DTS, a global leader in next-generation audio, imaging and sensing technology, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Xperi Holding Corporation, and ARD, the association of Germany’s regional public service broadcasters, today announced the integration of the ARD broadcasters into DTS AutoStage, the first global, in-vehicle hybrid radio platform to be commercialized around the world.
ARD’s public broadcasting stations, which reach more than 52 million people and represent more than 74% of all radio listening in Germany, will be integrated, free of charge, in the DTS AutoStage ecosystem. DTS AutoStage increases consumer content engagement with bold and immersive imagery, station logos, songs, comprehensive artist and album information and more, all while making the broadcasters’ content more personalized and easier to find. DTS AutoStage also enables continued station listening from local broadcast stations when the vehicle drives out of broadcast range.
“As ARD, we are committed to providing our listeners with a progressive radio experience, and we are happy to partner with DTS AutoStage to achieve that goal,” said Alexander Sasse, Head of ARD Partner Management Audio and Voice. “We are looking forward to integrating with partners to help our broadcasters meet the needs of our listeners in the rapidly evolving connected vehicle landscape. Editorial control and user-simplification are important for us and we are happy that DTS AutoStage offers broadcasters those features while enabling a broad and consistent content delivery.”
The ARD/DTS AutoStage integration offers seamless, accurate and consistent delivery of all ARD broadcaster metadata in the vehicle dashboard, with the key benefit that the stations can manage their services, station information and streams all in one place. ARD and DTS AutoStage systems support broadcaster services to provide security, reliability and data compatibility with car companies.
“We are pleased to join with ARD to deliver the most innovative, visually-immersive in-vehicle entertainment experience to Germany’s owners of vehicles supporting the DTS AutoStage platform, such as the latest Mercedes-Benz S-Class, EQS and others,” said Gereon Joachim, vice president, automotive sales and strategy for EMEA, at Xperi.
Joe D’Angelo, senior vice president, broadcast at Xperi further stated, “We know that providing the digital dashboard’s best content and maintaining editorial control is critical to broadcasters, and our system has been designed to facilitate just this. Keeping radio front, center and aggressively competitive in the dash is key to our platform. We know that this is exactly what consumers want, and we are proud to deliver it.”
According to D’Angelo, the DTS AutoStage platform has been purpose-built to support radio broadcasters around the world. The team behind DTS AutoStage, which is currently available in 60 countries, has unrivaled expertise in content management, delivery and content use compliance. DTS AutoStage is ISO 9001 certified and its content is sourced from more than 80,000 radio stations, 100,000 plus broadcasts, more than 40 million tracks, four million albums, one million artist bios and more – all aggregated, curated and personalized to create the richest and most relevant in-vehicle radio listening experience.
The partnership with ARD continues DTS AutoStage’s momentum as it expands into mass market vehicles globally. DTS AutoStage already has content partnerships with major broadcast groups and aggregators around the world, including:, BBC, Bauer, Cumulus, Global Radio, NPO, Audacy, Beasley, Cox Media, radiko, Radio Maria, FM World and many others.
Xperi’s automotive technologies are designed to improve the in-vehicle experience and, in addition to DTS AutoStage, include DTS AutoSense and HD Radio. DTS AutoSense comprises occupancy and driver monitoring systems implemented at the edge. HD Radio, now available in more than 85 million automobiles, is the most successfully deployed commercial digital radio system worldwide.
