Next RDS Forum meeting in October 2026 at Geneva

Find us onFacebook LogoTwitter Logo

If you do not yet have the latest version of the RDS standard IEC 62106 (2018 - 2023), then, please study the respective section called RDS specification. In this section you also find information about Part 2 for the RDS2 File Transfer protocol RFT being added and Part 9 (RBDS) as well as Part 10 (UECP) being published in 2021. The latest change made in 2023 concerns Part 6 - ODAs in the public domain. There are three new ODAs for RDS2: Station logo, Slideshow and IP Linking. There is also a new protocol to distribute RDS data over other bearers, such as IP.

The RDS Forum 2012 submitted to the IEC standardisation process a revised specification on receiver product measurements to check the minimum RDS performance requirements for three categories of receivers, portable ones, car radio and home receivers. The standard was approved in July 2013 as IEC 62634/Ed.2. For more information go to section Receiver measurements.

UECP stands for Universal Encoder Communication Protocol. This is fundamental if you want to use an RDS encoder. The specification originated in the EBU, but the RDS Forum has updated it several times since then. For more information refer to the section UECP.

On the RDS logo, if used outside the USA, there existed unjustified license claims, although the logo is part of the RDS IEC standard. The logo originated within the BBC and they gave it to the EBU. It was published first in the RDS Newsletter no. 7/1988, issued by the EBU, and then the EBU submitted it for standardisation. In 2005, there was a special meeting of the RDS Forum at the BBC, involving legal experts. For more details refer to the section RDS logo.

The RDS Implementation Guidelines are for broadcasters, transmission operators and RDS equipment and receiver manufacturers to provide RDS implementation advice. For more details refer to the respective section RDS Guidelines.

In the Section History of Broadcasting Traffic Info you can download an article that describes the developments in this domain since the seventies.

In June 2024, the public Swiss broadcaster SRG/SSR announced to cease operations on FM as from the end of 2024 and so it happened on 1 January 2025. The result was a loss of several hundred thousand listeners on the three main programmes and that in all three language regions of the public broadcaster. Commercial radio gained everywhere in Switzerland a lot of listeners for the moment. However, it can continue on FM only until the end of 2026, as it was regulated by the state authorities. For more details refer to the section Swiss FM switch-off where the reasons for the FM switch-off in Switzerland are explained.

For using FM radio and RDS for disaster warnings the entire infrastructure is already there on both sides: transmitter and receiver and most of all it is very simple to operate. For more details please refer to the section Disaster Warnings.

The World Radio and TV Handbook (WRTH) 2025 has been published by RDS Forum member “Radio Data Center” in Germany. The handbook is recommended in case you need details on radio stations in use. For more details refer to the section WRTH 2025.