Internet and Music Streaming Big on Automakers' Radar

Kurt Hansen's RAIN newsletter quotes a story from the Detroit News about how auto manufacturers are thinking about the future of in-car infotainment systems.  The title of the article is "Automakers Tuning Out Traditional In-Car Radios."

The in-dash car radio, with its dials and knobs, isn't signing off yet. But it's past its prime in the eyes of some automakers, and most aren't prepared to spend much time or money tinkering with it. Instead, they're focusing on the next generation of in-car entertainment, such as Web browsing and music streaming. Startup automaker Detroit Electric plans to be the first without a radio when it rolls out its first car in August — audio will be delivered via smartphone.

[...]

"AM and FM as a delivering mechanism isn't going to be the most important in cars anymore," said Thilo Koslowski, a vice president at technology research firm Gartner Inc.

Things are changing.  Terrestrial radio needs to change, too.  Can it move as quickly as it needs to?

Aaron Hightower/The Detroit News

Remember The Radio DJ Crank Call That Ended in a Suicide?

There's going to be an inquest and the two Aussie DJs will have to appear. (Via RadioInk)

Internet Radio Listeners Tune in 12 Hours a Week

This is an interesting stat courtesy of an Arbitron/Edison report out of the US called "The Infinite Dial 2013." If you listen to Internet radio, does this reflect your habits?

(Via Radio Streaming News)

Casey Kasem Puts His House Up for Sale

Radio is not a business where you can expect to make oodles of money.  But there are the exceptions of course.  Howard Stern.  Ryan Seacrest.  And Casey Kasem.

Counting down American Top 40 for all those years proved to be very good to him.  Proof?  Casey is selling his Holmby Hills, California home for $42 milion.

FORTY-TWO MILLLION DOLLARS!

It's a 12,000 square-foot Greek Revival-style mansion that was built in 1954.  It sits on 2.4 acres and comes with seven bedrooms and 11 1/2 bathrooms.  There's also a formal living room, a dining room, a breakfast area, family room, gourmet kitchen, separate maid's quarters and a study/bar.  The grounds are beautifully kept (although I could do without the cheesy heart-shaped pool) and there's a four-car garage.

And did I mention that Casey and his wife Jean bought the place in 1989 for the bargain price of $1.72 million?  

More details at Redfin.com.

My Guest Appearance on The Zone 91-3/Victoria

Last Friday ahead of a presenation for Zone listeners, I was the guest on Jeremy Baker's afternoon show. Unbeknownst to me, he recorded the whole thing and offers up this edited version of our time together. (See more here.)

Alan and Me by Jeremy Baker on Mixcloud