented by additional transmission pos- other. In the chronological order of their appea- sibilities offered by the Internet or by satellite. As rance these were DVB-H (Digital Video Pierre-Yves Lanneau Saint Léger put it: “It's the Broadcasting – Handheld), T-DMB (Terrestrial – degree of success with which these technolo- Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) which was just gies are combined, market by market, that will adopted last week for the deployment of digital determine how successful digital radio turns out radio in France, and DAB+ (the updated version to be in Europe”. of DAB). Each of the frequency bands in question has its However, what end consumers, befuddled by all own specific standard. Pierre-Yves Lanneau these technical descriptions, will have in their Saint Léger set them out in detail, starting with hands (or actually in their ears) will be a radio fit the oldest: DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), for the modern era, and it seems highly likely which dates back to 1997. Although 6 million that their old transistor radios will end up relega- British households are equipped to receive DAB ted to the attic. transmissions, experts believe it is now outmo- ded, among other reasons because the sound of Digital radio has the potential to turn radio from such radio broadcasts can't be linked to a video a traditional medium into a shining example of signal. So we can forget that option. innovation, destined to revolutionise the sector. 4 week 50 the RTL Group intranet Digital radio in Germany Digital Radio has received the go-ahead in France. Here is an overview of the situation on the German radio market, provided in cooperation with RTL Radio Deutschland. The history of digital radio in Germany has Changes are afoot in other areas too: RTL been a turbulent one. Radio broadcasting was Radio Deutschland also has a stake in the to have gone digital a few years back with DAB Digital 5 consortium via Hit-Radio Antenne (Digital Audio Broadcasting) but such broad- Niedersachsen, Radio Hamburg and Antenne casting – sold under the brand name Digital Bayern. Other stations in which it has a stake Radio – never quite made it.