GM Still Likes AM/FM Radio. See?

This arrived this afternoon with a subject line that reads "General Motors Will Not Abandon Radio."

The recent editorial by Radio Ink Publisher Eric Rhoads "A Cold Harsh Reality for Radio," quoting panelists at Convergence 2013 in Santa Clara, has amplified the discussion about the role of AM/FM in future automobile dashboards.

Eric's piece has generated pages of feedback from the radio industry and has been shared, liked, and tweeted more than any Radio Ink piece in years.

The article prompted this response from General Motors Chief Infotainment Officer Phil Abram:

Dear Mr. Rhoads:

Your March 8 article "A Cold, Harsh Reality For Radio" came as a surprise to me and the Global Connected Consumer team at General Motors. We are responsible for setting the strategy for infotainment systems across GM. While we are excited about the possibilities of Internet radio services and other emerging services, we understand that AM/FM radio is still a significant source of news and entertainment. In fact, it is an expected feature.

We can’t speak for other automakers, but to be clear, GM has no near term plans to eliminate AM and FM from GM vehicles. We are committed to providing consumers innovative services that dramatically enhance the driving and riding experience. We expect AM/FM radio to be one of the choices consumers have in our vehicles.

We know consumers want to be safely connected in their cars, and we’re enabling it with world-class infotainment platforms, telematics systems and safety services. I invite you to visit our facilities to check out our latest developments.

Sincerely,

Phil Abram
Chief Infotainment Officer
General Motors

Eric Rhoads said, "This is great news that GM is willing to step out and state that radio is still critical to their dash. We are reaching out to all the car brands in hopes of getting a simular show of support. Radio listening among youth continues to be strong, according to Abritron and RADAR, and we believe any car company's removing AM or FM from the dash would be a misguided strategy."

Read Eric's Editorial HERE
Listen to Our Interview With GM's Frankie James HERE

Everyone can calm down. As you were.

About AM/FM Radios Disappearing from Cars...

Last week, B. Eric Rhoads of Radio Ink published a pretty dire warning about how automobile manufacturrs are planning to dump AM/FM radios from their vehicles.  Today, Fred Jacobs would like everyone to calm the f**k down.

Eric, you must have had a Venti Bold from Starbucks Friday morning.

I applaud you for raising an issue that Jacobs Media has emphasized for the past two years – the “connected car” - starting with our annual treks to the Consumer Electronics Show.

First, this issue may have actually gotten rolling at Convergence back in 2012.  I was honored to be on that “digital dashboard” panel, also moderated by Buzz Knight, because it helped put this issue on the map.  Since then, other conferences have picked up the torch and are paying attention to the “connected car” and radio’s place in the “center stack.”

Click to read more ...

Your Weird Online Radio Station of the Week

Traditional AM/FM radio is spread across many formats:  flavours of rock, pop, hip-hop and country plus news and sports.  Online radio stations are often much more niche-y in their offerings.  This, however, could be the most niche offering I've ever run across.

It's an online station that broadcasts nothing but birdsong from the Amazon jungles. Click on the image to give it a listen.  (Via Boing Boing)

Ford's OpenXC Project and the Future of Infotainment in Cars

The connected car has made an appearance at the tech conference at SXSW, something that has massive, massive implications for the future of traditional AM/FM radio.  ReadWriteWeb has this:

OpenXC combines open source hardware and software to enable custom applications and pluggable modules for cars - as well as services based on delivering real-time car data to developers and car owners themselves. OpenXC works on its own projects, in part to spur additional developer interest. As the group states:

What if the user-facing hardware and software was independent from any one vehicle, and could be purchased and installed by consumers as an aftermarket add-on? What if the infotainment hardware was more modular and user-upgradable, and perhaps most importantly, transferable from one vehicle to another? Consumers have already taken this approach to some degree by using their smartphones as the primary navigation, media and communications hub. However, the known dangers of using a handheld device while driving necessitate better vehicle integration to provide safer, more context aware interfaces.

Continue reading.

New Music This Week on Squish

If you're looking for something different to listen to online, try Squish, the 24/7 online alt-rock station I program for Astral Radio.  Listen using the link on the right-hand side of the page or through the Virgin Radio Canada app.  Here's what you'll hear.