RAIN Summit Snippets: Ginny Morris and Paul Jacobs on radio in the car

RSW Ginny and Paul 01 edit 638w

“I sleep pretty well at night,” Ginny Morris said to Paul Jacobs at RAIN Summit West in Las Vegas. Ginny Morris (CEO and Chair of Hubbard Radio) delivered a keynote presentation that included a chat with the Jacobs Media VP. “I see only opportunity, and the future of our business will be limited only by our own imaginations.”

But one thing does worry Morris, she confessed — and that is the autonomous car. While the future of radio in the digital connected dashboard is much debated, that swirl of discussion doesn’t often consider the next step in automotive evolution, which is self-driving cars where the driver needn’t pay attention to the road. In that scenario, video can enter the infotainment choice, and Morris said that competing against House of Cards does give her pause. “That’s a pretty high bar, and something I don’t like to think about.”

The prospect of self-driving cars is speculative, though, and Paul Jacobs brought the conversation back to the digitization of cars occurring now, as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto can make radio seem to disappear. “I think there’s a lot to worry about,” Jacobs said.

Listen to the clip here:


RAIN Summit Nashville is scheduled for September 20, alongside The Radio Show. Save the date; details coming soon.

Brad Hill