• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

The Connected Car

R

radiophiler

Leading Participant
I read with interest an article on The Connected Car in Radio Ink. http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2832486&spid=24698

Lots of recapping of what has been going on regarding this, including the scare about a year ago that major auto manufacturers might forego AM/FM in dashboard radios.

After skimming the article once, I re-read it, because I wanted to see if there was much mention of one thing in particular: Programming content.

So far, "radio" seems concerned about AM/FM receivers not being included in auto sound systems. They also advocate an FM chip in cell phones. All this as if maintaining an old delivery method will be what saves the industry.

This has also bothered me in another area: Internet vs. print publications. A few years ago, I attended a journalism conference in which I heard a number of 20-somethings suggest that Content was no longer king. It was all about delivery method and packaging.

Now, I see something similar with "radio." I put radio in quotes because some consider only AM and FM to be radio. Some would include satellite. But online music streaming? Hm. Some people aren't ready to include that in radio's definition.

And that's the second problem I see: Delivery methods are evolving. Yet, instead of making sure they adapt to the new delivery methods, "radio" (AM/FM in this case) is more concerned with making sure its old delivery methods are still included in cars and cell phones.

So to recap, two points:

1. I believe Content is still king. If you deliver good content through a readily available, easy to use, clear sounding device, they will come.
2. Delivery methods are changing. Message to current "radio" (AM/FM) providers: Adapt.

I hope after Radio Ink's DASH conference on the Connected Car is held, the reporting in industry publications on the event reflects that the above two subjects were taken seriously. With more audio options, cookie cutter programming is no longer going to cut it. And instead of fighting change by forcing old technology into new products (cars and cell phones), the current content providers need to make sure they're adapting to the new forms of distribution.

Enough moaning about the future and change. Do something about it. Dazzle us with content. Adapt to new technology. Period.
 
Creative exploratory thinking is not an easy task. That is, when you define that the process of being creative MUST conform to a few outside pressure over which you have no control.

There was something very organic about growing up in the 20th Century and cloistering yourself in some private space and turning on the radio... particularly at night. You listen for awhile, and then you begin to ask: "Could I do that?" Then the questions changes to: "Of course I could do that... where is the entry point... how do I join the party?"

And since there was really no other method of delivering audio content broadly or economically, the mechanics were pretty fixed. A microphone, turntables, maybe a live studio, a transmitter and a tower.

But today...
NOTHING is fixed. Change comes at us at warp speed.

How we communicate is no longer limited to existing capitalized infrastructure. And if you are a genius who comes up with a new concept that does require a lot of capital, apparently there is a venture-capital availability today we and our forefathers could only dream of!

Just for the sake of stirring the pot a little... let me cross my fingers behind my back and proclaim: "CONTENT if NOT King!" If content is indeed king... explain the explosion of "social media" for us. Let's face it: the content delivered by social media is just plain crap!

I think that your choice of "The Connected Car" as a backbone of this thread is on target. It is while humans are held captive by cars that they have available time to consume content that is optional, whether it is kingly content or crap content.

And let me throw a an odd-ball thought into the conversation. Atlanta, GA is a town that is NOT in love with mass transit. But Atlanta probably needs to come to terms with transit. And in recent days there have been some business announcements that may signal a changing future... and maybe a rapidly changing future. One of the major real estate powers in the market has announced that their future investments will be clustered around existing transit stations.

How far into the future will 'The Connected Car' be the driver of mass communications methods... and what will be the future of communications delivery when Mass Transit becomes the force that shapes how we consume communications? As long a MEN travel to jobs as we know them in a pick-up truck with a hard-hat in the passenger seat, Country Music probably continues to have a significant place in all of our creative thinking process. And the guy sitting in his BMW coupe in a suit can dream of having the other guys lifestyle as he also listens to country music.

But the guy who lives on the 11th floor of a condo building, rides his bike two miles to the transit station, and then has time to pay attention to what comes out of his ear-buds (or off the screen of his smart phone) as he hangs onto a strap in a subway car.... what media content will be his/her choice?
 
