This article provides a brief introduction to the new Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) file which has been developed by the EBU - in close collaboration with the audio industry - to facilitate the interchange of programme material between audio workstations.

In this article, the author gives some background information on why the development of a common audio file format was essential for a radio broadcasting organization such as Swedish Radio (SR).

BWF files will now be used in SR whenever audio workstations are interconnected via LANs and WANs.

August 1997 saw the official launch of consumer DAB equipment at the IFA exhibition in Berlin.

The author reviews the worldwide progress of DAB, and offers his personal views on how it should be developed over the years to come. In particular, he suggests that an augmented version of DAB should be used to replace the current analogue TV transmissions in Band III with digital multimedia transmissions for Europe, which are equally received at home or on the move.

The propagation of sound is a function of both time and space: our hearing and perception of sound are sensitive to spatial as well as temporal attributes.

This article traces the development of spacial acoustics in the design of halls during the late 20th century, in relation to the advancement of acoustical knowledge and related technologies.

An outline is given of current directions in modelling and measurement systems that may lead to a greater understanding of which spatial sound fields are preferred for different events, and how the geometrical form can influence them.