Not long after Steve Newberry became CEO of Quu, radio’s dashboard metadata leader, I hit him up with one of my can’t miss branding ideas:
“I Quu in my car!”
Of course, he had no idea what I was talking about. But old-line radio broadcasters – especially those who worked in Top 40 – surely remember the Bartell stations. From KCBQ in San Diego to WDRQ in Detroit, many of their stations maximized the “Q” brand. And a version of the bumpersticker you see highlighted in the retro photo above was quite popular for a time in the Motor City.
Steve may have rolled his eyes at my lame slogan idea, but the fact is, lots of broadcasters now have included Quu as their dashboard metadata platform. In the nearly six years since Steve has run the place, there’s been great progress on many fronts. From Day One, the idea was for radio to look as good as it sounded in the car. And along the way, Quu clients have finally been able to write up some serious revenue for sponsorship of the messaging in the dash.
Those of you who know Jacobs Media know the car has been part of our company’s DNA for decades. We grew up in the Motor City, we’ve always been headquartered here, and the inextricable ties between radios and cars have always been front and center in both our research and consulting services, along with major slices of our work in the mobile space via our app company, jacapps.
Paul and I worked with Steve back in his NAB days on all sorts of interesting automotive initiatives. And since he accepted the leadership position at Quu, we have continued our collaboration.
Back in 2024, Quu launched the first of its “In-Vehicle Visuals Report,” a dashboard content analysis of the Top 100 best-selling vehicles in the U.S. To launch the report and provide an industry walk-through, Quu set up a free webinar featuring industry analysts with an eye on radio in cars. Paul and I were joined by Steve and Joe Marshall from Quu, Joe D’Angelo, and Mike McVay. Each of us broke down the findings of the report through our particular radio broadcasting POV.
And we’re back again this year to provide continuity to the process as we work to provide perspective to not only what we see in the Quu report, but also our evolving understanding of the rapidly changing auto space.
In 2025, we began to see some trending. And with this year’s report, we will add what we hope to be valuable perspective to our analysis.
And once again, there’s a lot this year to think about. My favorite report is the annual scorecard which keeps tabs of how each of these 100 most popular vehicles are equipped across a broad array of features – including whether AM and FM are represented to the max, as they compete with Apple, Google, SiriusXM, and a host of other platforms and numerous other features.
You didn’t think I’d reveal the new study – the 2026 findings — now did you? There will be more than a little drama when the 2026 column reveals important datapoints, including the status of AM and FM radio in this study.
Then there’s the “RADIO” button, a feature that makes it easier and faster for drivers (and passengers) to access their favorite stations. As we learned in the first two reports, it’s not just a matter of whether AM/FM is included in a vehicle’s equipment array – it also a factor of how easy, logical, and intuitive it is to not only find the radio, but also learn how to use it.
So, no SPOILER ALERTS in this post. I’m not giving anything away. But I am inviting you to register so you can be informed about the current state of dashboard technology in the cars, SUVs, and trucks we all drive.
I will reveal this. There are some surprises, in fact, some important ones that we’ll be discussing in the back half of the webinar.
And I will leave you with this true fact about core radio listeners from Techsurvey 2026. Four in ten now own (or lease) a vehicle with an infotainment system, an all-time high since we’ve included this question in our survey. Pretty much every vehicle that rolls off the assembly lines in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, German, Japan, South Korea – you name it – is equipped with strong technology that provides drivers with myriad choices:
spca
Let me leave you with one other tantalizing takeaway from this Quu study:
The car dashboard has become a visual medium.
Let that one sink in a bit. On Wednesday, April 15 at 3pm ET we’ll explain.
And a special shout-out to Suzy Schultz, the go-to person at Quu we all lean on to get everything done. And to Chris Brunt from Jacobs Media who makes sure all this stuff technically works. – FJ
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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Yes, Mel’s does still exist, despite having a turbulent history…
https://melsdrive-in.com/history
You can thank Google Gemini for coming up with that image.