Last edited:
Interesting point about social media. Here is my take on that: Once upon a time, being social was restricted to personal contact or perhaps written communication. Then it extended to the telephone, then the mobile cellular phone, and now to social media. It's not mass media or broadcasting. It's personal media that, just as with the telephone, has been monetized.

Social media writers who have "mass" audiences are rare when compared to the entire social media universe. The truly good ones get a larger audience. I've been reading recently about how many Twitter followers Star Trek star George Takei has. It's because his content is good. It's either particularly good commentary or it's funny, or both.

There may be a lot of social media usage out there. But it's similar to telephone usage. Most times, any one particular message is to a small circle of people.

So, I suggest, content is still king! ;-)
 
radiophiler said:
1. I believe Content is still king. If you deliver good content through a readily available, easy to use, clear sounding device, they will come.
2. Delivery methods are changing. Message to current "radio" (AM/FM) providers: Adapt.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone in the industry would disagree. The ONLY thing radio companies own is their content. They don't own the frequency or the technology. They are merely licensees. However, a big chunk of the people in this country rely and depend on OTA technology for their entertainment and information. So licensees shouldn't completely neglect the old systems.

No one in radio moaning or groaning. Most of the major radio companies are investing in new distribution. Clear Channel's top priority is IHeartRadio. The content is there and streams of FM stations are more popular than any other stream source. So obviously the people enjoy the content. That's not where the problem is. Yes, activating FM chips in phones should be done, not because of a mandate, but because it makes sense. The chips are already in the phones because they're activated in every other country. Only in the US is there this anti-radio bias by the CEA.
 
Last edited:
It's going to be a long, long time before the entire U.S. population is packed like sardines in inner-city highrises and only uses mass transit. It's a liberal dream, but we're a big country with a lot of land, and once the millenials start to have families, they may want a little more space and freedom.
 
gr8oldies said:
It's going to be a long, long time before the entire U.S. population is packed like sardines in inner-city highrises and only uses mass transit. It's a liberal dream, but we're a big country with a lot of land, and once the millenials start to have families, they may want a little more space and freedom.
Click to expand...

Let me present to you a "case study" to keep your eyes on: The state of Georgia! Atlanta doesn't have the kind of 'people congestion' that a city like New York City has (at least not yet) and yet one of our political squabbles here is rural south Georgia vs metro Atlanta. There is resentment that people continue to pack like sardines into Atlanta, while counties in southwest Georgia can's attract jobs and offices and high-tech factories.

This is no liberal vs conservative fight. It is just the mental attitudes of the younger people. Conservative people with "family values" flock to Atlanta and other big cities because that is where you want to raise your children. That is where you hope to find good schools. That is where you hope to find activities like Little League and Youth Soccer, and a community with a world class natatorium where your child who may be an Olympic class swimmer can be trained.

I called my sister today to wish her a happy birthday. She lives in what I think of as a world-class rural setting. I don't know that they have a three story building in the entire county! You will never figure out the future of broadcasting and the competing forms of program distribution by experimenting in her county. When Dad did some 15 years ago, I could have gone back and worked it out to take over the farm and I could have lived where "the country is big and there is lots of land". I'm not alone. When I go home for class reunions, it is interesting to observe who stayed, who chose to live "packed like sardines..." though I don't think any of them live in high-rise. But their grandchildren do.

I guess in my lifetime there was never a time when 50% or more of our citizens lived in rural areas, though back then we quoted older census records and for political reasons we always claimed the half of American lived in wide open spaces. What is it today? 20%? Or less?

If you are going to program radio today... and create a management strategy for the business of running a radio station... you just can't ignore this change in WHERE and HOW people live.
 
A few years ago I heard an interview with a "media expert" in which he declared how the internet has turned the whole world into a global village. Hand me a shovel, please; a big one. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Web media has not created any sense of community as broadcast media did; rather, it turns every user into "the boy in the plastic bubble." When Bob goes on line or uses the I-device of his choice (they don't call 'em I-whatevers for nothing) Bob lives in Bobworld, where Bob is King and doesn't have to listen to anything he doesn't already like. He doesn't hear any opinions he disagrees with, or any music he isn't familiar with. Everything around him is designed to boost his own ego and reinforce his existing prejudices.

