We’ve talked a great deal this year about the changing “desktops” increasingly offered by the automakers – systems with icons that offer a myriad of 4-wheel entertainment. To learn more about what’s new, we’re slated to be back at CES next month, and once again, the autos will be there in force.
In past years, Ford’s Alan Mulally has keynoted. Already set for the 2012 show is Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler AG, the people who make Mercedes Benz vehicles. It’s shaping up to be another momentous year as the auto companies continue to commit resources and energy toward making their cars rolling consumer electronics centers.
As the last bastion of radio listening, cars are now shaping up to be a major challenge for radio. Increasingly, Wi-Fi connections will become the norm, enabling motorists to stream just about anything. How will radio’s streams compete with better quality competitors? And what will radio’s share of “real estate” on these new automotive desktops look like as these systems proliferate and become more sophisticated?
For a hint, look at Cadillac’s newest effort – CUE. It stands for the “Cadillac User Experience” (yup, CX/UX is an ongoing theme, too). And it should cause you to stop and consider what’s going on here.
In this 2:26 promo video for CUE, Pandora has presence for 26.5 seconds. Its logo is prominently displayed, while radio is among a sea of equally positioned smaller options on the Cadillac desktop.
After you watch this video, you won’t be asking whether Pandora is radio. You’ll be asking, “Where’s radio?”
>EMAIL RECIPIENTS: CLICK HERE TO VIEW GM’S CUE VIDEO<
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Wow. Powerful stuff guys. It’s remarkable how many people in our business, when asked who our stiffest competition is…talk about the guys “down the dial”
Thanks, Dave. I keep watching the video and see something new with every view – but radio becoming one of more than a dozen options should be an eye-opener to broadcasters in both public and commercial radio. Appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Interesting the NTSB wants to take away our cell phones in cars, while auto manufacturers install far more distracting devices directly in the dashboard of new models. Seems as though we, the everyday drivers and consumers, are getting mixed messages. As long as the radio is still present in all of the new wiz-bang technology we have a fighting chance.
Lee, I thought about this point, which occurred after we wrote this post. The autmoakers are focused on voice activation, to be sure, but it was noteworthy that in this CUE video, it was a very small part of the focus. In fact, much of the “model’s” use of the screen was hands-on. Yikes!
Well said, Lee. All these toys, whether they’re onboard, hands-free or not, are distractions, and certainly clash with what the NTSB is recommending. Given government’s desire to prop up the auto industry (for better or worse), could this come down to a lobbying battle?
If radio leaves its “strategy” up to lobbying, it’s going to miss the boat (or car) here. It’s like the FM chips in cellphone push – nice idea, but broadcasters had better develop a smart mobile strategy rather than waiting for the NAB to lobby us out of this challenge. Guy, thanks for adding to the conversation.
It won’t be too long before the Wireless companies have chips built into cars head ends, smartphone screens are visible on the dash and Pandora and others offer customizable localization.
When all that happens will radio still be arguing about whether Pandora is radio, trumpeting its “me too” Groupon feature as evidence of its vision, working feverishly to become just like all of the competitors it claims to be different from and thinking its revenue picture would improve if buyers just understood how broad its reach is?
My guess is yes. This promo underscores the limited time frame radio has to harness its accessibility edge. Once its just another dashboard option along with whatever can be streamed, a home music collection (including playlists) and heaven knows what else, what’s next?
Once Pandora or something like it has local features that can be customized, will radio’s only advantage be its DJs? Who wants to bet their financial future on how many people will opt for liners from 1000 miles away over all the other available features (better sound, customization, fewer units to name a few) available on its competitors?
Bob, thanks for chiming in. The automakers are most definitely focused on these systesm and the broadcast radio industry needs to have an understanding of their implications. So much of what we debate in radio pales in comparison to this looming issue of radio usage in cars.
I saw this on Friday afternoon, while I work on the interwebz and listen to my favorite songs on Spotify via my Android phone, which does have an FM tuner but most of what is on FM is painful to listen to. So, I choose Spotify or Pandora. The time is coming when those big towers in the middle of cornfields (or cemeteries as the St. Louis community tower is) will mean very little to how people consume content. Radio and Pandora, and I would bet your own music carried on a hard drive, are equals in the CUE system, and the user experience is no different no matter what source you choose to consume content from.
As a lifetime broadcaster, it saddens me that our industry continues to put it collective head in the sand (or the sand trap at the country club) and not see what lies ahead and how irrelevant their most prized possessions, those on-air radio stations, are becoming because of their benign neglect of the facts or the actual behavior of their customers.
The future is in mobile and choice, and the radio industry has been too busy eliminating positions and consolidating operations to see that, once again, they’re about to be left on the outside looking in. If the Ghost Of Christmas Future is reading this, please take some of these group guys who claim to have a “digital strategy” five years into the future and show them how devalued their AM and FM properties have become in the minds of consumers. And if the Ghost Of Christmas Present is reading this, I want an iPad 2.
Mark, as I’ve heard Kurt Hanson say many times, we KNOW where the puck is going. The question is whether the radio broadcasting industry will find a way to invest in its brands, especially during challenging economic times and the rising tide that screams “CUT!” This is the last time to slash content, especially of the local variety, but in so many markets, that’s the trajectory we’re on. As it pertains to radio’s continued presence on mobile, an industry task force has to be on the table. Thanks for the passion and the time. And good luck with that iPad2.
I agree with everything you have to say, especially about an industry task force. The only thing that worries me is that we’ve had radio industry task forces on AM Stereo, FM Quad, and HD Radio, and, well, you know the outcomes of all those, except HD Radio might finally be making progress. I wonder if there are enough forward thinking “big shooters” in the industry to see the need for a real live working task force to look at mobile and digital in general and help guide their brothers and sisters in sound on how to deal with the coming tsunami.
It’s not going to come from the NAB, it has to come from an ad hoc group of “Smart People” whose recommendations will actually be listened to and acted upon. I’d start the group myself, but I can’t get any of the group guys to return my calls.
Radio is oddly structured, Mark. We have a couple of big companies at the top, various trade organizations, and a lot of people like you comprising the 99%. Maybe “The Radio Show” ought to make a stop in my hometown of Detroit in 2013 and remind automakers about the value of radio. There’s MY strategy. Thanks for keeping the conversation going on this important post.
Thank YOU for making this forum available for these kind of conversations. It’s too bad the people who probably need to be exposed to your thinking and the comments it generates are either too busy trying to sell spots for December and January or have checked out for the Holidays. But we shall march on, trying to keep the conversation going and hopefully getting someone’s attention before it’s too late.
Thanks, Mark. This is going to be an ongoing conversation. We will start the new year talking about it, and between the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and CES, it’s going to be a topic. Thanks again.
Cadillac’s CUE is just the latest in a stream of automotive innovation that has turned the “car dash” into a whole new engagement space. FORD SYNC has been in “the conversation” for ages; TOYOTA has put together a superb social-mobile initiative for the launch of the Corolla 2012, and the list goes on. That’s all budget allocated to platforms, that came from somewhere… as importantly, automotive is in the major league in the new media space. If “radio” doesn’t get it’s game-face on into 2012 in that space, the dash could be a mute conversation…and one that’s starting to get very old.
Lee, you’re seeing it like I do – and SYNC, Entune, & CUE are just the ones we can see above the surface. You can only imagine what’s going on with the other autos – something we’ll be taking a closer look at this year at CES. Thanks for your contributions on this topic.