We live in a crowded, overpopulated digital world stuffed to the gills with movie theatres, TVs, mobile devices of all shapes and sizes, and yet it’s the radio that has remained resilient and still enormously popular.

Ever since 1910 when Marconi figured out what to do right, radio has not lost its footing or its allure. But now, it’s digital radio that’s thriving, replacing much of the AM-FM transmissions as we know them. With the adoption of DAB+ technology in Europe as the standard for digital radio, more stations and services have become available. What is curiously interesting is that for radio’s longtime rival, the television, the move from analog to digital TV has been seamless in most world regions. But whereas the majority of the world has moved to digital TV, radio has been left in the dark.

Deemed far more superior, digital radio excels in signal characteristics, sound clarity and cost. Digital radio signals are better able to withstand interference compared to analog radio signals, and it takes analog signals much longer to degrade than digital. My point is this: Analog still has some really good stuff. For one thing, it’s free but it includes commercials. Satellite radio plays very few commercials, but there's a subscription fee and you must buy a satellite specific receiver. Traditional analog receivers can stream only AM/FM stations. To hear HD radio, you need an HD specific receiver. Now, digital HD receivers can play both analog and HD radio stations. How’s that for technology?

Radio’s mobile future is hybrid, integrating the benefits of both broadcast and broadband worldwide. It’s going to have to be a veritable mix and the engines are out there with receiver chips that support both - chips that can handle analog and digital terrestrial radio. Imagine the impact that the bundled support of public service and commercial radio will have on car makers, mobile networks and smartphone operators? A growing number of radio stations in the U.S. are hybrid, broadcasting in both analog and digital formats. Still, U.S. radio stations which broadcast only analog signals are much more prevalent than radio stations that broadcast in both.

Digital radio is the only contender in the ring, boys. Here’s the digital deal: there’s a lot of extra content, free to air radio on my mobile phone, longer battery life, more bandwidth for everyone since live radio won’t consume any, and at the end of the day, it’s a handy pocket device that will always deliver. But mark my words, 10 or 20 years down the road, hybrid radio will be the last man standing in the ring.