A radio system for a motor vehicle includes a digital antenna coupled by a digital link to a base unit. The digital antenna includes an antenna and a programmable radio tuner coupled to the antenna located exterior of the vehicle, and a first network interface coupled to the radio tuner. The radio tuner selectively tunes to a radio frequency (RF) and convert a RF signal to a baseband signal. The first network interface transmits the baseband signal over the digital link to the base unit.