MUMBAI: In its 100th anniversary year the DRM Consortium salutes radio as the mass digital communication platform for our challenging times. To celebrate the unique and relevant place of radio in people’s lives and the progress made by Digital Radio Mondiale in this unprecedented year, we have created our first ever DRM e-book. Its aim is to give you a succinct overview of the best DRM events, activities and successes in 2020, while offering you a varied and wide digest of information, opinions and updates on DRM and digital radio.

In 2020 the value of the only global, open, all band digital audio broadcasting system, DRM, was conveyed to more people, further afield, than ever before. Old and new stakeholders and enthusiasts were the audience in the 2020 virtual conference rooms where a “show and tell” approach demonstrated DRM’s services and advantages in both AM and FM bands.

We introduced new technical development of the extra-efficient use of DRM FM and devoted a lot of attention to DRM’s capabilities to deliver multimedia and, therefore, textual information needed not only Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF) but also to facilitate distance learning. This is an area we aim to develop in 2021.

Manufacturers from China, India, Germany, South Korea, and U.K showcased dozens of receivers for AM (medium wave) but also for digital FM and in 2021. As manufacturers will receive increased orders, we expect them to bring larger volumes of affordable receivers to the market, as more countries adopt DRM.

Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Chairman, stated that “the new DRM e-book gives a complete, up-to-the minute valuable information on DRM. The DRM e-book demonstrates that this all band-standard has registered significant progress in 2020 and is poised for even bigger successes in 2021, when millions of new and old listeners will discover and rediscover the wonder of radio, of digital radio DRM.”