Among the many radio stations present in the FM-World aggregator, one stands out for its name, which speaks of a great history: ACI Radio, the radio of the Automobile Club of Italy. Let's say great but we should say long history: what today is a "non-economic public body" was in fact founded in Turin in 1898.On Friday, September 1, we had the opportunity to talk about it with Piermattia Fioravanti, Business Development Manager at ACI Informobility. Of course, Aci Radio was discussed: Piermattia clarified many doubts concerning the positioning of the broadcaster, and we also discussed developments and future scenarios for radio.The original audio of the full interview is available at this linkThe interviewMarco Hugo Barsotti: First of all, tell us about yourself and how the ACI Radio project was born.Piermattia Fioravanti: I have been working in the ACI context for about 4 years, I come from a background in strategic consulting. Then I spent a period in a startup that dealt with mobility. Now I am in ACI Infomobility (an in-house company of ACI that works on mobility issues), where I deal with innovation, business development: essentially the product/service innovation.From Instore Radio to Web Radio...MHB: How was the ACI Radio project born?PF: The goal was to give greater prominence to ACI group services: the insurance part (Sara), sustainable mobility and obviously the associative aspect typical of ACI.One of the initiatives was to create an "Instore Radio", that is a web radio inside the delegations and insurance agencies - which are often in the same premises - to promote the different branches of activity. I was forgetting: also to promote sporting events in the automotive world, Formula 1, Rally, Targa Florio etc....to DABInitially conceived as a simple internal web radio, the initiative then took on a more substantial twist, evolving first into an external web radio and then, in the span of a year and a half, into a DAB channel with national coverageToday the radio, called ACI Radio, has a much more articulated programming and includes content related to all ACI group activities, from insurance to motorsports to travel and tourism, thanks also to the collaboration with entities such as ACI Blue Team. The project, also welcomed internally by the group, has now come into operation after almost two years since the start of broadcasting.LuceverdeMHB: The programming of ACI Radio therefore has 360 degree content, which goes far beyond road traffic, what I personally, but I imagine others who read us, expected from the name. In any case, how much weight do you give to day-to-day information, to traffic?PF: As for traffic information, ACI Radio provides periodic updates on the situation in the main Italian cities, but it is limited content.Our dedicated traffic service is Luceverde,_ provided through a dedicated radio, Luceverde Radio. So we leave this local and instant information to Luceverde, focusing instead on a national programming that ranges over many other topics related to mobility and ACI services. We believe it is right to use the most suitable tools for different needs: to get immediate updates on the local traffic situation, the Luceverde app is certainly the most suitable._France: a stereo and split "isoradio"MHB: Of course, but I believe classic radio can still have its say. Let's take the example of Vinci Autoroute: isofrequency (107.7 stereo) throughout France, but split by area. In Nice we can hear at most from Marseille, but certainly not from Lyon or Paris. And in this way radio can be much more on the spot, to the point of advising on which lanes of the various toll booths to position yourself on critical days...PF: The French example is interesting and in Italy the first steps are being taken in this direction, with some experiments of regional channels on DAB to spread targeted civil protection information. DAB in our country is still in its infancy, but there is the intention to exploit this technology to provide localized news.Of course, it requires investments in infrastructure and organization. For example, planning is needed to insert regional updates within the national programming, and clocks to synchronize times. You then have to carefully calibrate the amount of information so as not to excessively distract while driving.In short, regionally focused radio on the French model is a goal being worked on in Italy as well, as much as the development of DAB technology in our country allows. A project to be carried out with radio system players to provide motorists with increasingly targeted information.Smart SpeakersMHB: You also broadcast on smart speakers. This listening mode is growing a lot. Can you estimate how many listens and what share of the audience it generates for you on this channel?PF: Unfortunately the listening mode via smart speakers, on which we had invested, is encountering some difficulties due to changes in the policies of the major players in the sector._In p