Australian consumers will have their first opportunity to get a sneak preview of the future of radio when the latest home, in-car and portable digital radio receivers are unveiled at Harvey Norman Auburn, in Sydney, next week.
The first digital radio consumer centre will be officially opened at 11am on Friday May 7 by Nova 96.9’s Paul Murray, popular 2GB presenters Murray Wilton and Glenn Wheeler, and WSFM’s out and about personality Rob Neil.
The 2DAY FM Black Thunders will conduct a live cross and provide giveaways for shoppers, and representatives from top receiver manufacturers PURE, Sangean and Grundig will be on hand to provide demonstrations of their latest products.
Shoppers will be able to meet some of their favourite radio personalities, find out what the new technology can do, and go in the running to win one of four state-of-the-art digital radios and an exotic holiday for two to Egypt flying in business class luxury with Gulf Air, thanks to Mr Travel, Derek Taylor. A stylish portable radio valued at $400 will be won on the spot.
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Digital radio, which has been hailed as the biggest advance for radio since the introduction of FM in the 1970s, provides CD-quality sound, easy tuning and screens which feature scrolling text such as song titles, news headlines and other information.
Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner says: “Digital radio is a quantum leap forward for the industry because the technology’s greater data-carrying capacity means we will be able to deliver listeners more choice, better reception, pictures, interactive features and even the ability to rewind or record a segment of their favourite program for listening at a later time.”
The display will feature a range of digital receivers, which are not yet on sale in Australia, including the popular Pure Evoke 2, which can tune to digital as well as FM, a Radioscape PCI card which allows listeners to listen through their computers and browse web pages; and a Ministry of Sound Boombox which includes a CD player.
The latest funky Pure Bug portable – which can pause and rewind live radio and has a USB port for computer connection – will be added to the display as soon as it is launched in the UK in May.
“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,” says Warner.
Sydney stations Nova 96.9, 2GB, 2CH, 2UE, 2DAYFM, 2KY, 2SM, WS-FM, ABC Classic FM, ABC dig internet radio and SBS began broadcasting in digital in December as part of an 18-month pilot project to test the technical capabilities of the Eureka 147 technology; and listener and advertiser reaction to digital receivers and content.