World Radio Day tunes in to new advances in broadcasting
ITU renews commitment to increasing access to radio services
Geneva, 13 February 2013 – On the occasion of World Radio Day, ITU
Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré reaffirmed the Union’s commitment to
increasing access to broadcast radio, the ubiquitous and widely disseminated
communication technology that keeps people connected around the world. “The
convergence of telecommunications, broadcasting and computing has revolutionized
radio as a medium of communication,” Dr Touré said. “ITU continues to
develop the standards that make technological advances in digital radio
platforms available globally.”
The Director of ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau François Rancy pointed to the
widespread use of streaming audio, podcasts, online radio and social media on
mobile devices and said, “In today’s connected world, radio continues to provide
an invaluable means of reaching out to the world. The digitization of radio has
increased user-interaction and the sense of user engagement with this media,
which increasingly uses multiple platforms.”
13 February marks the day UN Radio was founded in 1946. Today, UN Radio
continues to reach millions of people around the world, with daily broadcasts in
the six official languages of the United Nations plus Portuguese and Kiswahili.
Through partner stations around the globe, via the Internet and through new
media, UN Radio highlights the efforts, achievements and challenges of the
United Nations in dealing with pressing global issues, such as, sustainable
development, peace and security, human rights, humanitarian affairs, and women’s
equality and empowerment.
In 2012, World Radio Day was proclaimed by
UNESCO, following a request from
the Academia Española de la Radio of Spain, to celebrate radio broadcast,
improve international cooperation among radio broadcasters and encourage
decision-makers to create and provide access to information through radio,
including community radios. The occasion draws attention to the unique value of
radio, which remains the medium to reach the widest audience and is currently
taking up new technological forms and devices.
The ITU body dealing with the broadcasting service, ITU-R Study Group 6,
focuses on worldwide broadcasting roaming and accessibility to these services –
which include vision, sound, multimedia and data services intended for delivery
to the general public – and plays a leading role in the advances being made in
these technologies.
For more information, please contact:
Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
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Grace Petrin
Communications Officer, Radiocommunication Bureau
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