'Let's save the radio presence in new car models'

A vehicle that represents a constant presence in the media diet of Italians. An eternal travelling companion for those who travel by car, but one that runs the risk of ending up depowered, if not actually in the attic, sacrificed on the altar of the choices of automotive manufacturers no longer interested (when not interested in the opposite direction) in putting radios in cars, or that could even end up being crushed amidst issues of frequency interference between Italia and other countries.

It is here, on this slippery slope, that dear old radio has been moving in recent times. And that is why Confindustria Radio Televisioni has decided that the time for waiting is over and has chosen a symbolic date to go on the counter-attack. On the day consecrated by Unesco to the 'magic box', the #RadioInAuto operation is launched. The objective is as simple as it is vital: to prevent the future of the automotive industry, launched towards a digitalisation drive, from wiping out the present of broadcasting. The numbers, on the other hand, photograph a reality that admits no replicas or convenient interpretations: in Italia, 35 million people listen to the radio every day, 26 million of which do so while gripping the steering wheel. "It is in this context", writes Confindustria Radio Televisioni, "that the #RadioInAuto communication campaign was born, to raise awareness of the need to preserve the presence of analogue and digital radio in new car models: easily identifiable, immediately accessible and usable with a single click, without being hidden in complex menus or penalised by solutions based exclusively on IP connection".

On the other hand, the Confindustria Radio Tv note emphasises, it is precisely "the evolution of infotainment systems on the dashboards of new car models towards closed ecosystems based exclusively on IP" that risks "compromising the accessibility of radio and its sustainability and contact with its mobile audience". What makes the picture even more worthy of attention is the EU Commission's slowdown on Mimit's plan to require that all Internet-connected devices in new cars sold in Italia also be able to receive analogue (Fm and Am) and Dab+ digital terrestrial radio. Brussels sent the ball back to Italia with a request for more in-depth justifications.

The target of the concerns raised by Crtv is technology, but in its version of a 'pickaxe' of usage habits. The radio, is the thought clearly expressed by Crtv, must remain there, where the motorist instinctively looks for it: easily identifiable, immediately accessible, a single gesture. And the point, in this case, is to preserve the presence of analogue and digital radio in the new models: not a relic, but a service that works even when the network falters.

In Crtv's communiqué, which clearly throws the ball to the politicians to resolve the issue, there is in any case a definition that sounds like a civil reminder: radio is 'a free service accessible to all, characterised by the ubiquity of the signal - essential even in times of crisis and emergency - and is recognised as a service of general interest, as a secure and regulated editorial environment'. And it is not by chance that trust is mentioned: 'For over one hundred years, radio has cultivated a unique relationship of trust with its listeners'.