The NAB RAB Radio Show is next week and I’m looking forward to seeing many of you there. At this 2013 convention, there are some strong panels, keynotes, and events, including a Super Session featuring former jocks (not DJs, but athletes) who have made it on the radio (Bobby Hebert and Amani Toomer each of whom excelled for teams here in Michigan), a strong consumer trends session featuring Cox’s Tammie McGrath, Greater Media’s Jennifer Williams, and Beasley’s Tricia Gallenbeck. Gordon Borrell will also present a deep dive about local media advertising.
And Jacobs Media’s Lori Lewis will be moderating a great panel, “Programming & Digital: Different Metrics, Same Goals,” featuring Cox’s Fisher, Entercom’s Mark Hamilton, and Greater Media’s Bill Weston. It promises to show both sides of the content challenge facing radio from both the PD and the digital side of the spectrum.
But the changing landscape of the automobile is where my focus has been, and I’m thrilled the RAB and the NAB agree. They’re devoting a Super Session to “Radio & The Connected Car,” a topic that has relevance to everyone in radio, whether you’re in Boise or Boston.
The car has increasingly become the key listening location for most broadcast radio users, especially Gen Xers and those pesky Millennials. And I don’t have to tell any of you about the importance of automotive ad dollars – national and at the dealership level – to radio.
But the world is changing – and fast. As we’ve seen at the Consumer Electronics Show for the past five years, the automakers are as excited about the “connected car” as they must have been about the assembly line more than a century ago. You can see evidence of that each year at the Consumer Electronics Show which has become a mini-auto show, focused on “the center stack” – the entertainment and information hub of the new generation of cars and trucks.
So at The Radio Show, we’re going to bring the “connected car” to the radio industry, and the main man in that process is Strategy Analytics’ Roger Lanctot. I’ve seen Roger at numerous telematics conferences (they seem to be held at least monthly now all over the globe), and he is truly one of the industry’s movers and shakers. Roger knows everyone, and spends most of his waking hours learning about new trends, talking to the key decision-makers, picking up gossip, and presenting his analyses to various industries.
Thanks to Arbitron, Roger and I will co-present this session, providing context to what’s going on in this space now and what will be happening over the next few years. I will be armed with new videos that we’ve culled from numerous conventions, conferences, and private meetings to take you inside today’s vehicles, as well as the minds of the engineers, marketers, auto execs, and car dealers who are playing lead roles in the growth and development of this space.
Roger has learned a lot about what’s going on in radio over the past several months (we even have him reading the industry trades), and he’s going to share his valuable perspective with the assembled multitudes of broadcasters on Thursday morning, September 19th at 9:15 am in the Gatlin Ballroom. I’m excited to share the stage with him, and appreciative that Arbitron, the NAB, and the RAB have the vision to bring this important panel to you.
This is a key issue for everyone in radio – whether you’re in programming, sales, digital, management, or ownership. It’s time to get our collective heads around what’s happening with radio and the “connected car.”
See you in Orlando.
Also a reminder about DASH, our two-day conference in Detroit on October 23-24, where we’ll take a 360° look at the “connected car,” featuring broadcasters, OEMs, Tier 1s, agencies, and car dealers. We have booked some amazing industry experts, and we’re excited about how this conference is coming together. For more information, click here.
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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