Xperi Celebrates National Radio Day on August 20, and Every Day

Today is National Radio Day, and at Xperi we are celebrating. National Radio Day is marked every Aug. 20 to honor the role radio plays in our everyday lives, as well as to highlight its influential past and continuing importance. Since the transmission of the first scheduled broadcast on November 2, 1920, which Xperi celebrated with its 100 Years of Radio campaign, key milestones have included the introduction of FM radio in 1933, the first demonstration of the transistor radio in 1947, the initiation of the Emergency Broadcast System in 1963, the introduction of the North American digital radio system in 1991, and so much more. Check out a timeline of the evolution of radio here: https://hdradio.com/100-years-of-radio/?

Radio and cars have gone hand in hand for nearly as long as automobiles have been on the road. The first car radios were used by Chevrolet in the early 1920s. They were very expensive at that time and incredibly bulky, with huge batteries, speakers and antennas that barely fit onto a car. Motorola radios of the 1930s were less awkward, and innovators in the automobile industry quickly began adding button and dial features to make them more accessible for drivers and passengers. The cost of car radios dropped dramatically in the 1950s, and a majority of new cars were installed with them by the mid-1960s.

Over the years, car radio has not only survived the evolution of vehicles, from a 1920s Chevy to the 2024 Tesla, it has thrived. Not even the introduction of new audio sources – from 8-tracks, cassette tapes, CDs to MP3 players and the smartphone – has eroded the dominant position of broadcast radio as the in-vehicle audio source of choice. In fact, a recent report, “Connected Car Entertainment Trends,” released by DTS, confirmed that radio remains crucial in the car with the majority saying that AM/FM radio is their most important entertainment option when considering their car purchase and nearly 70% of those who listen to music tune into AM/FM radio.

At Xperi, we are proud that we have played a role in keeping radio front and center in the vehicle dashboard, by innovating ahead of the rapidly evolving in-vehicle entertainment landscape with our HD Radio and DTS AutoStage technologies.?

A key milestone for radio, and DTS/Xperi, came in October 2002 when the Federal Communications Commission issued a Report and Order that approved HD Radio technology for FM and AM daytime broadcasting. This meant that broadcasters could move forward with the implementation of HD Radio technology (which allows stations to broadcast a digital signal over traditional radio frequencies allowing for up to three additional stations of new local content), while also bolstering receiver manufacturers’ confidence to develop HD Radio products. In September of 2005, HD Radio technology, which BMW Group described at that time in a press release as “one of the most significant advances in radio broadcasting history,” was launched into the vehicle market as an option in BMW 2006 7 Series and 6 Series models. Today, HD Radio is in more than 100 million vehicles, transmitting 4,700 digital channels, and tracking more than 300 million hours of weekly listening.?

DTS AutoStage, which we launched in Mercedes in 2020, is the only global entertainment platform for the connected car, delivering next-generation, AI-powered connected radio, audio and video content for more than 100 connected car models and numerous OEMs worldwide. DTS AutoStage seamlessly combines linear broadcast with IP-delivered content that enables a powerfully personalized, unified, user-centric experience, leveraging its massive metadata library and myriad channel capabilities, from audio to video and soon gaming, further advancing the progress of radio in the vehicle dashboard.

In 2023, we introduced the DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal, the only platform that provides radio broadcasters worldwide with insights into where their audiences are listening, when they are listening, how long they are listening and the content they enjoy the most.?

As we recognize National Radio Day, we continue to honor this incredible invention on a daily basis with our mission of constant broadcast innovation to power radio into its next 100 years.?