Over the weekend, I did something I haven’t done in six years. I went shopping for a new car.
Six years ago in 2010, I leased a Ford Edge, equipped with MyFordTouch. It was a great initiation to the “connected car” – a chance for me to better understand how in-dash technology will change audio options while driving.
While the media options in my Edge were impressive, the system was clunky at times, the voice commands were inconsistent, and even finding AM and FM stations was a chore. And the experience forced me to gain a better understanding of the User Experience (UX), mastering how to talk to the car, and other issues impacting my interface with media and entertainment in the vehicle.
Three years later, I ended up leasing the very same vehicle – just three years updated. And very little – if anything – had changed with the MyFordTouch system.
During the past few years, Paul and I have interviewed numerous auto dealer owners and chief executives, car salespeople, and vehicle trainers. So, I’ve gotten an excellent sense of how radio is impacted by dashboard technology and the training process. This area has become a focal point at conferences like DASH, as well as in “connected car” presentations we’ve shown industry-wide.
But I hadn’t taken a test drive in some time, nor had I engaged in a conversation about features in new cars at the dealership level. I found myself at a Lincoln store here in Metro Detroit, looking at the beautiful MKZ. My salesperson – let’s call him “Don” – was kind enough to hand me the keys, telling me to enjoy the car for as long as I desired until they closed for the night.
So off I went. And it’s quite a nice vehicle, even though I can’t come close to replicating the experience Matthew McConaughey driving the MKZ while listening to Classic Rock songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALnvwU0dtfk
Once away from the dealership, I pulled over at a strip mall and in 15 seconds paired my phone. I then pulled out an iPhone cable and in even less time, I was connected with Apple CarPlay. It’s that quick and easy. And I experienced just how that dashboard ecosystem takes over your touchscreen – and at the same time, pushes broadcast radio out of the picture entirely.
In an interesting aside, I had the CarPlay-enabled WMMR app that jācapps developed on my iPhone. Unlike some of our demos, it ended up on the “front page,” right alongside Apple Maps, iTunes, Podcasts, and the phone and text apps. So I was feeling good about this car.
But I wanted to see how FM radio sounded – and looked – so I unplugged my iPhone and the new and improved SYNC 3 interface appeared. I selected FM radio and immediately noticed the absence of album artwork and artist/title information. A quick switch to satellite radio, and Sirius was providing me with vivid artwork and a much cleaner interface. But it was obvious this incredibly well-appointed car did not have HD Radio.
So when I brought the MKZ back to the dealership, I told Don that I was going to need HD Radio in my car. And he told me the vehicle I test drove was equipped with HD Radio, that it was standard in all the MKZs. I explained to him what the touchscreen should have looked like and informed him the AM/FM display was sadly analog. After consulting the brochure and speaking to one of his tech people, Don realized that, in fact, HD Radio is an option that’s offered on the next tier of features – for obviously, a higher prize.
Now Don is a very experienced salesperson. He’s been selling cars for many years. And he felt bad that he didn’t know more about HD Radio. And then I asked him this question:
“Am I the first person in the many years you’ve been selling cars to ask about HD Radio?”
And he quietly responded, “Yes.”
So it takes someone in radio – in fact, someone who is reasonably knowledgeable about “connected cars” – to even bring this up. What happens with the other 99% of car buyers who walk into this and other car dealerships?
Clearly, the audience, car dealers, and many people in the radio business know little about digital radio and its impact in cars. When a driver plugs in Apple CarPlay, broadcasters only appear if their app has been modified to show up on the display. But once she returns to the car brand’s ecosystem, how do AM and FM stations compare and compete with Sirius/XM, Pandora, Spotify, and the myriad other choices in front of the driver? Over time, the impact on local radio will be erosive because the look and feel of AM and FM stations is so inferior to what they’re seeing every time they select digital and satellite channels.
If you don’t think this is a big deal, think again. Our recent round of interviews in our partnership initiative with PRPD – the Millennial Research Project – strongly suggests that for young people, the car is just about the only place left where they engage with broadcast radio terrestrially. But as more and more cars hit the road equipped similar to the vehicles I’m test driving, radio will be challenged like never before. And it’s important to understand that in their quest to appeal to Millennials, car makers are offering great dashboard technology in their entry-level vehicles.
Broadcasters big and small, in concert with the NAB, need to get serious and strategic about their automotive relationships on both the OEM and dealership levels. Token sessions and presentations at industry conferences only pay lip service to a challenge that will only intensify as the years go on.
So now I’m looking at forking over more money each month for the privilege of driving a vehicle for the next three years with HD Radio.
Sadly, few others will likely travel that same road. And in fact, most drivers won’t even know what they’re missing.
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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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You are correct to be concerned about the future of terrestrial radio. As AM/FM surely fades away, a variant of HD technology may provide some window dressing – but the long term future of radio is IP. Time to get on that train before it leaves the station.
I’m with you, Henry. That’s a key reason why jacapps has been proactive with apps, as well as Apple CarPlay & Android Auto integration. As my test drive revealed, these systems are rapidly becoming standard equipment in new cars. Thanks for the insight and the comment.
Fred, great article. As a nearly 40 year radio veteran in Miami now doing non live radio work (Beatle Brunch, voiceovers, production) I spend almost ZERO time listening to live radio. Like many others, I have recently discovered the podcast (yes, a strange name), and listen to them constantly in the car, in fact I find I don’t even get to them all in my half hour daily drive. It seems now that podcasts have come back alive with all of the TV and news shows launching them ..in fact, I’m producing them for clients who don’t have the time or technical means to produce something that’s air quality.
