There’s been a lot written and said about Pandora, especially in broadcast radio circles over the years – some of it true, some of it wishful thinking, and lots of it just emotional.
Last week at CES, I had the opportunity to interview Pandora’s Chief Revenue Officer, John Trimble (pictured). I asked him a wide array of questions, ranging from the potential for local sales for Pandora to his assessment of the power of personality.
But his quotes that really struck me focused on strategic access and the car. You can read Radio Ink’s version of my interview here. But below are some additional comments from Trimble that I hope you’ll find of interest.
At the time I spoke with him, Pandora had just announced their service is now available on 1,000 different access points – from cars to consumer electronics devices to yes, refrigerators. The one pictured here is from Samsung, and that’s an 8” LCD screen above the ice maker that features apps, including you know whose.
As Trimble told me, “It’s such a strategic importance to us to continue to expand our footprint to give people the opportunity to utilize Pandora wherever they are so they can experience it from any aspect of their daily lives…The strategic advantage of building our audience is paramount.”
So it’s about cume, exposure, access. And where that also coalesces is in the car, a focal point at CES, and lately, at radio conventions, too.
Trimble noted that “a lot of the strategic relevance that Pandora developed over the last 7+ years (was) focused on the cars. (We) realized that 50% of all radio listening happens in cars. We’re now in every manufacturer – 20+ – we just announced Chrysler this week, and that is not a small task and it’s a very big challenge to be working with the individual auto companies and to be built into their cycle of development…so where we are and the advantage we have (in the car) is not insignificant. And I think there’s a lot about Pandora for the radio broadcasting industry to contemplate.”
That’s something for broadcast radio moving forward – this whole notion of strategic access – a topic that we addressed yesterday in our Reach 2.0 post.
It’s not hard to see what matters in media now. Trimble pointed out that 75% of Pandora listening takes place on mobile devices – an area where they have consistently focused their efforts.
While broadcast radio had the market cornered on access and reach in the 20th century, it’s a whole new game now.
We will continue to track Pandora in Techsurvey9 which goes into the field later this month. But for now, those “Thousand Points of Access” and in-car presence give us a lot to think about.
Thanks to Ed Ryan of Radio Ink, and Pandora’s John Trimble and Francisca Fanucchi.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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