Setting up RadioDNS
RadioDNS is a global standard for Hybrid Radio, bridging the gap between traditional broadcast radio and the internet.
It lets stations link their broadcast frequencies with additional content and metadata, which supported radios will receive over the internet.
RadioDNS is already built into millions of devices, including vehicle radios from well-known manufacturers.
Setting up RadioDNS through Aiir ensures that radios always show your station’s up-to-date logo and metadata.
You will need to notify RadioDNS that Aiir is hosting your station's metadata before it will appear on supported radios. Instructions on how to do this are further down this page.
🛠️ Setting up RadioDNS
To manage how your radio station appears on devices which support RadioDNS, follow these steps:
- Login to the Aiir CMS and choose 'Stations' from the main menu.
- Select the station you want to configure.
- Click the 'RadioDNS' tab from the menu on the left.
- Fill out the name, description, logos and other metadata you want your station to use on supported radios.
- Add all your transmission methods in the 'How to listen' section. We have a guide for finding your Global Country Code, but if you are unsure of any other details, you will need to contact your transmission provider.
- Define your broadcast area using the Polygon tool under the 'Location' section. Any supported radios within that box will include your station under the list of local services.
- Scroll back to the top of the page and enable 'Publish metadata'. This will make your station's metadata file available for RadioDNS to check.
💬 Notifying RadioDNS of changes
When you first set up RadioDNS in Aiir, you will need to register your station so that your metadata in Aiir will be shown on supported radios.
You should email registrations@radiodns.org and inform them that Aiir is hosting the data for you. You will need to include the names of your stations and the authority that issued their broadcast licences (FCC, Ofcom, etc.).
As RadioDNS is tied to your FM/DAB/HD transmission method, you will also need to notify RadioDNS if you add or remove any transmission methods from the RadioDNS profile in Aiir.
Once registered and associated with your transmitter, any changes you make to your RadioDNS metadata (name, description, logo etc.) will automatically be reflected across supported radios.
📡 RadioDNS metadata fields
For more information, we've created a guide which breaks down the various fields on Aiir's RadioDNS page and explains what each one does:
| Station ID | This unique identifier is part of the URL provided to RadioDNS containing your station information. It's provided here as a reference in case you need to troubleshoot any issues. |
| Publish metadata | Makes your station information available for RadioDNS to use. You need to register your stations with RadioDNS (see below) before this will work. |
| Medium name | Your station's name as you want it to appear on supported radios. Allows up to 16 characters. |
| Short name | Your station's name as you want it to appear on supported radios. Some older radios which only support eight-character names will use this instead. |
| Long description | Your station's strapline, slogan or other description you want to appear next to your station name on radios. The long description supports up to 1,200 characters, though the number shown may vary between radios. |
| Short description | Your station's strapline, slogan or other description you want to appear next to your station name on radios. The short description is shown where long descriptions can't be and only supports up to 180 characters. |
| Keywords | Keywords you want to be associated with your station, which radios can use in search results. You could include your station name, genre, or other search terms. |
| Logos | The logos you want to show on radio displays. To display correctly, images must be the exact size and format specified in the RadioDNS specification (PNG and either 32x32, 112x32, 128x128, 320x240 or 600x600). |
| Global Country Code | The country code from which your station broadcasts. Radio manufacturers have used these codes since RDS was introduced in the early 1990s, so they can be a little confusing. Check out our guide to look up your code. |
| Programme Identifier | Your station's programme identifier associated with your transmitter. If you need clarification on what this is, contact your transmission provider. |
| Frequency | The FM frequency your station broadcasts on. |
| Ensemble/Transmitter Identifier | The identifier associated with the DAB multiplex carrying your service. If you need clarification on what this is, contact your transmission provider. |
| Service Identifier / Multicast Channel | Your station's unique identifier on a DAB multiplex, or channel number for HD radio. If you need clarification on what this is, you can contact your transmission provider. |
| SCIdS | Your station's Service Component Identifier. This will be 0 in most cases. |
| Bitrate | The quality of audio your service transmits using on DAB. This should match what you have agreed with your transmission provider. Increasing the number here won't increase your station's bitrate. |
| DAB+ | Is your station encoded using DAB+/the AAC+ codec? |
| MIME-type | How is your internet stream encoded? (MPEG for MP3 streams or AAC+ for AAC/AAC+) |
| Cost | Used to prioritise which transmission method to use when a radio can tune into more than one. Lower numbers have a higher priority. For example, if your car radio is able to receive your station on FM and DAB, the transmission method with the lowest cost will be prioritised. If all available transmission methods have the same cost, the individual radio will decide and may switch back and forth depending on which signal is stronger. |
| Offset | The delay in milliseconds between this and other transmission methods. For example, if you notice HD radio is lagging one second behind your FM transmissions, you can give HD radio an offset of 1000 to instruct radios to try and correct the latency by delaying other methods by one second when switching. |
| Genres | Your station's genre(s). This can be used to improve search results on supported radios. |
| Links | Some radios allow links to various websites or social media pages to be shown on the display. You can set these up here. |
| Location | Your broadcast area. |