Internet Radio and Cars: The Future is Now

From Mike Stern, Billboard.com:

Valerie Shuman

According to Valerie Shuman, Vice President of Industry Programs for the Connected Vehicle Trade Association, the connected car is not a thing of the future. It’s here today. 

Speaking as part of “The Digital Dash,” panel at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas, Shuman says connectivity is here now thanks to the number of cars with AUX jacks that allow consumers to connect smartphones to their vehicle’s entertainment system, “that’s when you can start to bring in lots of content that competes with radio and people are doing just that.” 

For broadcasters, she says that means starting to think of radio in the car as being part of an “in vehicle computing platform,” not as the dominant feature on car dashboards, “think of it as being on a laptop or smartphone. The old two knobs and dial set up is pretty much gone.” 

Both NAB Director of Digital Strategies Skip Pizzi and Senior Director of Technology and Standards for the Consumer Electronics Association Mike Bergman echoed Shuman’s thoughts. Pizzi showed pictures of the presets in connected cars where online and satellite channels were on virtual buttons right next to AM and FM outlets.

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