On May 17, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) jointly held a meeting specifically on the provision of audio and video in cars. The meeting reaffirmed the need for the implementation of the “Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Vehicle Audio and Video” issued by the three departments in August last year.
DRM is seen as an essential part of the infrastructure required to enable authorities to deliver digital radio public services in better quality and enhance the in-car radio listening experience. An additional benefit of DRM technology is the ability to enable in-vehicle emergency alerts, which can be achieved through DRM’s Emergency Warning Function (EWF),although this application was not discussed in detail this time. Therefore, NRTA and MIIT promoted the inclusion of radio receivers (with DRM and CDR) in all domestically produced and imported vehicles to be sold on the domestic market. Last year in their joint letter the Chinese authorities also expressed the intention to accelerate the construction of digital radio broadcasting coverage networks with digital AM broadcasting (DRM) transmission systems at local transmission stations.
This time the three government agencies asked for the further strengthening of the management of vehicle wireless broadcasting reception, stressing that “the vehicle wireless broadcasting receiving module” is part of the basic configuration of the vehicle, necessary for achieving full matching and standardisation of the vehicle network audio and video services. On this occasion, clear requirements for the configuration of wireless broadcast receiving modules for automobiles were put forward though no specific digital audio broadcasting standards were mentioned.
At this May 2024 meeting, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers launched an initiative to the national automobile industry to vigorously promote the installation of broadcasting receiving devices by car companies. Representatives of 31 key automobile manufacturers across the country attended the meeting.
