The Australian Communications and Media Authority is extending the current digital radio trials in Canberra and Darwin until 30 June 2016.

The trials are being conducted by Commercial Radio Australia and use DAB+ digital radio technology. Participants in the Canberra trial include The ABC and SBS with hopes that community services will join the trial soon.

Commercial Radio Australia says it looks forward to exploring how these services might become permanent as suggested in the Communications Department’s recently released Digital Radio Report.

Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) has flagged that price of spectrum will be an important issue as the recommendations are implemented.

The Government today announced it has considered and agreed to implement the recommendations of the Spectrum Review undertaken by the Department of Communications, in conjunction with the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Spectrum is a critical enabler of Australia’s current and future communications infrastructure. However, the legislative framework for managing spectrum in Australia is outdated.

The commercial radio industry has recorded growth in metropolitan advertising revenue of 8.60% for July, to a total of $61.893 million.

Marketforce’s ad “iiNet NBN Buffering Cat Shark” for client iiNet has won the single category and round two overall of the 2016 Siren Awards.

Radio’s annual gala awards night the Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs) is set for an earlier start this year, Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) announced, as tickets went on sale today for both the ACRAs and the National Radio Conference.

The 27^th ACRAs will be held on Saturday, 10 October at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and the National Radio Conference will take place the day before on Friday, 9 October at Jupiters. 

CRA has launched the third phase of the industry-wide “Radio. It’s a Love Thing” brand campaign. Four new radio ads will debut this week across 261 metropolitan and regional commercial radio stations.

The 45 second ads highlight independent new research by Colmar Brunton*, demonstrating the significant transactional uplift and return on investment (ROI) for brands using radio advertising, both on its own and in combination with TV and online.

Australian Radio Network (ARN) has announced the appointment of Sarah Tinsley to the position of national Legal and Business Affairs Director.

Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) and Presslaff Interactive Revenue have released the second in the series of Finding Consumer Trend (FCT) reports (in detail here), offering insights into the lifestyle interests and spending intentions of regional radio listeners.
 

The Government has released a report, prepared by the Department of Communications, on the future directions for spectrum management that outlines recommended changes to improve Australia's spectrum management framework.

The three main recommendations are:

Australia’s leading ad agencies, radio stations and production studios are amongst the finalists for the Siren Awards Best Radio Ad of 2015. 

Comedy, emotion, outstanding voice over talent and clever use of sound effects are common elements included in the list of finalist ads, for products as diverse as tennis tickets and pest control, to women in engineering and cancer awareness.   

Chris Taylor and Andrew Hansen, best known as members of the comedy group The Chaser will host the new, less formal Siren Awards event at Bar 100 on Thursday 14 May.