The Euroradio Local and Regional Radio Seminar was held on 2-3 December in Prague at the kind invitation of Czech Radio.

Delegates from 18 broadcasting organizations, all specialized in local programming, took part in the event. 

At a time when the word globalization is on everybody's lips, the Seminar also demonstrated the real importance of the "local factor" in radio broadcasting, through case studies from Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. While some of these networks have gone or are still going through a phase of important reorganization, audience surveys - and ratings - show that listeners all over Europe remain faithful to "local radio".

"Understanding the audience" was actually an important topic of the Seminar: Camilla Wahlman (SR/Sweden) presented a project initiated in the region of Jämtland in central Sweden, where listeners are invited to become truly engaged in the programmes. Two years later, every regional radio station in SR has started a network of its own.

Peter Niegel (DR/Denmark) presented a study focusing on listeners' attention span - or often the lack of it - across all radio formats.

A special session moderated by EBU Producer Christophe Pasquier was also devoted to Sport and the importance of Local Radio in sports coverage.

Charles Runcie, Head of Sport for BBC English regions, gave an overview of the many activities of local networks in sports coverage. Frank Walter, International Relations for Sports and Radio Administration, presented the ARD set-up and organization for accessing sports material every day of the week, as well as during big events (Olympics, World Cup, etc.).

At the end of the Seminar, Josef Podstata (Czech Radio) was elected as the new Chair of the Euroradio Local and Regional Radio Group.