All forms of broadcast.
In a collaborative open letter, Paul Haaga (acting President and CEO of NPR) and Jon McTaggart (CEO of American Public Media Group) call for all smartphones to contain activated FM chips, citing radio’s role in emergencies. We agree with the emergency angle, but also regard FM as a desirable mobile feature in all respects. Continue Reading
Radio plays a strategic advantage over digital: non-variety. An interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal emphasizes the divide between the music-discovery advantage of music services compared to radio, but also spotlights what might be an odd competitive advantage of radio’s increasingly narrow playlists. Continue Reading
If 2013 was the year when labels released their star albums on Internet radio, 2014 is starting by reversing that trend. Clear Channel announced that Bruce Springsteen’s new album, “High Hopes,” will launch today with a one-hour radio documentary/preview. Continue Reading
Shazam and SoundHound identify songs on the radio for hundreds of millions of users. Both apps make it easy to turn the song into a starting point in Rdio, Spotify, and other online services. Shouldn’t there be a way radio can participate in the song-identification gateway? We have an idea. Continue Reading
Why has AM/FM lost 30 percent of its key listening metrics since 2008? Founding editor Kurt Hanson reflects on history, harkens back to the day when he ran a leading ratings company, and disputes a theory. HINT: it’s not about the Portable People Meter. Continue Reading
It is perhaps no surprise that when Inside Radio surveys its readers, 82 percent of whom are radio veterans with at least 15 years in the business, the results are going to be pretty darn pro-radio. Still, the most eyebrow-raising point of the magazine’s year-end reader survey for 2013 might be filed in the Denial folder. Continue Reading
NextRadio would be in every car if Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan had his wish. Speaking in yesterday’s earnings call to investors, scheduled during CES week when connected cars were the focus in Vegas, Smulyan and CFO Patrick Walsh focused on NextRadio quite a bit. Does iHeartRadio compete with NextRadio? Continue Reading
A newly-released study contains a summary of how, why, and where consumers use various audio channels. Radio is categorically described as the most popular audio platform. Pandora and Internet radio generally appear to be missing from the measured listening platforms cited in the report summary. Continue Reading
Sitting between plug-in dashboards and full-service dashboards sits the connected-car aftermarket, where Pioneer is a leading manufacturer. The Pioneer NEX line comprises five head-unit models with a range of information and entertainment functions. Aha Radio and Pandora are promoted as built-in audio services. Continue Reading
Pure, the audio company responsible for the Jongo line of wireless speakers, is having an eventful CES week. The company has announced additions to its product lineup, and taken square aim at WiFi-speaker market leader Sonos. Continue Reading
Amidst the connected-car news emanating from the nine automakers exhibiting at CES this week, we can expect news from music app developers that are racing to claim dashboard territory in those new digital dashboards. Out of the gate is Clear Channel, announcing new distributions of its iHeartRadio platform in cars by Jaguar, Volvo, and Kia. Continue Reading
Doc Searls is an author and a fellow of the Center for Information Technology & Society (CITS) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has a lifelong love of radio, and recently wrote a prescription for the future of broadcasting: How to Rescue Radio. We spoke with Doc Searls about radio, programming, and the future. Continue Reading