I drive a 2012 Mustang and I will NEVER buy another car w/out full dashboard audio functionality. Sitting my i-phone on the seat and being able to wirelessly stream anything from it through my sound system, including a youtube video or something I was watching on Facebook that I paused when I left the house. Sad to say the terrestrial radio is in the rear view mirror unless they do something drastic. Truth is, who wants to sit through 11 commercials to hear the same 300 songs? Id rather hear what I want when I want….my TV DVR changed that forever.
As for HD radio, I often forget that I have it. Some stations here offer their previous format on the HD side, but truthfully, Ive only spent a total of 10 minutes listening.
Bring on the technology! I’m excited about it.
Thanks for your informative postings and respected work in the radio industry.
Cheers,
Joe Johnson
Joe, many thanks and appreciate you telling your in-car story. As always, it’s not just about distribution and technology, but about content. And sometimes we (especially me) get hung up on the former, and don’t spend as much time addressing the latter. The UX isn’t just about tuning in a station, listening to a stream, or downloading a podcast. It’s oftentimes about the programming – the music, the talk, the commercials, and the personalities that drive loyalty – or rejection. And in the car – the most intimate listening location of them all – these variables are amplified. Thanks for the reminder.
A couple of the higher end auto dealers here in NoCal have “technology experts” who literally walk the purchaser through the entire “center stack” before they drive off the lot. I’m surprised more dealers don’t do this.
More and more dealerships are hiring these people, in addition to holding Saturday classes so drivers can go to school on their “connected cars.” It’s about service and follow-through. Thanks, Ira.
Great comments. I have two “in car” experiences. And a comparison to the movie and radio biz.
1- My 2008 Jeep Sahara. I Usually plug the I-Phone aux cord in and listen to Spotify, Slacker…When flipping over to FM it’s News talk and a mix of Top 40 and Country to stay hip for my business and to keep the kids happy.
In the Jeep, FM on the dash looks like this….
100.7 Kiss F
M Your #1 H
it Music Stat
ion. Closer by
Chainsmoker
s
Sexy ehh! And bye the way if I take the time to read it all that and make sense of it, I would run off the road.
Better on RDS (For us old radio folks)
Kiss
Closer
Chainsmokers
2) My wife’s new 2016 Kia Sirento. Killer dash with all the buttons. If you pull up FM on her dash, the Artist/Title looks great. That is if the station has RDS (Outside of Jonesboro, not many do in this area) If there is no RDS the station looks like a movie screen where the movie stopped.
Speaking of…Movie theatres for ever played everything on 35 MM film (scratchy-Grainy-Out of Focus) and fought the digital change. On top of that, cut costs and did away with ushers, ticket takers, projectionist, humans to CLEAN the theatre, etc: Now we have tons of out of theatre movie options.
Sounds a little bit like radio. The product and presentation is getting less attention.
Just get all their money at the concession stand and hopefully they will be back!
Bill, all the more reason why Apple and Google are invading the space. AND why radio needs to seriously carve out an all-industry strategy that covers everything from RDS to HD Radio to dealer promotion of broadcast radio. As for your movie theater comment, that’s for another blog post and another day. Thanks for taking the time.
As one who drives a lot of different vehicles, the HD experience differs greatly from car to car.
The Ford/Lincoln HD radio is actually one of the easiest to use. In some brands, it’s very hard to get to HD subchannels. Some of the BMW EV’s have even removed AM, rather than shielding AM from the vehicles electrical system.
And I drove a Mercedes vehicle last week where I had trouble finding conventional radio stations. It was under a heading in the computerized auto system listed as “waveband.” Nothing like confusing your customer.
Apple Car Play also differs from vehicle to vehicle, and isn’t quite as easy to use as I expected. I’ve found that it can hang up in some cars…and while listening to Internet streams is great when it works, it doesn’t always work.
While we’re getting many more choices, traditional AM-FM by far remains tops in ease of use, at least for now.
Jeff, as someone who is truly an automotive journalist, you drive them all. I appreciate you sharing some of these experiences that most of us don’t know about until we rent a car, especially about Apple CarPlay. No question that broadcast radio is easiest of them all – as long as you can find it and your salesperson shows you how to preset stations. Thanks for the comment and the perspective.
Fred, we leased an MKX a few weeks ago. I too had ordered one of the top-end models, and asked about HD. The salesperson checked and said it would be an additional option, which of course I insisted upon.
We must continue to impress upon automakers that HD is an important “added-value” part of the center stack. And I agree with another commenter that the Lincoln MyTouch HD radio is far superior than others I’ve had in my Ford Edge. Signal attenuation not as problematic, hops to HD-2 and HD-3 channels easily.
Bruce, thanks for sharing your story. These Lincolns are very nice cars, but sadly come up short when it comes to HD Radio. Like you, I will dig a little deeper to be sure it’s in a feature on my touchscreen, but how many car buyers will be similarly motivated. Clearly, the radio industry needs to focus on the automotive challenge, and this is another indication a strategy is long overdue. Appreciate the comment.
I know this is an old thread but I came upon it when googling how to find out if I have HD radio. My 2012 Lincoln MKZ had it and I loved it. Just picked up a 2017 MKX and assumed it would also have it. But it seems it does not. I’m terribly disappointed.
You have to ask for HD Radio, as I’ve found out. I have it in my MKZ, but it took several questions to actually get the properly equipped model. Wish it were easier, Maria.