So now we know that the world did not end last month. And unlike Y2K, companies did not spend any money or human resources preparing for this predicted gloom and doom. And somehow we made it to another new year, fiscal cliff and all.
But if you were Newsweek, it was the end of the world as they knew it. Their last print issue was published last month with an ominous cover announcing the demise of the hard edition. It was impossible to miss the hashtag at the bottom, an obvious homage to the digital world that disrupted this nearly eight decade tradition of a weekly printed news magazine that at one time just about everybody read and discussed.
Now Newsweek Global is the new moniker for the web edition of the once-venerable magazine. As the publishers note, this new online version will be “a single, worldwide edition targeted for a highly mobile, opinion-leading audience who want to learn about world events in a sophisticated context.”
Bottom line: Newsweek as we knew it is gone. And more print magazine brands will surely follow.
At an automotive conference here in Detroit last fall, I interviewed Wayne Powell, Toyota’s general manager of electrical systems. He’s one of the engineering movers and shakers behind Toyota’s Entune digital dashboard system.
With the influx of choices in his infotainment systems, I asked him whether AM/FM radios would always be included as a dashboard option. His response?
“Always is a long time.”
While acknowledging that broadcast radio is the most consumed of all offered media in Toyotas, Powell noted that nothing is forever in our world – a reminder that we should all take to heart.
As consumers flood into showrooms to replace their vehicles – keep in mind that the average age of a car or truck in the U.S. just hit a record 11 years – they are not always asking about braking systems, engines, and airbags. These days, they’re interested in their media, smartphone connectivity, the Internet, and customized choices.
To remain vital and to retain its version of “endcap space” in the digital dash, radio is going to have to prove its vitality, its value, and its worthiness to provide a unique, compelling product into the future. As Powell explained, the ability to track user metrics is one part of the story that will illustrate where AM/FM fits on the overall audio usage hierarchy. But right down to the dealership level, there will be anecdotal evidence, too. Car salesmen, managers, and dealership owners will be listening to customers to determine what they’re demanding in vehicles.
If we’ve learned nothing from the past decade or so, we hopefully have gotten the point that “always is a long time,” and that once irreplaceable brands from Kodak to Borders to Blockbuster can go the way of the Tyrannosaurus Rex – and Newsweek.
If we let it happen.
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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