The 2018 edition of Le Salon de la Radio/European Radio Show took place at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris Jan. 25–27.
PARIS — The 2018 edition of Le Salon de la Radio/European Radio Show, a main meeting point for radio professionals in France and beyond, attracted some 6,000 visitors and 120 exhibitors, according to the organizers.
The 2018 edition honored Scandinavia and discussed digital audio, audio content innovation, strategy and more with approximately 100 sessions, 200 speakers, roundtable debates, as well as keynote sessions and workshops.
In addition, nine master classes offered attendees the opportunity to learn more on radio and the cloud, monetization solutions, content and journalism, automation and programming, audio/video production, systems integration and engineering and audience interaction and social networks.
SESSIONS
Digital audio was a main theme at the conference and most events were streamed and broadcast live via DAB+, and via the ephemeral Radio of the Show, run by a team of exhibitors.
Christopher Baldelli, vice president M6 Group opened the show on Thursday Jan. 25 with his keynote address. The new owner of nationwide French commercial station RTL claimed his faith in radio during his inaugural speech. “Radio is alive, audiences are rising, young people are getting back to radio,” he said. “The key issues are mobility, voice attractiveness, content quality.”
Among other speakers were representatives from the country’s audiovisual regulator, the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel. Nicolas Curien, advisory member of the CSA, in charge of radio and of audiovisual service distribution, addressed the audience on Thursday, while Olivier Schrameck, CSA president, presented an overview on France’s digital advances on Friday.
During his speech, Schrameck reasserted France’s determination in DAB+ deployment with a goal of obtaining 20 percent coverage by the end of 2018 and to “boost the development of digital receivers on all mobile and home devices.” Around 20 new DAB+ license tenders are planned in major cities this year.
The WorldDAB session hosted speakers from Norway, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and France providing updates on their country’s digital evolution. The session also highlighted some deployment discrepancies, particularly with France being behind many other countries.
Antoine Baduel, CEO of French station, FG Radio explained the complexity of the French landscape. “We are very late, there won’t be any FM switch off, we have a wide territory with many formats, and every platform has its own territory. In the major cities, DAB+ is the only solution to the saturated FM Band.”
For Jean-Marc Dubreuil, country manager, France, at WorldDAB, “France is late, but not too late, and we have a great opportunity via the European Commission to get receiver regulation.” Connectivity in cars was also on focus with in-Norwegian car radio manufacturer Sahaga exhibiting at the show this year, showcasing a car equipped with DAB+ receivers.
AWARDS
As in previous years, the show’s award ceremonies honored the francophone radio industry’s most creative members. The 2018 winners included Radio France International for best public francophone broadcaster, RTL for best national generalist broadcaster and Radio France’s FIP for best national thematic broadcaster.
Exhibitors, which included RFE Broadcast, Netia, SAVE Diffusion, ATS-France Nagra Audio, AETA Audio Systems and WinMedia, consider this Paris-based show as a good market opportunity, not only for meeting French clients but also for reaching broadcasters from other francophone regions, including Africa.
The 2019 edition is scheduled for Jan. 24–26 in Paris. Spain and Portugal will be the countries of honor.
