Press Release

EBU Press Release at the occasion of the 10th RDS Forum held in Berlin, Germany:

THE RADIO DATA SYSTEM (RDS) IS TEN YEARS OLD

Geneva, 5 December 1997 - The tenth meeting of the RDS Forum took place in Berlin at Deutschland Radio (DLR) on 4 and 5 December; this was the first time the Forum had met in that city.

Radio receivers incorporating RDS first went on sale in 1987 and since then over 50 million have been sold worldwide. By the year 2000 there will be more than 100 million.

The Radio Data System was developed under the auspices of the EBU. The idea was to make FM radios much easier to use by enabling the listener to see, displayed on the set, the name of the programme service being received and, while driving, to remain tuned to the selected network.

The RDS Forum, which is the governing body, has over one hundred members drawn from broadcasters, manufacturers, operators, and regulators from all over the world. Among the most recent developments has been the introduction of the Traffic Message Channel, TMC, which can deliver traffic messages in the driver's own language while travelling abroad. This will be operational next year, when more TMC Radio will be available. (More information will be found on the RDS Website www.rds.org.uk)

The Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union is a professional association of national broadcasters, the great majority of which operate under a public service remit. It has 66 active members in 49 countries (Europe from East to West, North Africa, and the Middle East).