Digital Radios on display at Harvey Norman - launch coverage

Digital Radio has taken another step forward this week with a collection of receivers going on show at Harvey Norman’s Auburn Computer Superstore in Sydney. Harvey Norman is the first retailer to showcase digital radios in Australia.

Nova 969’s Paul Murray (pictured right) opened the event, telling a crowd of radio industry professionals and interested consumers:

“Pictures have gone digital recently, words with pictures have gone digital recently. Now it’s time for the words and music to go digital.”

He spoke about the virtues of digital radio – consumers will be able to see the name of the song playing or the phone number of the advertiser and potentially have the opportunity to listen to three things at once on one radio station.

With trademark humour, Paul Murray even promised digital radio will mean the end of rivalry:

“Digital Radio is so good, Jonesy and Lawsy will like each other on it.”

Most Sydney stations were represented at the launch. 2GB’s Murray Wilton and Glen Wheeler (pictured left) spoke about the enhanced sound quality AM listeners will enjoy, saying:

“It’s like literally having a presenter there in the room with you.”

WS-FM’s Rob Neill illustrated the comparison between old analog radio and digital radio by asking the AFTRS Radio students at the launch to lay on the floor – “it’s cold and hard!” they said.

After that he asked them to lay on one of the plush carpets on display nearby – “it’s better, it’s warm, plush and welcoming,” they said.

“JUST LIKE DIGITAL RADIO!” said Rob Neill.

Joan Warner, CEO of Commercial Radio Australia, is excited about the future of Digital Radio:

“What you will see is a lot of value adds, a lot of innovative use of extra features of digital radio – such as multilayering, text and graphics. Radio really is the last medium that has a major technological leap to make.

“We’re delighted Harvey Norman has come on board as a strategic partner in the digital radio trials because they are known for being a leader in technology products, and the high traffic coming through the store will give us a great opportunity to assess consumer response.”

The Digital Radio Australia display will be at Harvey Norman, Auburn over the next few weeks and will showcase home, in-car and portable digital radio receivers as seen in the photos below.