The closest you get to community on line is a sort of hive-think where people dogpile onto anyone they disagree with, trying to top each other with increasingly rude, usually obscene insults. (It doesn't have to be the usual topics like politics, you can start a firestorm with something like "I didn't like the dress Actress A wore on the Letterman show last night.")
 
JeffM said:
A few years ago I heard an interview with a "media expert" in which he declared how the internet has turned the whole world into a global village. Hand me a shovel, please; a big one. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Web media has not created any sense of community as broadcast media did; rather, it turns every user into "the boy in the plastic bubble."
Click to expand...

We who get to know each other here at RadioDiscussions have generated "a sense of community". Well, at least some of us. Your shovel can't change that.

I participate in other 'web media' that also have generated a "sense of community". Radio has tended to create a sense of community among people who live in one geographic area. Our little 'bubbles of community' can have quite a reach. We can have participants in our on-line community from around the world... who just happen to share a common connection. It can be making the sound system for houses of worship function. It can be people involved in doing voice-over work. It can be people who focus on organic gardening. It can be people who participate in a fantasy football league. and on, and on, and on the list of things that bring community together.
 
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
I participate in other 'web media' that also have generated a "sense of community". Radio has tended to create a sense of community among people who live in one geographic area. Our little 'bubbles of community' can have quite a reach. We can have participants in our on-line community from around the world... who just happen to share a common connection. It can be making the sound system for houses of worship function. It can be people involved in doing voice-over work. It can be people who focus on organic gardening. It can be people who participate in a fantasy football league. and on, and on, and on the list of things that bring community together.
Click to expand...

When they're not busy taking selfies or pictures of their lunch.
 
JeffM said:
When they're not busy taking selfies or pictures of their lunch.
Click to expand...

No, there is only one of the forums (other than this one) that I participate in that make it possible to post a picture. For the most part I stay clear of Facebook and other "social media" venues that are infested with the selfies and other sophomoric modes of expression.
 
TheBigA said:
I don't think anyone in the industry would disagree. The ONLY thing radio companies own is their content. They don't own the frequency or the technology. They are merely licensees. However, a big chunk of the people in this country rely and depend on OTA technology for their entertainment and information. So licensees shouldn't completely neglect the old systems.
Click to expand...

And, since the vast majority of the content that you assert that the OTA radio companies "own" is recordings of songs that are actually owned by whoever owns the various publishing and performance rights to, all that the OTA radio companies actually "own" are some jingles.

Seriously, take away the songs and the commercials, and how many seconds of actual, original, exclusive content does any OTA radio station own out of every airtime hour? Can you tell me one single thing that I can get that's worth getting from an OTA radio station that I cannot get from my in-dash MP3 player? I'm speaking of under normal circumstances, not the once-in-a-blue-moon emergency that none of the local stations have any staff to cover anyway.
 
Avid Listener said:
Seriously, take away the songs and the commercials, and how many seconds of actual, original, exclusive content does any OTA radio station own out of every airtime hour?
Click to expand...

Depends on the format. Sports, news, and talk? Also I don't think I said anywhere that the content is exclusive.
 
gr8oldies said:
It's going to be a long, long time before the entire U.S. population is packed like sardines in inner-city highrises and only uses mass transit. It's a liberal dream, but we're a big country with a lot of land, and once the millenials start to have families, they may want a little more space and freedom.
Click to expand...

80-90 percent of the US population lives in the cities. Partly because cities are the only places where the jobs are. And when millenials have families, that doesn't guarantee the entire family will be under one roof.

Even 20 years ago there were families under more than one roof. Mom lives here, Dad lives there. Kids live wherever. Not judging that system, but it's just the way it is.
 
Even more reason that bus lines aren't going to be able to be the sole means of travel. Mom's house. Dad's house, soccer practice....unless you're going to bulldoze a city and start from scratch, you aren't going to eliminate the automobile
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom